NSWC Indian Head Division employees honored for their efforts on the arachute deployment rocket motor system included these two groups.

More than 100 of NSWC IHDIV's CAD⁄PAD employees were recognized for their efforts in the parachute deployment rocket motor system.

At the ceremony Heely, Mitchell, Stubits, and Winter presented letters of appreciation (LOA) to the team members. Four sub-teams were recognized for their support in the engineering investigations and logistics support efforts that ensued after a MT29 PDRM experienced a self initiated combustion while installed in an F-18 aircraft that was sitting on the tarmac.

The MT29 PDRM Engineering Investigation (EI) team was the first team to be recognized. The team provided representatives to the incident site who provided invaluable expertise in the initial formulation and determinations of the investigation. They were critical to the development of processes to safely remove additional PDRMs from on-site aircraft and disassemble them for investigative purposes. Working virtually 24⁄7, the team provided expert and timely analysis to determine the incident cause and quantify the risk. This analysis was critical to the overall Navy efforts to keep the F-18 and T-45 aircraft operational.

The next group to be recognized was the WB15 Primary Cartridge Engineering investigation team. When the PDRM investigation identified the high heat of the cockpit environment to be the primary cause of the incident, the CAD⁄PAD team investigated whether any other CAD⁄PAD items were at risk and provided analysis to quantify the WB15 hazard and creatively developed a logistics plan to remediate the at risk units in a manner which minimized the fleet impact.

The CAD⁄PAD Consolidated Stock Point team was also recognized for its critical role in responding to the incident. Throughout the PDRM effort many urgent shipments were required, and many of them were required to the coordinated and shipped over the weekend. Every one of the shipments left Indian Head on time and they arrived in the Fleet’s hands on or before schedule. The support provided was critical to the Navy’s ability to ship PDRMs world wide within seven days.

The final group to be recognized was the PDRM Rework Team. This team developed rework procedures, designed and fabricated tooling, machined propellant grains, downloaded PDRMs, reworked the motor igniter, reassembled the PDRM and lot acceptance tested the units at an extraordinary rate. Within 30-days the team had the first batch of PDRMs ready for shipment. These units were critical to a deploying squadron of Marines, who were able to remove and replace their Fleet prior to deployment. Within 60-days the team was able to rework enough assets to complete the remediation of all the remaining marginal PDRMs installed in our F-18 and T-45 Fleet. This accomplishment allowed the Fleet to return to normal operations a full six months sooner than if we were required to rely solely on the commercial industrial base. Of added significance is that 3 of the reworked PDRMs immediately contributed to the saving of aircrew life, when the T-45 aircraft in which they were installed was involved in a mishap.

Contributing team members to these teams were: Michael Audley, Kyle Beard, Yonas Befekadu, Williams Blake, Andrew Boswell, Thomas Briscoe, Inchan Choi, Carla Clifton, Diane Culver, Pamela Dunson, Victor Estrada, Rhonda Frey, Justin Gamble, Steven Helbreg, Nievo Namata, Robert Raines, Robert Rast, Milton Reese, Karrie Sandagger, Carrie Swann, James Thomasson, Laura Tinsley, Karen Wood, Juan Vilchez, Robert Hastings, Clinton Jenkins, Debbie Ledford, Roxana Toledo, Beulah Sims, Calvin Cobey Jr, Robin Cromer, Joseph Fenwick, Kimberley Girsch, Cynthia Johnson, Terry Johnson, Janice McKinney, James Nikstenas, Joseph Scriber, Mary Williams, Kelly Armstrong, Sherwood Bannister, Sterling Bannister, Henry Dent Jr, Lisa Frum, Mary Gross, Dwight Hancock, Phyllis Hilton, Tracy Lowe, Jacqueline Marbury, Leroy Mason, Lance McDaniel, Timothy Menke, Eric Meyer, Debra Milstead, Lenora Nathan, Thomas Norris, Kim Pickney, Steven Possehl, Robin Price, Stephanie Proctor, Kathleen Shampine, Christine White, and Donna Wood.

Personnel identified as significant team members were: Lisa Alvey, Juan Berrios, William Bryant, John Goodwin, Kim Gore, Edith Gray, Connie Hamilton, Debra Knott, Peter Margiotta, Mike Oetjen, Joseph Petitto, Emilia Roldan, Dorothy Schuhart, Daniel Sorensen, Earle Sparks, Stephan Stiles, Sibyl Turner, Billy White, Robert Womack, Thomas Berry Jr, Barry Sheff, Debbie Woolford, Cynthia Butler, Lois Marshall, Tresia Mason, John Neal, Patricia Pickeral, Joseph (Vince) Thomas, Yvonne Tyson, Lisa Aliff, Earl Baltimore, Gilbert Bivins, Timothy Boyd, Howard Branson, Wendall Brown, Zelda Brown, Lynn Brown-Dunnington, Bruce Bulls, Ronald Carroll, Troy Chase, Cheryl Cox, Victoria Downs, Jeffery Dyson, Benjamin Franklin III, Robert Fredrick, Kenneth Gamble, James Griffenhagen, Thomas Gunderson, John Hardee Jr, Rhonda Hawkins, Westley Johnson, Bryant Kim, Lonnie Klahr, Francis Lee Jr, Jose Leon, Phillip Marbury, Franklin Martin, Sandy Mathews-Green, Heather Murphy, Jacqueline Payne, George Reeves, Donald Robey, Donna Sheff, Ronald Sullivan, Gregory Swann, Norman Swann, Veljean Thompson, Nathaniel Woodland, Tracey Wright, and Benjamin Yannayon.

The following personnel were identified as critical team members and were recognized individually by Rear Adm. Heely via LOA: David Williams, Paul McCafferty, Lt. Col Jurgen Smith, Craig Wheeler, Craig Pfleegor, Dave Krashefski, Mike Rutledge, Diane Sabal, Paul McCool, Ray Bazil, Alfred Stern, Michael Thornton, Joseph Fritz, Dale Thomas, Mary Boyd, Brandon Shaffer, Colin Makie-Smith, George Hollen, Ralph Pettersen and Nicholas Scalfaro.