INDIAN HEAD, Md. ─ Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division (NSWC IHEODTD) recognized individuals and teams who made significant contributions to the command’s mission at the annual Honorary Awards ceremony April 20 which was held at the Indian Head Town Pavilion.
Some of the command’s Honorary Awards are named for a significant person from IHEODTD’s history, and will honor those past individuals while honoring the recipients today.
“This is an important day for the Command. It is our time to take a pause and recognize employees for their noteworthy achievements last year,” said NSWC IHEODTD Commanding Officer Capt. Vincent Martinez. “2015 was a significant year for the Command. In September, we celebrated our 125th anniversary. This Command has such a strong history of technical excellence and those who we are honoring today become a part of that history.”
The commanding officer added that throughout its history, IHEODTD, has always shifted its mission to fit the times and today the command is proud to be the leader in ordnance, energetics and EOD solutions.
Today we will recognize about 60 employees, but I want to thank each and every one of you for what you do every day in support of the warfighter, Martinez said.
Mr. Ashley Johnson, technical director for NSWC IHEODTD, said, “This is one of the best parts of my job, recognizing the men and women of this division for the exceptional accomplishments that were achieved in 2015.
“Core values of an organization are those values we hold which form the foundation on which we perform work and conduct ourselves. We have an entire universe of values to consider, but some of them are so primary, so important to us, that despite changes in society, government, politics, and technology they are still the core values we choose to abide by,” he added. “These values underlie our work, define how interact with each other, and enable the strategies we employ to fulfill our mission.”
Read below for more information on the awards presented at the ceremony, and this year’s recipients.
ROGER M. SMITH TEAM AWARD: Roger Smith, NSWC IHEODTD Technical Director from October 1989 until his death in February 1999, believed the ability to work as a team was the key to NSWC IHEODTD’s continued success. This award recognizes team efforts used to improve the command’s performance and effectiveness in providing products and services to meet customer requirements. This award is presented to the C-1 Diol Manufacturing Process Development Team, which includes Albert Biega, David Boruta, Kimberly Csanadi, Roberta Freehling, Patrick Greer, James Griffenhagen, Jason Steffin and Tod Ricks. The team developed, optimized, and scaled-up the production of C-1 Diol, while meeting the customer’s requirements and tight delivery schedule. C-1Diol is used as a bonding agent in the manufacture of propellants and is a critical chemical from the production of the U.S. Navy Harpoon Missile Booster and the U.S. Army Hawk rocket motor.
PROJECT MANAGER OF THE YEAR: This award recognizes a project manager who has made a significant contribution to the planning and execution of his/her assigned project(s). This award is presented to Paula Douglas, the command’s Information Systems Security manager, for leading the Certification and Accreditation (C&A) project in 2015 and coordinated the efforts of both government and contractor cyber security personnel to secure systems for C&A review and approval by the Enterprise Mission Assurance Support Service. The command’s C&A packages were completed ahead of schedule, exceeding the NSWC headquarters deadlines and avoided any punitive actions for unaccredited systems.
INTERNAL CUSTOMER SERVICE AWARD: This award recognizes an employee who has provided excellent service to internal customers. This award is presented to Sara Brooker, an administrative assistant assigned to the Energetics Manufacturing Department, maintained the highest level of departmental office efficiency to support many individuals, not just within her department but the entire organization. This award is also presented to Wayne Brown, Alexander Polster and Edward Rogan, from the Contracts Department. The team is physically located at the Picatinny Detachment in N.J., where they delivered direct support to their customers by providing quality contracting services in a timely manner.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY & DIVERSITY AWARD: The EEO Award recognizes the achievements of an individual or group who has excelled in extending equal opportunity to those desiring Federal employment or by assisting Federal employees in achieving their highest potential and productivity. This award is presented to Normary Camacho-Cardoza, the Federal Women’s Program coordinator for the command, as well as, Vice Chair of the EEO, Diversity and Inclusion Council (EDIC). In these roles she has demonstrated her commitment, desire and genuine interest in educating and elevating the awareness of the importance of diversity and inclusion in the workforce through her interactions and participation in various diversity related events and initiatives. Her achievements included being the driving force in making the FY15 Women’s Symposium a huge success, serving as a facilitator for several focus groups during the 2015 Organizational Climate Survey (DEOCS); she also was a member of the assessment team that reviewed and analyzed the 2015 DEOCS.
DR. HORST ADOLPH AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING PATENT: Dr. Horst Adolph’s 30-year government career began in 1961 and included achieving more than 40 patents and authoring over 90 publications dealing with synthesis and formulation of energetic ingredients used in explosives and propellants. This award is presented to Frederick Heim, James Thomasson and John Wilkinson, who received the patent for the “Bulk Homemade Explosives Precursor Detection Kit”. This invention provides the warfighter with a test kit capable of detecting the presence of bulk quantities of: nitrate based oxidizers, urea, urea nitrate, and potassium chlorate. The detection kit is designed for specific conflict/theater of operations, to provide reliable, true bulk detection to warfighters and first responders at low cost, using tests and reagents that are optimized to provide true bulk detection while significantly reducing the possibility of false positives.
CONTINUOUS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT AWARD: This award recognizes efforts resulting in significant improvement made to administrative, business, or technical processes accomplished through Lean and/or Six Sigma, yielding benefits in cost, schedule, quality, and/or risk. This award is presented to Jason Caron and Milton Reese, from the Systems Engineering Department, who launched a systematic and thorough effort of revising, consolidating, and redesigning every aspect of the In-Service Engineering process. Their work resulted in a marked improvement in the efficiency, transparency, and decrease in cost of providing In-Service Engineering services. New engineers are able to integrate themselves much faster into the department than in the past and are now able to become effective Subject Matter Experts on their own individual Cartridge Actuated Devices and Propellant Actuated Devices (CAD/PAD) projects without any confusion as they cross-serve from a CAD to a PAD.
COMMAND AWARD FOR SAFETY EXCELLENCE: This award recognizes a group of employees who have made a significant effort to enhance safe work practices in their area. This award is presented to Craig Diamond, from the Research, Development, Test & Evaluation Department, for his efforts to remediate and dispose of unknown hazardous materials. Recognizing the danger associated with the storage of unknown, potentially incompatible HAZMAT, Diamond took the task of segregating and organizing the materials such that the hazard was mitigated. He further coordinated with HAZMAT removal contractors to ensure timely removal of the material while ensuring compliance with safety and environmental policies. This award is also presented to the Otto Fuel II Team, which includes Walter Buswell, Douglas Case, David Clark, Joshua Clark, Paul Desear, David Gilroy, Darryell Johnson, Trevor Muhler, Kenneth Mundy, Dianne Newton, Tien Nguyen, Gerald Propst, Clayton Reynolds, Avery Robertson, Bernadette Wackerle, Mark Williams and Travis Yon. IHEODTD is the Navy’s sole supplier of Otto Fuel II (OFII). OFII is non-explosive, shock insensitive, liquid mono-propellant used in the MK46, MK48, and MK54 torpedo systems. This fuel mixture is a highly sensitive Class 1 Division 1 nitrate ester liquid explosive, so the importance of safety cannot be overstated. The team faced numerous obstacles during production start-up and over the life of production to date, but through proper safety protocols they were able to restart the abandoned Moser Nitration Facility and safely manufacture more than 220,000 lbs of OFII. The OFII team executed numerous safety reviews including a Safety Review Committee, multiple hazards analyses, and several SOP reviews and implements numerous risk mitigations to ensure safe manufacture of OFII.
CAPTAIN H. E. LACKEY AWARD FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE: Named for Captain Henry E. Lackey, Commanding Officer of NSWC IHEODTD from 1917-1920, this award is given to an individual or team who, on their own time, provided significant contributions to the community. This award is presented to Deran Eaton, from the Systems Engineering Department. From 2005 through 2013, Eaton served as the technical coach for the Waldorf “CyberKnights” robotics team. As the coach, he exposed the students to math and science by providing them with real life situations and encouraging the youngsters apply science to solve those scenarios. The “CyberKnights” team earned several regional and state-level honors, including the Best Overall Robot Design and research project in Maryland’s 2007 Power Puzzle challenge. Of the students Eaton coached, three are known to have obtained engineering degrees, with eight more eligible for a share in $20M of “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology” (FIRST) Tech Challenge scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and non-STEM majors when they graduate.
A.J. PERK OUTSTANDING OPERATOR/TECHNICIAN OF THE YEAR: A.J. Perk was devoted to providing customers with excellent products and services by “doing the job right.” He was fair, firm, decisive, and cared about the employees’ interest. This award recognizes a model employee who serves as an example to others. This award is presented to Leroy Mason, from the Research, Development, Test & Evaluation Department. Mason specializes in the field of functional and ballistic testing of Cartridge Actuated Devices and Propellant Actuated Devices (CAD/PAD) used in Weapons Release, Aircraft Aircrew Escape and Store Release Systems. As the team lead for CAD test operations, he evaluated test fixtures and test setups, data acquisition systems and to participate in failure and engineering investigations. This award is also presented to Rhonda Cobey-Gassaway, from the Energetics Manufacturing Department. Cobey-Gassaway thoroughly inspects products being processed for accuracy, and has the responsibility the command to provide quality units or material to our customers and the warfighter. She is very knowledgeable of all processes within her assigned group and is routinely called upon to provide assistance and training as needed.
ADMIRAL HAROLD R. STARK AWARD FOR INNOVATION: As the Naval Inspector of Ordnance in charge of the Naval Proving Grounds, Dahlgren, Va., and the Naval Powder Factory, Indian Head, Md., Admiral Harold R. Stark became the Chief of Naval Operations in 1939. This award recognizes an individual or group who advanced the state of the art in their field of endeavor. This award is presented to the Additive Manufacturing Warheads Team, which includes Angelo Cristobal, Kevin Genson, Ian Hall, Kevin Holmes and Annmarie Shahan. When Indian Head attained the Concept Laser M2 metal additive manufacturing system, the team was tasked with conceptualizing, designing, fabricating, and evaluating new methods of controlling how the body of a warhead fragments when detonated. The team successfully developed and tested four different approaches, all exploiting the technology in a unique way, in less than four months. The results successfully demonstrated the use of additive manufacturing to create precisely controlled fragments in a repeatable and cost effective manner.
LANCE CORPORAL T. J. HONEYCUTT AWARD FOR FORWARD DEPLOYED SERVICE: Named for Lance Corporal T.J. Honeycutt, a Marine from Charles County, Md., who lost his life to an Improvised Explosive Device attack while on patrol. This award recognizes a civilian employee who within the past year has deployed to a war zone or other forward deployed providing direct support to the warfighter in support of IHEODTD’s mission. This award is presented to Jared Spears, from the EOD Department. Spears was deployed for 87 days and filled an electrical engineering billet supporting the Technical Support Detachment’s Combined Explosives Exploitation Cell operations at the United States Naval Forces Central Command Exploitation Lab (NEL) in Bahrain. He provided support to uncommon NEL operations at the highest levels of government interest, and continues to provide exceptional Counter Improvised Explosive Device support.
JOE L. BROWNING AWARD FOR MANAGERIAL EXCELLENCE: This award is named for Joe L. Browning, NSWC IHEODTD’s first Technical Director, assuming the post from 1962 – 1975. This award recognizes an individual who demonstrated innovative leadership principles and management skills of coaching and teaming in the development of personnel and their accomplishments. This award is presented to Denice Lee, manager of the Explosive Detection Equipment Branch, identifies problems and works hard to find solutions. She is being recognized for her innovative work in training her staff, reducing the cost of shipping explosives, improving the EOD Department’s ability to share documents and handling administrative issues while maintaining a DOD-wide reputation as the subject matter expert in Explosive Detection Equipment.
DR. GEORGE W. PATTERSON AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACCOMPLISHMENT: As Chief Chemist and Powder Expert, Dr. George Patterson is remembered for his outstanding work accomplished during his 41-year tenure, including noted achievements of developing smokeless and flashless gun powders. This award honors an individual for outstanding technical accomplishment that has had a pronounced effect in supporting the NSWC IHEODTD mission and advancing some area of technology. This award is presented to Edward Tersine, from the Research, Development, Test & Evaluation Department, was awarded for his interior ballistics modeling efforts associated with the Hypervelocity Projectile (HVP) Program. Tersine performed extensive calculations to modify the MK99 granulation thereby changing its combustion behavior and making it suitable for this experimental use. Additionally, he has made modifications to the propelling charge hardware configuration to better refine its performance.
ROBERT B. DASHIELL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE: Ensign Robert B. Dashiell was NSWC IHEODTD’s first Commanding Officer and is acknowledged for the establishment of the facility, including supervision of building and acquisition of staff and materials; he was a specialist in gun mechanical design and invented the Dashiell rapid-fire breech. This award is presented to Becky D’Ambrosio, director of Corporate Communications, successfully led several key initiatives that strengthened communications and promoted awareness of the command’s mission among the workforce, the community and other stakeholders. In 2015, under her leadership, the command hosted a successful 125th anniversary celebration and implemented an employee notification system.