NSWCDD employees honored by Rear Adm. Brad Hicks.

The ceremony - held at the Arleigh Burke Hall auditorium - recognized individual NSWCDD scientists and engineers as well as teams for outstanding performance within the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Program Office - the sea-based element of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA).

“The awards were presented for our work contributing to the successful intercept of the failed reconnaissance satellite on Feb. 20, 2008,“ said Scott Such, NSWCDD Aegis BMD Program Director.

“I see the talent within the Aegis BMD and NSWCDD communities on a daily basis,“ said Such after the intercept. “They are repeatedly asked to do the impossible yet somehow they manage to translate these challenges into the realm of the possible, and then they deliver solutions. This team is truly a national asset and I am very proud to play a small part in it.“

The MDA was tasked by National Security leadership to destroy an inoperative U.S. satellite to safeguard personnel from exposure to hydrazine, a highly toxic substance. Besides Aegis BMD, other MDA elements also contributed to the successful shootdown.

Due to MDA's efforts, the Agency was awarded a Joint Meritorious Unit Award by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. The citation states: ''A direct hit to the satellite ruptured the hydrazine tank and eliminated the toxic hazards posed to human life. All mission aspects were accomplished within a greatly reduced planning and execution window requiring more precise timing than experienced in typical missile defense exercises.“

Rear Adm. Brad Hicks, Program Director of Aegis BMD at Dahlgren, presented awards to the following NSWC Dahlgren personnel: Gail Bushrod, Claiborne Doxey, James Fedak, Glen Leite, John Lemons, James Moneyhon, Cindy Montrief, James Moore, Jennifer Parr, Jamie Patteson, Joseph Petruzzo, Reuben Pitts, Thomas Poley, Steve Rowles, Richard Shrewsbury, Scott Such, Christopher Taliaferro, Forrest Thomson, David Warren, Jeffery Chandler, Brian Kiser, Gregory Pilson, Mark Tietz, Charles Coryell, Dawn Allison, James Doerr, Scott Gardner, Pat Rios, Nickie Houck, Jennifer Kline, Joseph Petruzzo, Paige Rumberg, Colleen Trivett, Kevin Stottlar, Mike Newkirk, Jim Zacketti and Mark Maiocco.

Before the mission began, a team of NSWCDD Aegis BMD experts studied the feasibility of intercepting the failed satellite. The Aegis BMD program office at Dahlgren was then called to build computer program disks and tapes for delivery to the three ships.

Immediately after “Mark India“, was declared, announcing the intercept, NSWCDD personnel calculated the exact hit point of the kinetic warhead using data collected from SM-3 telemetry and other sensor assets. This was a critical component in determining mission success.

NSWCDD leaders attributed the successful intercept to team effort and technical capability.

“What the combined team of engineers, programmers, trainers and ship's force accomplished in seven weeks was nothing short of phenomenal,“ said Lt. Cmdr. Chuck Coryell, who was an NSWCDD Aegis Fleet Support Officer at the time of the intercept and deployed aboard USS Decatur.

“The drumbeat of decaying orbits did not allow for investigation into the fundamentals of our capabilities - it required action, and quick action,“ added Reuben Pitts, Combat System Certification Authority and Chairman of the Mission Control Panel. “I do not believe that there is a technical team in the world that could have adjusted course so quickly and accurately, and this course adjustment required mastery of the fundamentals.“