U.S. Navy photo by Matthew Poyner Several award winners of Indian Head Division's Roger Smith Team Award were on hand for the Commander’s annual award ceremony on March 20.

In his welcoming remarks, Capt. Neil Stubits, IHDIV commander, emphasized the significance of the event. ‘‘We all get busy with the day to day – helping the warfighter solve a critical problem, answering a data call from headquarters, adjusting business processes to Navy alignment – we tend to loose sight of all the great things we’ve accomplished.”

Prior to starting the presentation of technical awards, Dr. Rob Gates, IHDIV’s technical director, echoed, ‘‘It is your outstanding work and efforts that bring us here, to pay tribute to those who put out the extra effort and supported their programs, customers, sponsors, neighbors and coworkers with outstanding energy.

‘‘You have gone the extra mile, and today you will be honored for that. The value and contributions you all have given are exceptional,” Gates added.

In all, over 220 military and civilian employees were recognized through the presentation of 17 individual and group awards. The awards and recipients are listed below.

Roger M. Smith Team Award

Roger Smith, IHDIV technical director from 1989 until 1999, believed the ability to work as a team was the key to IHDIV’s continued success. This award recognizes team efforts used to improve the command’s performance and effectiveness in providing products and services to meet external customer requirements.

The MT29 Parachute Deployment Rocket Motor⁄WB15 Primary Cartridge Team provided exemplary support in response to a Fleet incident. Upon the determination that an aircraft installed PDRM experienced a self initiated combustion, while the F-18 aircraft was sitting on the tarmac, an investigation was initiated. The team quickly conducted and provided analysis and data. Employees receiving the Roger M. Smith Team Award are:

CAD⁄PAD Department – Lisa Alvey, Michael Audley, Ray Bazil, Yonas Befekadu, Juan Berrios, Andrew Boswell, Thomas Briscoe, Carla Clifton, Diane Culver, Pamela Dunson, Victor Estrada, Joseph Fritz, Justin Gamble, John Goodwin, Kim Gore, Edith Gray, Connie Hamilton, Robert Hastings, David Krashefski, Debbie Ledford, Peter Margiotta, Paul McCool, Craig Pfleegor, Milton Reese, Charles Rutledge, Diane Sabal, Dorothy Schuhart, Beulah Sims, Dale Thomas, Roxana Toledo, Juan Vilchez, Craig Wheeler.

CAD⁄PAD Joint Program Office – Paul McCafferty, Precious Njemanze, David Williams, Lt. Col. Jurgen Smith, Karen Wood.

Energetics Evaluation Department – Kyle Beard, William Blake, William Bryant, Inchan Choi, Rhonda Frey, Steven Helberg, Debra Knott, Nievo Namata, Joseph Petitto, Robert Raines, Robert Rast, Emilia Roldan, Karrie Sandagger, Daniel Sorensen, Carrie Swann, James Thomasson, Laura Tinsley, Sibyl Turner, Billy White, Robert Womack.

Energetics Systems Department – Michael Thornton.

Energetics Technology Department – Michael Oetjen, Earle Sparks.

Ordnance Department – Kelly Armstrong, Earl Baltimore, Sherwood Bannister, Sterling Bannister, Mary Boyd, Lynn Brown-Dunnington, Cynthia Butler, Ronald Carroll, Troy Chase, Calvin Cobey Jr., Robin Cromer, Joseph Fenwick, Robert Frederick, Kimberly Girsch, James Griffenhagen, Mary Gross, Dwight Hancock, John Hardee Jr., Rhonda Hawkins, Phyllis Hilton, Cynthia Johnson, Terry Johnson, Jose Leon, Tracy Lowe, Colin Mackie-Smith, Phillip Marbury, Lois Marshall, Tresia Mason, Sandy Matthews-Green, Janice McKinney, Lenora Nathan, John Neal, James Nikstenas, Thomas Norris, Ralph Pettersen, Patricia Pickeral, Stephanie Proctor, George Reeves, Nick Scalfaro, Joseph Scriber, Brandon Shaffer, Donna Sheff, Norman Swann, Joseph Thomas, Yvonne Tyson, Christine White, Mary Williams, Tracey Wright, Benjamin Yannayon.

Product Assurance Department – Lisa Aliff, Thomas Berry Jr., Gilbert Bivins, Timothy Boyd, Howard Branson, Wendell Brown, Zelda Brown, Bruce Bulls, Cheryl Cox, Henry Dent Jr., Victoria Downs, Jeffery Dyson, Benjamin Franklin, Lisa Frum, Kenneth Gamble, Thomas Gunderson, George Hollen, Clinton Jenkins, Westley Johnson, Bryant Kim, Lonnie Klahr, Francis Lee Jr., Jacqueline Marbury, Franklin Martin, Leroy Mason, Timothy Menke, Eric Meyer, Debra Milstead, Heather Murphy, Jacqueline Payne, Kim Pinkney, Steven Possehl, Robin Price, Donald Robey, Kathleen Shampine, Barry Sheff, Ronald Sullivan, Gregory Swann, Veljean Thompson, Donna Wood, Nathanial Woodland, Debbie Woolford.

Research and Technology Department – Stephen Stiles.

Safety Department – Lance McDaniel.

Technical Director Staff – Alfred Stern.

Dr. Horst Adolph Award for Outstanding Patent

Dr. Horst Adolph’s 30-year government career began in 1961 and included achieving over 40 patents and authoring over 90 publications dealing with synthesis and formulation of energetic ingredients used in explosives and propellants.

Jason Jouet, Alfred Stern and David Rosenberg from the Research and Technology Department and Technical Director Staff were awarded Patent Number 7,192,649, issued on March 20, 2007, entitled ‘‘Passivation Layer on Aluminum Surface and Method Thereof.” This invention provides a method for replacing the ubiquitous oxide layer on aluminum with a functional organic passivation layer.

As the Naval Inspector of Ordnance in charge of the former Naval Proving Ground in Dahlgren, Va., and Naval Powder Factory, Indian Head, Admiral Harold R. Stark became the Chief of Naval Operations in 1939. This award recognizes significant achievement in the advancement of the state-of-the-art in their field.

Admiral Harold R. Stark Award for Innovation

Jason Jouet from the Research and Technology Department has established a research program in nanometal formation and novel passivation methods at Indian Head and has made a name for himself in the field of nanomaterials. He developed not only a method for the preparation of nanoscale aluminum particles in solution phase, but, more significantly, a method for passivation of nano Al using self assembled monolayer techniques.

Student of the Year Award

This award recognizes a student in the Student Career Experience Program or Student Temporary Employment Program who has made a significant contribution to the mission and operation of the activity.

Justin Gamble from the CAD⁄PAD Department assisted during the NACES Parachute Deployment Rocket Motor over pressurization investigation. His efforts provided a significant benefit to the command and went over and beyond his regular job duties. Gamble’s self-initiative to learn ProEngineer and machining principles have resulted in his being a well sought after resource with the Navy PAD Branch.

A. J. Perk Outstanding Operator/Technician of the Year Award

A. J. Perk was devoted to providing customers with excellent products and services by ‘‘doing the job right.” He was known amongst the wage grade employees and technicians as being fair, firm, decisive and cared about the employees’ interest. This award recognizes a model employee who serves as an example to others. A.J. Perk traveled from his retirement home in Tennessee to present this award.

Kevin Davis from the Ordnance Department has been a mix operator for over 20 years. He is deserving of this award by his consistent and extra effort he performed this year by training other employees which resulted in IHDIV being in a better position to meet customer needs.

William J. Jones from the Ordnance Department serves as a lead project manager for several programs. His dedication, work ethic and ability to continually go above and beyond the requests of his customers serves as a shining example to other employees. He is a self-starter and is proud to get the job done right each and every time.

Virgil Riffe from the Process Technology Yorktown Detachment played a critical role with an urgent requirement for weapons needed to fight the global war on terrorism. He lead and trained his four-man crew and a second four-man crew. He volunteered to work nights and he would come in with the day shift to ensure work was progressing smoothly.

Customer Service Award

This award recognizes an employee who has provided excellent service to internal customers.

Daniel Twombly from the Procurement Department is always responsive to customer’s needs even if it means sacrificing time off so he can complete his regular duties. He has become an expert on almost every computer system⁄application that his employees use on a daily basis and spends time assisting his co-workers with various system issues.

Samuel Erwin and William Rison from the Ordnance Department provided exceptional service to the Large and Small Motor Test Department. This was a busy year due to the consolidation of operations. The coordination of the physical movement, installation, hookup and testing of equipment was a huge undertaking which required dedication and commitment on their part to minimize the disruption of operations.

Project Manager Of The Year

This award recognizes a project manager who has made a significant contribution to the planning and execution of an assigned project.

Shilpa Lad from the Ordnance Department serves as the project manager for four large projects in the Chemical Development Branch. Each project has strict reporting requirements that must be met. Lad is managing these projects while remaining engaged technically and continuing to execute work in the plant. Her dedication to her job and technical project management is commendable.

Lean Six Sigma 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 or risk.

Michael Audley, Todd Barnum, Dan Berkon, Mary Boyd, Janine Bradley, Cynthia Butler, Janice Dooley, Helene Farrall, Kimberly Girsch, Andrei Gugiu, Donna Karabin, Lois Marshall, Henry Rebinski, Diane Sabal, Joseph Schuppel, Tom Smeder, Dale Thomas, Tornette Wallace and Fred Young from the CAD⁄PAD Fleet Process Improvement Team are being recognized for saving the Fleet numerous labor hours through the 1.4 Direct Ship Project. Through the team’s efforts, the shipments are directly delivered via FedEx to the squadron or end-user, resulting in a total of 8,108 Fleet hours saved to date.

Daniel Bouch, Edna Gigon, James Griffenhagen, Andre King, Darrin Krivitsky, Henrietta Lawson, William Lawson, Tracy Lowe, Phillip Marbury, Sandy Matthews-Green, Richard Nuckols, Carlton Penny, David Pickeral, Floyd Proctor, Francis Showalter, Joseph Thompson, Steven Tuinstra, Dorinda Warren and Mark Williams from the Zuni LAP Line RIE Team are being recognized for surpassing the original goal of producing approximately 60 units a day to increasing to 72 units a day and reducing the operational space required. These improvements will produce labor reductions of 518 hours in FY08.

Captain H.E. Lackey Award for Community Service

Named for Navy Capt. Henry E. Lackey, commanding officer of IHDIV from 1917-1920, this award is given to an individual or team who, on their own time, provided significant contributions to the community.

Tina Simms from the CAD⁄PAD Department is a volunteer for the Dentsville Rescue Squad, Hospice Festival of Trees and several local community organizations. Simms is an EMT and is assigned duty two nights a week running calls, not to mention other duties she takes on including fundraising, bi-laws, and community service. She has been a volunteer in the community for 25 years.

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Award

The EEO Award recognizes the achievements of an individual or group that has excelled in extending equal opportunity to those desiring Federal employment or by assisting Federal employees to achieve their highest potential and productivity.

Dr. Thomas C. Cannon, Jr. from the Energetics Systems Department consistently supports and promotes with interest, enthusiasm and implementing actions the principles and goals of EEO and diversity within his department and throughout IHDIV. He is an advocate and has presented on how diversity benefits the command and the Navy as whole.

Command Award for Safety Excellence

This award recognizes an employee who has made a significant contribution to the safety program at IHDIV.

Harry Archer from the CAD⁄PAD Department is being recognized for identifying a pedestrian crosswalk and road safety problem. He raised his issues to the Safety Department and Naval Support Activity South Potomac. In response to Archer’s concerns, there have been five additional crosswalk signs installed at Naval Support Facility (NSF) Indian Head and nine crosswalk signs installed at NSF Dahlgren.

Command Accident Prevention Team Award

This award is to recognize a group of employees that have made a significant effort to enhance safe work practices in their area.

William Beadle, Thomas Foster, Rhonda Hawkins, Andre King, Sandy Matthews-Green, Dwyne Proctor, Donna Sheff, Francis Showalter, Earl Simms and Rene Thomas from the Ordnance Department successfully completed two major Zuni grain extrusions, a major MK 93 extrusion and an AA-6 qualification extrusion without incident or loss time injury. The team also kept explosive inventory accurate, maintained explosive hazardous waste sites and transported propellant waste without incident.

Ensign Robert B. Dashiell Award for Excellence

This award, named after IHDIV’s first commanding officer Ensign Robert B. Dashiell, recognizes significant contribution to the mission or operation of the activity. Dashiell is acknowledged for the establishment of the Naval Powder Factory, 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.

Raafat Guirguis from the Research and Technology Department concepts and proposals result in breakthroughs in several military applications. He improves formulations so that they have the best blast and press throughputs ever, he designs warheads with outputs that can be tuned while in flight, and he continuously pursues material sciences research to provide the next generation smart explosives for the military.

Jill Tipton from the Human Resources Department manages the Command’s Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Program which has an 84 percent resolution rate. Tipton’s success with the ADR Program has provided significant savings to the Command and has resulted in better communications and working relationships between the parties who have participated.

Joe Browning Award for Managerial Excellence

This award is named for Joe L. Browning, IHDIV’s first technical director, assuming the post from 1962 through 1975. This award recognizes an individual who demonstrated innovative leadership principles and management skills of coaching and teaming in development of personnel and their accomplishments.

Thomas Brady from the Energetics Technology Department is committed to IHDIV’s mission and treats all of his employees with respect and deals with them in an up front and honest manner. He is fair, dedicated, technically competent, works well with people, proactive, and pays attention to detail. He has earned the loyalty and respect of his employees as well as the respect from his peers.

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 at Indian Head, including noted achievements of developing smokeless and flashless gunpowders. This award honors an individual for outstanding technical accomplishment that has had a pronounced effect in supporting the IHDIV mission and advancing some area of technology.

John Nial from the Research and Technology Department conceived the concept, designed the engineering development model and fielded the Integrated Maritime Portable Acoustic Scoring System (IMPASS). The innovative system is used to certify naval gun teams and maintain their proficiency. This was in response to an urgent Fleet need and the annual cost savings to the Navy is over $3 million per year.

Meritorious Civilian Service Award

As the Department of Navy’s third highest civilian award, this honor is presented to those who have achieved significant accomplishments and whose contributions hold a high value to the command and the Navy. The following employees have recently received this award: