spring 2008 the chronicle 1 · ssc charleston technical director james ward posted this final...

The ChronicleSpring 2008 1

The Chronicle2 Spring 2008

Custom PCB fabrication at SSC Charleston.See page 28


Captain’s Call .................................... 4

From the Technical Director ................ 5

Ward receives Order of Palmetto .......11

‘08 Innovation Program underway.....15

MCS: small package, big capability ....19

Leiva named HENAAC Luminary ........20

Memorial charts our Navy tradition ....22

Code 5.3.7.8 capabilities ..................28

Sharing more than just lunch ............36

Incorporating interns on the job ........42

TCDL: real-time action .....................45

SSC Charleston hosts VIPs ...............48

The final word .................................50

7 Secretary of Defense visitsGates congratulates the SSC Charleston

team for answering the MRAP integration

demand signal.

12 Lean Six Sigma ...... an integral element of SSC Charleston’s

MRAP program success.

18 NERMS team milestoneThe Navy Emergency Response Manage-

ment System (NERMS) is successfully

tested in Jacksonville.

On the cover

SSC Charleston’s MineResistant Ambush Pro-tected (MRAP) vehicleintegration team metand exceeded its goalsfor providing vehiclesready for tasking. Seestories on pages 7 and12. Photo by SusanPiedfort.

InsideInsideSpring 2008 Vol. 14, No. 1

Lunch Buddies, page 36

Photo by Harold Senn

ChronicleChronicle

Commanding Officer ..... Captain Red HooverExecutive Director ..................... James Ward

The Chronicle is a quarterly publication de-signed for SPAWAR Systems Center, Charles-ton employees. Its purpose is to inform, edu-cate, entertain and generate new ideas. An offi-cial publication, The Chronicle is printed usingappropriated funds in compliance with DocumentAutomation and Production Service regulations.Contents of The Chronicle are not necessarilythe official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S.Government, the Department of Defense, theU.S. Navy or SSC Charleston.

To view The Chronicle online, visitwww.sscc.spawar.navy.mil and click “AboutUs.”

P.O. Box 190022North Charleston, SC 29419-9022

TheThe

ChronicleChronicle

SSC Charleston’s MissionTo provide knowledge superiority to naval and

joint warfighters and peacekeepers through the de-velopment, acquisition and life cycle support of ef-fective, integrated Command, Control, Communica-tions, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Re-connaissance (C4ISR) systems.

Editor .......................................... Susan PiedfortPhotographer ................................ Harold Senn


During the last quarter we have seen outstanding resultsin supporting several key initiatives important to our SPAWAREnterprise and our customers. One of these initiatives is therecent standup of the Tidewater-based Fleet Support Office(FSO) under the leadership of our CAO 4.0 Logistics andFleet Support lead, Capt. Bruce Urbon. The FSO is workingacross TEAM SPAWAR to establish standards of service toour entire customer base. Centering this support activity inthe Tidewater area provides direct access to the fleet and tokey shore staff and support commands.

An early win for the FSO came out of our participation ina TEAM SPAWAR Casualty Response (CASREP) ProcessImprovement Integrated Product Team (IPT) and Lean SixSigma event. Goals from the CASREP IPT charter were to1) define and implement a SPAWAR CASREP response pro-cess that is integrated with the Fleet Technical Assist Pro-cess and the Regional Maintenance Center (RMCs), 2) de-velop measures of effectiveness, 3) reduce CASREP re-sponse time and 4) provide cost visibility.

As an example of this process improvement put to thetest, a recent tech assist was passed from the Mid-AtlanticRegional Maintenance Center (MARMC) to an SSC Charles-ton ISEA in record time. The elapsed time from notificationof the tech assist to MARMC approval and turn-on of theISEA assist effort was less than three hours. In the past,this process would normally have taken up to three days.Not only will this process eliminate the delay to the cus-tomer, it will allow the new FSO to collect accurate metricsrelated to tech assists accomplished in support of RMC re-quirements.

Another change everyone is familiar with has been thesuccessful implementation of NSPS. There are still lessonsto be learned, but overall we have made the transition verysuccessful, thanks to the outstanding efforts of everyone inthe command.

In parallel with transitioning to NSPS, we have also be-gun deployment of our SPAWAR Competency Aligned Or-ganization. In order to prepare ourselves properly, all of us

have seen our office codes change to align to the definedcompetency areas (see article on page 6.) As we continueour implementation, the benefits of CAO will become moreobvious, but you should be already seeing improvementsin career path development and better networking withinthe same competency areas.

Welcome aboard to our New Professionals! We hired124 New Professionals and interns in fiscal year 2007, andwe have another 56 who have accepted offers of employ-ment at SSC Charleston in the Navy Career Intern Pro-gram (NCIP) and Student Temporary Employment Pro-gram/Student Career Employment Program (STEP/SCEP).These folks represent some of the best and brightest inspecialties such as computer engineering, software engi-neering, electrical engineering, industrial engineering, me-chanical engineering and computer science. New Profes-sionals have already taken their places on our team and areworking around the world on significant projects that savewarfighter lives. These folks are a big part of our currentand future success, so when you meet them, please ex-tend a hearty welcome.

We’ve had some great visits over the last few months,from the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Navy,the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Chief ofNaval Operations, various U.S. senators and representa-tives, and flag officers from all services. As always, ourteam has done a magnificent job of demonstrating our rel-evance to our warfighters and national interests.

There are some important upcoming dates on the calen-dar.

• The standup of SSC Atlantic is still on schedule forOct. 1.

• The change of command for SSC Charleston will beheld June 26.

• The revised date for Navy ERP go live is Oct. 1, 2009.As most of you know SSC Charleston Technical Direc-

tor James Ward retired on March 31. As we transition thesechanges, I look forward to the bright future ahead for theSSC Atlantic team.

Tidewater FSO focused on the fleet


From the desk of

Continued on page 4

What it means to work hereSPAWAR Charleston. We’ve jumped out there time and timeagain, with innovative ideas, with strategies for leadingchange, with connecting things differently than in the pastand taking on new challenges.

We’re leading the way, not waiting to see which way thewinds blow, like old Alvin. Everyone who works here is aleader. Everyone who works in government must be a leader.Thomas Jefferson said, “That government is best whichgoverns the least, because its people discipline themselves.”Democracy doesn’t give us the right to do anything wewant; it enables us to do the things we ought to do. I’ve

always believed a good leaderneeds to guide, facilitate, enable,trust and challenge, notmicromanage or control people.We have grown a culture of ac-countability, integrity, loyalty andcompetency. You have to protectand advance it with everything in-side of you. Culture is fragile,much like a coral reef. It doesn’ttake much to destroy it, and it’svery difficult to grow back.

Today this country faces a dif-ferent kind of threat than the Cold

War -- an asymmetrical threat. During the RevolutionaryWar the colonists fought the British Redcoats with uncon-ventional warfare tactics using the scant resources avail-able. The colonists posed an asymmetrical threat. Todaywe face an enemy who uses our own planes against us orexploits their own people to detonate IEDs. We’ve jumpedout there to respond to this new threat. In our MRAP inte-gration program, somewhere between the strict adherenceto rigorous DoD 5000 acquisition requirements and ad hocengineering, we found the sweet spot — just the rightamount of testing, engineering, logistics and configurationmanagement to respond rapidly and bring the capability tothe

“SSC Charleston has

become a benchmark

organization by using what is

right about an organization to

remedy what is wrong.

Leveraging our strengths is

our roadmap for the future!”

James D. WardJames D. WardJames D. WardJames D. WardJames D. WardTechnical Director

Editor’s note: Before his retirement March 31, 2008,SSC Charleston Technical Director James Ward posted thisfinal column for the SSC Charleston Chronicle.

For me, analogies are the best way I’ve found to conveymy thoughts. I think any communication effectiveness I’vehad is due to how well I use analogies to help folks under-stand the point I’m trying to make. One of my favoriteleadership lessons comes from an old hound dog namedAlvin that belonged to my Uncle Hiram and Aunt Catherine.

My aunt and uncle lived in Danville, Va., with Alvin. Ev-ery time they would leave the house, Alvin would run to thesteps, jump out in front and es-cort them to the garage. Theywould get in the car and Alvinwould run to the road. Most ofthe places they drove to werewithin about a two-mile radius.Alvin would always run ahead ofthe car, down on the grass or onthe street. When they got to thecorner, he would watch. He knewif they went left they were goingto the drugstore or to see mygrandmother. If they went rightthey were going to get somebarbeque or to see my other aunt. Alvin would always waitand see which way they were going, then he’d run outahead of the car to their destination.

One time after watching Alvin do this I told my uncle,“That Alvin is so smart.”

And my uncle said, “James Dallas, that dog isn’t so smart.He just watches where I’m going then he jumps out likehe’s in the lead. That’s just hound dog leadership.”

I think we all have run into someone like that at one timeor another … someone who always watches where thecrowd is going, then jumps out ahead as if in the lead.That’s not leadership. At 12 years old I’m not sure I under-stood that but I do now.

Hound dog leadership is not what we are about at


By Rebecca SherwoodCAO Execution Manager

Competency Aligned Organization (CAO)/IntegratedProduct Teams (IPTs) refers to an important restructuringof how we will conduct our day-to-day operations, and ispart of a large Navywide initiative to standardize best tech-nical and administrative practices and establish a commonbusiness model across the entire Navy acquisition commu-nity.

Analysis and planning to develop an optimum CAO ap-proach for SSC Charleston and for all of TEAM SPAWARhas been going on for more than a year. Technical directorsand department heads from across TEAM SPAWAR havebeen, and continue to be, personally leading teams that meetweekly to redefine roles and relationships and to determinehow the enterprise is going to operate.

In January, TEAM SPAWAR conducted a “war game” totest a draft CAO/IPT Concept of Operations (CONOPS).A revision incorporating valuable lessons learned is in de-velopment. The goal of all this effort is to find the best wayto combine the benefits of a CAO/IPT structure with thestrengths and successes of our past operating model in or-der to form a stronger, more efficient and effective organi-zation; one that will be more agile and responsive to therapidly changing operational and technical challenges weface in support of the warfighter.

CAO will be implemented in a phased approach over thenext several years. The first time most of you became awareof CAO probably occurred last October when your depart-ment code designation was changed. For now, this changemay appear to have been simply a name change from adepartment code designation to a new 5-digit competencycode. But as CAO implementation matures, you will seethat this change signaled a shift of organizational emphasisfrom one focused on mission areas to one focused on you,your technical knowledge and skills (competencies) andyour career progression. As the Technical Director hasmentioned in many of his briefings, “people are our mostvaluable resource.”

Our transition to become a Competency Aligned Organi-zation is continuing at an ever increasing pace. A CAO/IPTimplementation schedule for all TEAM SPAWAR has beendeveloped. It identifies 13 milestones to be completed bySept. 30. Goals include: fine-tuning of the CAO CONOPS;refinement of competency area definitions; roles and re-sponsibilities; creation of command guidance and commu-nications material; and completion of Competency Devel-opment Models (CDMs) to name a few.

CDMs are guidelines for individual growth and develop-ment within each competency, and will help employees plantheir careers. CDMs describe the education, training andexperience required to be considered as entry-level, inter-mediate, advanced, or expert in a particular Competencyarea.

Each employee inherited an initial competency designa-tion by virtue of the department code designation last Octo-ber. For example, if you were in Code 60 which is nowCode 53, you have the presumptive competency of engi-neering for Command and Control. In the near future, youwill meet with your supervisors to review your personalcompetency based on your own specific experiences, skillsand abilities.

As CAO matures, you will be able to use the Compe-tency Development Model as a framework to talk with yoursupervisors about required training and other requirementsneeded for job placement and advancement.

Successful implementation of CAO will take all our ef-forts. Change is never easy and CAO is just one of severalbig changes you have been asked to implement all at thesame time (Navy ERP and NSPS also come to mind). Butthe good news is that once we work our way through thischallenging period, we will have state-of-the-art financial,business, personnel and organization systems and struc-tures in place that will enable us to continue our leadershipin providing C4ISR solutions for years to come.

If you have any questions about CAO, please do nothesitate to contact me.

Competency Aligned Organization status

warfighter to counter asymmetrical threats. Our coun-try needs more organizations that can do that. That’s whatwe built our foundation on at SSC Charleston, and that’swhere we need to keep going in the future.

When I look back over a 30-year career, I only wish Iwould have “jumped out there” more. That is what we needto do as an organization. Government service needs moreleaders and more organizations that lead the way. Our pastsuccesses indicate we are the right ones to lead. SSCCharleston has become a benchmark organization by using

what is right about an organization to remedy what is wrong.Leveraging our strengths is our roadmap for the future!

I expect I’ll have many mixed emotions when I walkthrough the doors of Bldg. 3147 for the last time. Therewill be immense pride in all that we’ve accomplished. Therewill be confidence in the great future that I know lies aheadfor you.

The SSC Charleston workforce is the team I’ve enjoyedbeing in the foxhole with. I know whatever challenges areput on your plate, you will figure out a way to make it allwork. Keep leading the way, my friends. I will never for-get the relationships we have built in the last 10 years. Theywill be in my treasure chest for life.

WardContinued from page 3


SECDEF visits MRAP team;lauds SSC Charleston role

‘...Indeed an awesome operation...’

U.S. Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) Robert M. Gatesvisited Charleston Jan. 18 to thank employees of SSCCharleston for saving warfighter lives by integrating, test-ing and installing advanced electronic systems communi-cations equipment on Mine Resistant Ambush Protected(MRAP) vehicles.

At the MRAP integration facility, Gates took a few min-utes to thank the government/industry partner team install-ing command and control, communications, computer, in-telligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) equip-ment in the vehicles.

MRAPs have been proven lifesavers on the battlefield,and for that reason they were named the top acquisitionpriority last year, the secretary noted, “Last year I madeMRAP vehicles the top acquisition priority, and by end of2007 we had topped our goal of 1,500 MRAPs in theater.

“That goal was met because you all worked six days aweek, around the clock to get it done,” Gates told morethan 400 assembled workers at the MRAP integration facil-ity, adding, “You delivered under pressure with warfighterlives on the line.”

SSC Charleston Commanding Officer Capt. Red Hooversaid he is proud to be a part of the MRAP effort which istruly making a difference by saving lives. “I am extremely

Continued on next page

From left, SSC Charleston Commanding Officer Capt. RedHoover; the Honorable John Young, Undersecretary of De-fense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics; and Secre-tary of Defense Robert Gates depart Bldg. 3147 enroute tothe MRAP integration facility, below, where Gates spoke tothe assembled workers.

Photo by Susan Piedfort

Photo by Cherie A. Thurlby


proud of the hard work the SPAWAR Systems Center,Charleston team is doing, and we are honored to be part ofsuch a significant program. Your success is a testament towhat dedication and determination by a government andindustry partner team can do.”

Gates called IEDs the tactic of choice of our adversarybecause they are cheap, deadly and difficult to detect. Whilethere is no failsafe measure to prevent loss of life and limbin war, a vehicle like the MRAP gives warfighters the bestprotection available, the secretary said.

The troops love the MRAPs, Gates told the crowd, andcommanders say they sleep better at night because of them.

Gates echoed the sentiments of another recent visitingdignitary, Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter, when hepraised SSC Charleston and the community’s ability to mo-bilize MRAP integration and ramp up the production line.The secretary said that in the 1940s the war effort mobi-lized the country’s entire economy. While that is not truetoday, it does not take away from the importance of the

Continued from previous page

Secretary of Defense visits

Photo by Tom Egbert



Clockwise from top left, SSC Charleston Commanding Of-ficer Capt. Red Hoover gives Defense Secretary Robert M.Gates an MRAP overview brief in the IPC; Pete Ward, MRAPproject lead, explains the different varieties of MRAPs toGates; SSC Charleston Technical Director James Wardmakes a point during a tour of the MRAP integration facil-ity, as Hoover and the Honorable John Young, Undersecretaryof Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, lookon.

task at hand at SSC Charleston. “Then President FranklinD. Roosevelt told the people of this country to raise theirsights, to let no one say it can’t be done, to keep raisingtheir sights.

“And now I say to you, keep pressing on. IEDs will bewith us for some time to come. The need for these vehicleswill not soon go away,” Gates said. “There can be no betterdescription of the service you are providing: you are savinglives.

“We reached our goal of integrating 50 vehicles a day inearly December,” said SSC Charleston Technical DirectorJames Ward. “And we met that goal ahead of time,” headded.

While in Charleston Gates visited the SSC Charlestonmain engineering center, saw a display of nearly a dozenvarieties of military vehicles that have been integrated here,and watched as MRAP vehicles were being loaded on aC-17 at Charleston Air Force Base. Among the distinguishedvisitors accompanying Gates were the Honorable JohnYoung, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Tech-nology and Logistics; and Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, seniormilitary advisor to the Secretary of Defense.


The following is a transcriptof the remarks made by Secre-tary of Defense Robert Gatesto the MRAP integration team.

Thank you. This is indeedan awesome operation, and I’llonly interrupt your work forabout five minutes. To the menand women of SPAWAR, Iwanted to take a few momentsto thank you for your hardwork and dedication to this im-portant effort. MRAP is aproven lifesaver on thebattlefield. You have my appre-ciation and my respect – butmore importantly, the thanks ofcountless moms and dads, hus-bands and wives, and sons anddaughters of U.S. troops de-ployed abroad.

As you know, IEDs are thetactic of choice for ourenemies. They are cheap anddeadly, and difficult to detecton the dusty streets ofBaghdad, Samarra, Mosul and elsewhere. They have beenthe biggest killer of our troops in Iraq.

There is no failsafe measure that can prevent all lossof life and limb on this or any other battlefield. That isthe brutal reality of war. But vehicles like MRAP, com-bined with the right tactics, techniques and procedures,provide the best protection available against these at-tacks.

Last year, I made MRAPs the Defense Department’stop acquisition priority. By the end of 2007, the target ofbuilding, integrating and delivering 1,500 fully capableMRAPs was met – because you worked six days a weekand around the clock. I’m told that nearly a third ofthose who work here at SPAWAR are veterans, whoknow from experience how important it is to get thebest equipment to the battlefield as soon as possible.

The partner manufacturers and suppliers, and youhere at SPAWAR, have delivered under pressure withlives on the line. In fact, the last time American industrymoved from concept to full-rate military production inless than a year was World War II.

This has been a team effort with many moving parts

– in the military and indus-try, and elsewhere in the pri-vate sector.

Suppliers of steel, tiresand other materials havestepped up, as have themanufacturers – firms in theUnited States and in 10 for-eign countries. Through theefforts of TransportationCommand, MRAPs areshipped or flown from herein Charleston to places half-way around the world.

I don’t think it will sur-prise you to hear me say youmust keep pressing on. IEDswill be with us for some timeto come – in Iraq, Afghani-stan, the battlefields of thefuture. The need for thesevehicles will not soon goaway.

The war effort of the1940s mobilized the entireAmerican economy. That is

not the case today, and while that may make yours seemlike a lonely task, it only underscores how importantthat task is. Back then, President Roosevelt said: “Wemust raise our sights all along the production line. Letno [one] say it cannot be done.” Those in the MRAPprogram have shown that it can be done.

So keep raising your sights. Keep these vehicles roll-ing off the line. Your efforts are saving lives.... To putit in the words of one Sergeant Major, and I quote,“MRAP is just lovely!” Actually, he didn’t say “lovely.”He was actually considerably more colorful than that inhis comments.

But I will quote the rest of his statement. He said,“Troops love them, commanders sleep better knowingthe troops have them.” There can be no better descrip-tion of the difference you are making here. You are sav-ing lives.

So just as I am thanking you now, America and ourmen and women in uniform have great reason to thankyou as well – now, and in the years to come. Thankyou.

Gates to MRAP team: ‘You are saving lives’

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates addressesthe MRAP integration team during a Jan. 18 visitto SSC Charleston.




Photo by Air Force Tech. Sgt. Adam M. Stump

Photo by Air Force Tech. Sgt. Adam M. Stump

JCS vice chairman visitsMarine Corps Gen. James E. Cartwright, vice chairman

of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), visited SSC CharlestonJan. 23 to see how MRAP vehicles are being integrated. Inaddition to touring the MRAP integration facility, above, thegeneral also received a brief in the Integrated Products Centerin Bldg. 3147, chatted with Technical Director James Ward,Commanding Officer Capt. Red Hoover and MRAP ProjectEngineer Pete Ward, left, and got a close look at vehicles ondisplay in front of the building, below.

Formerly commander of the U.S. Strategic Command,Cartwright was confirmed as vice chairman of the JointChiefs of Staff Aug. 3, 2007.


South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford recently awardedthe highest ranking civilian at SSC Charleston the state’shighest civilian honor for extraordinary lifetime achieve-ment and service to the state and nation.

James Ward, technical director of SSC Charleston, waspresented the award Feb. 22 by Retired Vice Adm. AlBaciocco and Retired Brig. Gen. Tom Mikolajcik, both mem-bers of the Governor’s Military Base Advisory Committeeand community leaders. Ward was nominated for the awardby the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce.

While presenting the award, Baciocco noted that, “Jamesis an agent of innovation and creativity, and he’s brought somuch energy and enthusiasm to SPAWAR. I can think ofno one more deserving of the state’s highest honor for hisextraordinary achievements and service to our state andcountry.”

Mikolajcik added, “All of the accomplishments ofSPAWAR, including the enormous impact the facility hashad in transforming the economy of the region and the re-sulting positive effect on the entire state of South Carolina,are the direct result of James Ward’s vision, and dedicationto his country, state and community.”

Under Ward’s leadership, SSC Charleston has becomethe largest single cluster of computer scientists and engi-

neers in the state of South Carolina, providing thousands ofhighly-skilled high paying jobs to our state.

A letter from the governor accompanying the award notedthat Ward has set a standard of excellence second to none,adding that today’s warfighters are better equipped and saferthanks to the technological advancements made at SSCCharleston on Ward’s watch. Citing development of the in-frared binoculars, inflatable satellite antenna and projectssuch as Internet cafes and MRAP vehicle integration,Sanford said Ward has helped to save the lives of thou-sands of our country’s warfighters. The letter said Ward isclearly deserving of the state’s highest civilian award forservice for all he has done “to better this part of the world.”

Ward, clearly surprised by the honor, commented thathe is not usually at a loss for words. He said he has alwaystreasured the opportunity to serve the young men andwomen putting their lives on the line for our country. Hethanked the employees of SSC Charleston and noted thatthe various partnerships the command has with industryand academia have made a difference in the command’sspeed to capability.

Ward, who has served as SSC Charleston’s senior civil-ian since 2003, retired in March, culminating a 30-year ca-reer of public service.

From left, Jason Ward, his wife Hunter Ward, Vanessa Wardand her husband SSC Charleston Technical Director JamesWard, Brig. Gen. Tom Mikolajcik (USAF, Ret.) and Vice Adm.

Photo by Tom Egbert

Ward receives Order of the Palmetto

Al Baciocco (USN, Ret.) pose after presentation of the Orderof the Palmetto Feb. 22 at the SSC Charleston ConferenceCenter.


Innovations

By Lt. Brian PhillipsMRAP Lean Six Sigma Black Belt

SSC Charleston is leading the charge protectingwarfighters with state of the art technology, overseeingC4ISR integration into Mine Resistant Ambush Protected(MRAP) vehicles responsible for saving countless lives ona daily basis in the Global War on Terrorism.

The MRAP vehicle program is currently the DoD’s num-ber one program, with $24.5 billion in funding. SSC Charles-ton has stepped up and demonstrated the capability to fullyintegrate 50 vehicles per day with a full complement of C4Icapability. This accomplishment helps demonstrate that SSCCharleston is a world class military systems engineeringorganization, accomplishing a goal that many believed im-possible in the eight months that it took to stand up theprogram to full rate production.

The integration of Government Furnished Equipment(GFE) into the MRAP vehicles also presents the command

one of its principal opportunities to effectively implementcontinuous process improvement. SSC Charleston’s utili-zation of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) principles and tools in atrue industrial setting is being held up as a shining exampleto the rest of the DoD.

When the MRAP integration process began in March2007, few imagined that it would expand into a $24.5 bil-lion program. Initially, the MRAP integration facility wasproducing an average of five vehicles per day. SSC Charles-ton Commanding Officer Capt. Red Hoover requested thata command LSS Black Belt report to the MRAP facility andstand up a team to help meet the task of 50 vehicles inte-grated per day utilizing Lean Six Sigma principles. I took onthis assignment and assembled a team of 10 individuals totackle the challenge. The team members, all fully commit-ted, highly energetic and brilliant, worked extremely hardto remove waste from the process and increase productionof MRAPs through the use of Kaizen Rapid Improvement

An integral element of

MRAP program success

Lt. Brian Phillips, center, explains to Secretary of Defense,second from left, Robert Gates how his Lean Six Sigma teamimproved processes on the MRAP integration line. Looking

Photo by Tom Egbert

Lean Six Sigma:

on are SSC Charleston Commanding Officer Capt. RedHoover and MRAP Project Lead Pete Ward.


Events (RIEs). What is most amazing is that the averageage of the team members is 24 years old and most have justa year of work experience.

During the first four months of the MRAP LSS team’spresence at the vehicle integration facility, their efforts helpedincreased the output of vehicles from five per day to morethan 50 per day, as we had committed to answer the de-mand signal. The next – and ongoing – step is to consis-tently sustain this output rate for a significant length oftime, while reducing overall cycle time and increasing thequality output from the MRAP facility. Some of the otherLean Six Sigma successes include:Welding

By modifying the welding process and efficient materialhandling, the MRAP program shortened production timeon from two hours to 20 minutes, roughly an 80 percentreduction.Quality Assurance (QA)

While increasing production from five vehicles to 50 ve-hicles per day, the QA process was modified and total qual-ity related deficiencies were reduced by 25 percent acrossthe entire integration facility. It is noteworthy that qualityrelated rework incidents were substantially reduced despitethe fact that production increased and 400 new hires cameonboard.Non-core competency

SSC Charleston identified, drafted and communicatedseveral engineering change plans (ECPs) for several non-C4I competency tasks, including hole-drilling, welding andturret subassembly and installation. Removing this non-corework from the integration lines and passing it back to ve-hicle vendors saves at least 15 man-hours per vehicle.

Digital rackThrough the utilization of complex LSS methodology

and tools, the MRAP program redesigned the digital rackbuildup process, reducing the four hour job shop buildupprocess to a 25-minute continuous flow process to comple-tion.Vehicle variant Takt time

Through a comprehensive analysis, standardized workpackages for each of seven vehicle manufacturer variantswere developed, allowing a reduction of required workersfrom four to three, while simultaneously cutting the overallprocess time by 50 percent.

The MRAP integration program is a shining example ofwhat can be achieved by utilizing the methodology taughtin Lean Six Sigma and has drawn high levels of interest andattention. The MRAP integration team also has demonstratedthe capability of the program in more than 60 formal visitsduring a six-month period. This required long hours by manyto coordinate visits while maintaining the operational tempoin the integration facility, but brought new synergies to theprocesses.

On Jan. 18 their efforts were recognized by The Honor-able Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates as he congratu-lated the workforce and the region for their efforts. He ac-knowledged that this has been the largest and fastest mili-tary acquisition buildup since the Second World War, quitean accomplishment for the entire Department of Defense.

There is no doubt that SSC Charleston and the Navyhave performed above and beyond in support of thewarfighter, as well as the nation. The lessons learned utiliz-ing sound systems engineering and Lean Six Sigma will bevaluable as the future Navy is developed.

At left, an SSC CharlestonMRAP integration teammember signs a certificatethat expresses pride in hisrole in equipping the vehicle.Above, American flags andpatriotic banners locatedthroughout the integrationfacility are daily remindersfor the team of the importantrole they play in savingwarfighter lives.Photo by Donna Miles



Operation Rudolph

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) visited SSCCharleston Oct. 11 to view Mine Resistant Ambush Pro-tected (MRAP) vehicle C4ISR integration operations.Noting that every MRAP heading to Iraq comes throughSSC Charleston before being transported overseas, Gra-ham emphasized the effectiveness of the armored vehicles

at saving American lives from Improvised Explosive De-vices (IEDs) and ambush attacks. “This is another ex-ample of how our state has been and continues to be onthe tip of the spear for the United States military’s fightagainst terrorism,” said Graham.

Sen. Lindsey Graham vis-its

Photos by Harold Senn

The holiday season is long gone but Santa has a few helpers working overtime to brighten thelives of warfighters. In the spirit of the successful “Yummies for Hummies” effort last year inwhich Up-Armored Humvees sent from SSC Charleston were stocked with goodies for men andwomen who would be using the vehicles, the MRAP integration team partnered with the Charles-ton Council of the Navy League of the United States to put boxes of goodies in MRAPs headedto the Middle East. Above, Operation Rudolph team members Mieka Marson, Claire Commo-dore, Matt Shapiro, Barb Holliway, Abram Jackson, Mike Thomas, Lt. Brian Phillips and SSCCharleston Executive Officer Cmdr. Scott Heller pose after loading boxes on MRAPs.

Photos by Susan Piedfort


SSC Charleston’s 08 Innovators

Members representing the innovation teams chosen for SSC Charleston’s 2008 Innovation Program pose in the commandbriefing theater following the announcement of grant recipients.

The third annual SSC Charleston Innovation Programgot underway in earnest in February as the Command ChiefTechnology Officer (CTO) announced the selected propos-als for the 2008 fiscal year. With a budget of more than$1.5 million, the Innovation Program will be managing 13engineering and four business innovation teams.

Eighty-one innovation proposals were received for thisyear’s program, up from 69 received last year.

The Innovation Program is part of the command’s Bal-anced Score Card initiative, particularly the strategic objec-tive to accelerate innovation and experimentation within SSCCharleston. Proposals were evaluated by the CTOs and forthe first time, this year, the Chief Operating Officers (COOs)assisted in the evaluation process for all business propos-als. The Systems Engineering Group (SEG), Science andTechnology Group (STG) and the Management SteeringGroup (MSG) were instrumental in the proposal approvalprocess. FY08 projects and team leaders are:

Cable Climber for Auto Deployment of Wide Range Net-work Node or Retransmit Capability; Principal InvestigatorChristopher All.

Social Network for Harnessing Internal Corporate Knowl-edge (SNHICK); Principal Investigator Bruce Billian.

Instituting CMMI by Value Stream; Principal Investiga-tor Robert Castagna.

Making FORCEnet a Reality: Meshing the Tactical EdgeNetwork; Principal Investigator Richard Cunningham.

Automated Signal Recognition and Processing ServicesFramework; Principal Investigator John Cutter.

Enhanced SOA/ACE Capability for Network CentricMapping Database (NCMD) Software (eNCMD); PrincipalInvestigator Robert Greer.

Business Area Management (BAM) Operating Model;Principal Investigator Gregory Hays.

Encrypted Temporal Preamble for Bit-by-Bit Authenti-cation of an RF Emitter; Principal Investigator Al Kunze.

A Generic Architecture for Deterministic Decision Mak-ing Utilizing Results from Deterministic and Non-Deter-ministic Sources; Principal Investigator Sarah Leitner.

Embedded Simulation in a Multi-Touch Environment:Building an Automated Battle Management Aid (ABMA);Principal Investigator Michael Nash.

Ultra-Wideband Cognitive Radio Management Tool-Project Name: Rose Garden; Principal Investigator DaveNeumann.

Systems and Services Management Integration (S2MI);Principal Investigator Derik Pack.

Employing Expert Knowledge Education to Retain Cor-poration Investment; Principal Investigator Renee Puzio.

Disconnected Identity Federation and Delegation; Prin-cipal Investigator Michael Ramirez.

Embedded Spectrum Awareness on Software DefinedRadio; Principal Investigator Mike Shirley.

Characterization of the Portability of SCR Waveformsto Small Form Factor Platforms; Principal InvestigatorDexiang Xu, PhD.

IO Cyberspace Initiative; Principal Investigator SamuelYaryan.



By Thomas J. BrownThe Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Installations and

Environment), Honorable B.J. Penn, announced the fiscalyear 2007 Secretary of the Navy Environmental Awards onMarch 5.

The Naval Sea Systems Command’s (NAVSEA) Envi-ronmental Information Management System/ProtectiveMeasures Assessment Protocol Team from the ShipboardEnvironmental Protection Branch (SEA 05P25) with strongtechnical development support from SSC Charleston’s Code5510, Network Engineering Division, was selected the Navywinner in the Environmental Quality, Team/Individual cat-egory.

“Congratulations to all the winners of this year’s awards,”said Penn in a naval message. “Your accomplishments areoutstanding in their own right and exemplify the Depart-ment of the Navy’s commitment to environmental stew-ardship. I thank you for your participation in this competi-tion and I look forward to your continued exceptional ef-fort to protect the environment while we execute our na-tional defense mission.”

Kenneth Bible, co-lead with NAVFAC and NAVSEA inthe original program formation in the year 2000, Twila Wil-liams-Sabin, current lead engineer, and Nathan Hattabaugh,lead contract developer, were SSC Charleston’s team lead-ers. They received recognition by U.S. Fleet Forces Com-mand and the CNO Office of Environmental Protection andOccupational Health for their part in delivering the Environ-mental Information Management System (EIMS) to the fleet.

The men and women of the SSC Charleston team, inclose partnership with key personnel from NAVSEA, theCNO, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Commander U.S. Pa-cific Fleet, NAVFAC and industry, cooperatively and syner-gistically developed and deployed EIMS.

“EIMS provides a tremendous example of the power ofcompetency alignment, where SPAWAR was able to de-liver Net-Centric tools and capabilities to the environmentalplanning experts at NAVFAC, NAVSEA and elsewhere,” saidBible, the program’s original chief engineer and Code 551division head. “Further, we were able to deliver a collabo-rative environment on the Net for the fleet’s operational

planners to work with these environmental experts to main-tain the Navy’s access to its operational areas and ranges.”

In 2007 the system was delivered to the fleet for ship-board use and the first EIMS module, the Protective Mea-sures Assessment Protocol (PMAP), was granted “Approvalto Operate” from the Naval Network Warfare Command.EIMS supports the Navy planning process for training ex-ercises and provides tools to prepare environmental plan-ning documents in accordance with the requirements ofthe National Environmental Policy Act, the Coastal ZoneManagement Act, and Executive Order 12114, Environmen-tal Effects Abroad of Major Federal Actions, the Endan-gered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.In addition, PMAP provides unit level commanders situ-ational awareness and appropriate protective measures forroutine training and exercises.

Twila Williams-Sabin, the current lead engineer, recentlysaid, “EIMS is undergoing a major equipment and softwareupgrade. When completed, the system will be significantlycloser to the original goal of being the Navy’s single sourceof environmental information for at-sea applications. Its in-creased capabilities will allow it to assist U.S. Fleet ForcesCommand to better manage its at-sea and ashore environ-mental challenges. I am thrilled to be selected to lead thiseffort.”

To meet the challenges of complying with applicable lawsand regulations including the Marine Mammal ProtectionAct and the Endangered Species Act, the fleet requesteddevelopment of a single system to support fleet training atsea. The fleet recommended that CNO support develop-ment of a comprehensive global information system (GIS)based information management system for operational andenvironmental planning to support operational requirements,at-sea environmental issues, range operational area compli-ance and encroachment issues. It was envisioned that byusing a single comprehensive system to conduct environ-mental planning and analysis, the Navy would be able toreduce costs through repeated use of data collected. Throughthe fleet’s request for a common solution that could beused on East and West Coasts, EIMS was born. The Navyteam began its search for a solution to aid the fleet in plan-

Code 5510 supports award winning NAVSEA EIMS team

Environmental

stewardship


ning at-sea training exercises in com-pliance with legislation, regulations andpolicy by evaluating existing commer-cial and government solutions thatcould be modified to be used for fleetneeds.

The NAVSEA team utilized a stan-dardized research, development, testand evaluation (RDT&E) approach tosurvey the commercial sector for so-lutions that were transferable to theNavy and would facilitate achieving thedesired goal. Early in the process, theteam realized that there were no com-mercial or Navy-owned systems thatcould provide the required capability.To remedy the situation, the team em-braced another strategy and developeda customized Navy solution. The re-sulting system was innovative, allow-ing for flexibility in that it could be usedworldwide, provide for cost reduction,ensure repeatability and increased qual-ity assurance through continued use ofthe same worldwide dataset.

Nathan Hattabaugh, an EMA em-ployee, has been with EIMS since itsvery beginnings eight years ago. Nathanis a graduate of University of North Alabama with a degreein geographic information systems. “I’ve learned a greatdeal of additional information technologies working EIMSover the years that complements my background from theUniversity of North Alabama GIS program. We’ve been ableto help turn what many termed ‘data overload’ into a fullyfunctioning information and planning resource that crossesgeographical and organizational boundaries,” Hattabaughsaid. “It’s an unprecedented level of information sharingthat means more efficient training, better prepared war fight-ers, and maximum benefit to the Navy as a whole.”

The EIMS toolset integrates over 1,000 datasets from150 data sources to develop a visual picture of the environ-ment. PMAP is updated through EIMS and supports unitlevel commanders with information known about the livingmarine environment, providing a printout of protective mea-sures that can be implemented proactively before as well asduring a training exercise. Entry of three data fields permitsthe system to generate a decision support report for thecommanding officer, providing specific standard operatingprocedures based on place, date and type of training event,to protect marine resources during unit level routine train-ing events or exercises.

“The additional EMA support for EIMS / PMAP includesBrian Kost, Tod Hollis, Patrick Ewen, Jason Hansel andPrayer Singleton,” Hattabaugh added. “Overall, the team

has learned a vast amount of knowledge regarding the ef-fects of environment on training readiness and planning whileimplementing advanced information technologies.”

The fact that the system is deployed, logistically sup-ported and within budget is especially noteworthy. In addi-tion to supporting environmental quality, it’s estimated thatEIMS will produce an average annual cost avoidance of$2.24 million per year.

The challenges to any publicly financed and annuallyappropriated large-scale environmental quality initiative im-pacting complex warships and military operations are espe-cially significant. The development and deployment ofPMAP onboard Navy surface ships and submarines is animportant milestone and a great success story for the Navy.Information on PMAP is now included in the training re-ceived by all prospective executive and commanding offic-ers.

All eligible Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) winnerswill compete in the fiscal year 2007 Secretary of Defenseenvironmental awards program except for the ship categorywinner which has no equivalent at the Secretary of De-fense level.

The awards ceremony to recognize the SECNAV win-ners will be held June 3, 2008, at the U.S. Navy Memorialand Navy Heritage Center. More information can be foundat http://SECNAVPORTAL.DONHQ.NAVY.MIL.

Members of SSC Charleston’s Code 5510, Network Engineering Division, whoare helping deliver the Environmental Information Management System (EIMS)to the fleet are, from left, Twila Williams-Sabin, Brian Kost, Jason Hansel, NathanHattabaugh, Patrick Ewen, Prayer Singleton and Tod Hollis.



dispatch and alarm systems with state-of-the-art computer-aided dispatch and records management systems. Dispatch-ers will soon have the capability to send fire and policevehicles to emergencies in less time and with more accu-rate event information. Second, fire and police personnelcan receive and transmit emergency data from their ve-hicles directly to a regional dispatcher via a mobile datacomputer (ruggedized, GPS-enabled laptop). And third, itallows for regionalization of fire and security alarm report-ing and other dispatch functions, saving the Navy hundredsof thousands of dollars each year in labor costs.

How does NERMS work?

Dispatchers will have five monitors at their worksta-tions from which to view, monitor anddispatch for emergency events. Onemonitor will receive 911 informationfrom the ECMS where the dispatcher

NERMS team achieves milestoneOn Feb. 12, 2008, a major milestone was reached

for the SSC Charleston NERMS Team. Paul Walter,NERMS project lead, along representatives from Na-val Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), Com-mander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC), Op-erational Test and Evaluation Force (OPTEVFOR)and Navy Region Southeast (NRSE) witnessed thesuccessful testing of the Navy Emergency ResponseManagement System (NERMS) for the NRSE Re-gional Dispatch Center in Jacksonville, Fla.

The NERMS/Emergency Call Management Sys-tem (ECMS) team, operating out of SSC Charleston’sCode 56420, is led by Walter and supported by teammembers Rodney Rourk, Mark Jansen, Jay Torner,Raul Angeles, Mike Cable, Samir Safa, JustinMattimore and Brenda Harris.

What is NERMS?

NERMS is an advanced, consolidated dispatch systemfor Navy first responders. It is composed of several sub-systems which are integrated with 911, Enterprise LandMobile Radio, the Public Safety Network and various legacyfire and security alarm systems. Once the Regional Dis-patch Center “goes live” with NERMS, it will revolutionizethe way the Navy responds to emergencies and provide theNavy with one of the latest, most advanced computer-aideddispatch systems available today.

So exactly what does NERMS do?

First, it replaces log books (remember those green hard-back books filled with lined paper?) and antiquated legacy

Continued on page 43

ECMS

DispatcherSeat

CAD GIS

ELMR

CAD EventEntry

CAD StatusMonitor

Five monitors at each workstation give dispatchers all theinformation they need. One monitor receives 911 informa-tion, two monitors show vehicle disposition status, anothermonitor shows GIS information, and another displays landmobile radio communications.

From left, Paul Walter of SSC Charleston chats with NAVFAC’sWilson Ennis and Milon Essoglou in the RDC.


Deploying Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) mobileunits usually have to piece together different componentsto form much needed command centers in the field. It cantake hours to set up and pack a command center, and thatdelays the unit’s response time.

SSC Charleston’s Kenneth (Scott) McGaha recognizedthe need for a system that would give EOD mobile unitscommand stations that are easily transportable and rapidlymade operational. He came up with a solution that providesan eight-screen, single-case system accommodating fourpeople. Besides being easily transported anywhere aroundthe world, and easy to set up rapidly, it is user friendly.

The Mobile Command Station (MCS) can be carried byfour people, set up in less than 15 minutes by two people,and scaled to meet the warfighters’ needs. The MCS cablemanagement system incorporates a 30A twist lock outputreceptacle that allows several MCSs to be connected seri-ally, providing up to eight operators with laptops and 16LCD displays that are managed from one set of originalcabling.

While the concept is McGaha’s, he credits coworkers inCode 5312 for giving him valuable input, along with thevendor who was awarded the contract. “I spent close to

At left, Scott McGaha, center,watches as Gil Sylvia, left, andCharles Spiers, right, both ofSPECOPS Inc., use the MCSduring a demo in the atrium ofBldg. 3147. Below, McGahashows the ease of use of therapidly deployable system.

Mobile Command Stations

eight months working on the design, requirements and put-ting it on contract,” McGaha said.

Recently McGaha and his team demonstrated the MCSin the atrium of Bldg. 3147, showing how much capabilitycan be fit into a ruggedized transit case that is 78 incheslong, 29 inches deep and 33 inches high and weighs 357pounds. The prewired MCS transit case contains eight 19”liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors that can be adjustedvertically and horizontally, eight Ground Fault Indicator(GFI) receptacles, two mounted 8-port Gigabit switches,20 Ethernet connections (six classified, six unclassified andeight RJ-11 ports), six phone connections, 16 Video Graph-ics Array (VGA) connections, two tables and four chairs.The systems are also weatherproof and meet all ergonomicrequirements.

The versatility and functionality of the MCS has applica-tions to tactical operations centers (TOC), civilian incidentcommand posts (ICP), emergency operations centers(EOC), continuity of operations (COOP), business conti-nuity, long distance learning centers, first responder com-mand centers and tactical surveillance operations.

- Susan Piedfort, Chronicle Editor

Huge warfighter capability, small package



An SSC Charleston electrical engi-neer is one of 28 people chosen na-tionwide representing top Hispanics inscience, technology, engineering andmath.

Guillermo Leiva of Code 56170 (for-merly Code 725) was honored as a2007 Hispanic Engineer NationalAchievement Awards Corporation(HENAAC) Luminary recipient at theirannual conference in San Diego, Ca-lif., in October, and during a Novem-ber SPAWARSYSCOM all hands meet-ing.

The recognition came as a pleasantsurprise to Leiva, assigned to the Elec-tromagnetic Environmental Effects(E3) Branch. “I felt honored to be cho-sen a recipient of this award,” he said.

“Luminaries represent the top onepercent of industry, so that made mefeel really good,” said Leiva. He wasespecially honored to be the only em-ployee from SPAWARSYSCOM cho-sen for this recognition.

Leiva grew up in Quito, Ecuador andgraduated from high school in NewYork. At age 19 he moved to Charles-ton, and pursued his electrical engineer-ing degree at The Citadel. During hissenior year the dean recommended hesend a resume to SSC Charleston andinquire about possible job opportuni-ties.

This led to Leiva’s becoming a co-op student at SSC Charleston in 2003.After earning his bachelor of sciencedegree in electrical engineering in May2004 Leiva was hired at SSC Charles-ton under the Navy Career Intern Pro-gram. In May 2006 upon successfullycompleting the requirements of thatprogram, he was appointed as a per-manent electronics engineer.

Leiva named a 2007 HENAAC Luminary

Leiva is currently part of the Elec-tromagnetic Environmental Effects(E3) Branch where he is in charge ofworking multiple projects dealing withradiation hazards (RADHAZ), electro-magnetic interference (EMI) and elec-tromagnetic compatibility (EMC) andconducting E3 RADHAX, EMI/EMCsurveys to resolve any operationalproblems and concerns with existingor new radio frequency (RF) systems.

The E3 branch is also involved inSSC Charleston’s Mine Resistant Am-bush Protected (MRAP) vehicle C4ISRintegration project, performing radia-tion hazard testing of the various an-tenna configurations at Poseidon Parkon the north side of the Naval Weap-ons Station. Leiva assists with Hazardof Electromagnetic Radiation to Per-

sonnel (HERP) and Hazard of Electro-magnetic Radiation to Fuel (HERF)testing to ensure the configurations aresafe for warfighter use in various op-erational scenarios.

Leiva has written various technicalreports and presented a white paper atthe DoD E3 program review entitled“Navy’s Spectrum Management Con-cerns Regarding FCC Part 15 De-vices.” He has also presented a paperat the SSC Charleston Friday Techni-cal Brief entitled “Navy’s SpectrumManagement Concerns Regarding NewWireless Technologies.” Leiva is cur-rently pursuing his graduate degree inRF propagation and antennas at the Uni-versity of South Carolina.

Role model


Guillermo Leiva, center, is congratulated by Rear Adm. Will Rodriguez, ProgramManager, Navy Command and Control Systems Program, PEO for C4I & Space(PMW 157), left, and Leiva’s SSC Charleston supervisor Wayne Lutzen, right, af-ter the Luminary award ceremony in San Diego, Calif.

Photo provided

HonorsHonors


Balanced Scorecard Most ValuablePlayer (MVP) awards were presentedto six members of the SSC Charlestonteam by Rear Adm. Michael Bachmann,SPAWARSYSCOM commander.

Receiving awards from the admiralwere Nick Sullivan, Donna Collier (Jen-nifer Watson accepted on her behalf),Jane Dingus, Jim Gregory, KevinHolcomb and Carissa Miller.

We are leading the way with our useof the Balanced Scorecard as a meansto measure our effectiveness and pro-duce meaningful metrics in virtuallyevery part of our business operations.As Adm. Bachmann noted, we havemade the BSC “more than just anotherexercise.”

BalancedScorecard

MVPs honoredSullivan and Bachmann

Watson (for Collier) and Bachmann

Dingus and Bachmann

Bachmann and Gregory

Bachmann and Miller

Holcomb and Bachmann


Leiva also actively participates in the New Employee Recruit-ment Program for SSC Charleston and has been successful as arecruiter because he easily identifies with students. He enthusiasti-cally advocates employment with SSC Charleston.

“I came to work here at SPAWAR as a co-op and then was hiredfull-time right out of college. I never had to actually go out and lookfor a job. I was very fortunate,” said Leiva.

He knows from his own experience that SSC Charleston offersmore than just a job, but a career of significance. “It’s very re-warding to see that SPAWAR makes a difference in so many livesaround the globe,” he said. “In the short three years I’ve workedhere, I’ve been to Spain, Italy, Bahrain and soon will go to thePersian Gulf. The projects we work on are viable for the Navy andour customers. And I feel very fortunate to be able to travel aroundthe world working on them,” said Leiva.

HENAAC is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to promoting ca-reers for Hispanics in engineering, science, technology and math-ematics. Now in its fifth year, the annual HENAAC Luminary awardprogram recognizes role models who make significant contribu-tions to the Hispanic technical community.

HENAAC believes these individuals will continue to carry thetorch at their respective organizations and inspire future genera-tions to pursue careers in technology. HENAAC showcases theiraccomplishments in TECHNiCA Magazine and on their Web site,www.henaac.org.


It took more than 100 years of naval history and plan-ning to bring the Greater Charleston Naval Base Memorialto fruition. The dedication ceremony held at the NorthCharleston Riverfront Park in November, 2007 marked thememorial’s official opening to the public and was a tributeto the military and civilians who served on the formerCharleston Naval Base.

The ceremony featured dignitaries from federal, stateand local governments, the U.S. Navy Memorial Founda-tion, retired and active military and civilian personnel frommany of our country’s branches of the armed services, theMemorial’s major donors, along with the Board of Direc-tors of the Greater Charleston Naval Base Memorial(GCNBM) Foundation.

The park: history and features

In the spring of 1999 North Charleston Mayor R. KeithSummey asked retired Navy Capt. Ed Fava, then complet-ing a second career as Charleston County administrator, tovolunteer to head up an effort to establish a memorial onthe grounds of the former base. Three months later theGreater Charleston Naval Base Memorial project waslaunched.

With a hand-selected group of potential candidates toserve as members of the future Board of Directors, an ini-tial meeting to introduce the proposed Memorial Projectwas held in June 1999. Following in quick succession dur-ing the year, a Board of Directors was formally established,501(c) (3) not-for-profit status was attained, a memorial

site was selected and a fund raising campaign was devel-oped.

The original memorial site, the area fronting Bldg. 234,was abandoned in late 2002 when a larger piece of propertyon the Cooper River was conveyed to the city.

The fund raising program included three principal com-ponents -- state and local government grants, corporategiving and individual contributions. It is worthy to note that,following an initial donation of $25,000 by CharlestonCounty, every municipality in the county contributed to thememorial project. Neighboring counties of Berkeley andDorchester contributed $10,000. From the state grant, fundswere received from the base Redevelopment Authority(RDA) in the amount of $10,000 and the S.C. Heritage Cor-ridor in the amount of $20,000. Corporate contributors in-cluded the S.C. Federal Credit Union (formally the Charles-ton Naval Shipyard Credit Union) for $125,000, The ZuckerFamily Foundation ($75,000) and Wachovia Bank ($20,000).Other business entities donated amounts ranging from$2,000 to $6,000. Perhaps the most gratifying for the fundraisers were the many individuals -- former Navy militaryand civil service personnel, ship crews and related familymembers -- who participated in the $100/$400 Buy-A-BrickProgram.

Features

Features within the Base Memorial Park were carefullyselected and each has its own meaning.

Naval Base MemorialCelebrating 95 years of history


Pavilion

The pavilion shape suggests the bow of a ship. The pho-tos displayed on the pavilion wall are historical photos takenof scenes and people on the base. They are segregated intothe five periods of the 95-year history of the base. The twomaps engraved in the tabby walk and pavilion floor, one aworld map and the other of the Charleston Naval Base,signify the contribution of the base and the influence ofthose stationed here to defend the U.S. throughout the world.

The flags

The five flags represent the entities from which Charles-ton Naval Base and its attached units drew their authorityand support: the national ensign, the South Carolina stateflag, the flags of the Navy and Marine Corps and the city ofNorth Charleston flag. The flagpoles slant out from theshore, pointing the way out of the safe harbor of home intothe oceans and seas of the world.

The pavers

The engraved pavers are a historical record of manyfathers, mothers, sons and daughters who sailed from thebase and worked on the base.

Water Feature

The water which flows throughout the memorial repre-sents the unique nature of the role of the sea in a Sailor’slife and is a key element in the overall design of the park.

Story wall and seat wall

The story wall tells the story of the Charleston NavalBase both in text and with photographs of those who servedhere. It contains at one end an acknowledgement of thedonors who helped make the memorial possible and at theother the saga of the five U.S. Navy ships that bore thename “USS Charleston.” Six large granite seat blocks and aseat wall are positioned throughout the memorial park, of-fering visitors an opportunity to pause, reflect and rest.

Congressman L. Mendel Rivers

At the far end of the memorial park and appropriatelyoverlooking the entire site is a bust of the Honorable L.Mendel Rivers, the U.S. Congressman from South Carolinaand a fierce champion of all who served in the armed forces.First elected to Congress in 1940, he served with distinc-tion until his untimely death in 1970. The bust of this fer-vent champion of “Navy Charleston” is on display at thememorial due to the gracious support of Congressman Riv-ers’ two daughters, Mrs. Marion Cato and Mrs. PegEastman, his son Mendel L. Rivers Jr., the county of Charles-ton, the Charleston County Library and the Kiwanis Club ofNorth Charleston who all consented to relocating the bust

from its former site at the Rivers Avenue Branch Librarywhere it was placed in 1965 as a gift from the KiwanisClub. Added to the pedestal which supports the bust is anexact replica of the commissioning plaque of the now de-commissioned nuclear attack submarine USS Mendel Riv-ers (SSN 686).

Mine and ship sculptures

Similarly, the mine on display provided by the Charles-ton Naval Weapons Station is a tribute to those who servedin the various ship types and other units which comprisedthe Mine Forces of the U.S. Navy in Charleston. The threeship sculptures, created by sculptors Wayne Trapp and Ri-chard Hallier of ColaTina, Inc., represent the three mostcommon ship types associated with Charleston Naval Basefrom 1901 to 1996. A plaque beneath each ship type ex-plains its significance.

Lone Sailor and Homecoming

The memorial’s premier features are the Lone Sailor andthe Homecoming statues. This memorial park on the banksof the Cooper River at the former Charleston Naval Base isthe only site besides the Navy Memorial Foundation in Wash-ington, D.C., where both statues are located together.

These sculptures, procured from the U.S. Navy Memo-rial Foundation and its official sculptor Stanley Bliefeld, honorthe Sailors of yesterday, today and tomorrow in Charles-ton.

Stanley Bliefeld’s Lone SailorPhotos by Susan Piedfort


Charleston Naval Base provided defense for the U.S. from1901 to 1996. Originally designated a Navy Yard and later aNaval Base, the installation had a great impact on the localcommunity, the Tri-county area and the entire state of SouthCarolina. Hundreds of thousands of people were employed,256 vessels were built, thousands of others supported andmillions of dollars poured into the area’s economy fromCharleston Naval Base.

Covering 1,575 acres on the west bank of the CooperRiver, the base has been home to numerous tenants andrelated support commands, ashore and afloat. These mili-tary organizations provided berthing, logistics, training andrepair services to U.S. Navy ships and submarines.

In wartime, base activity and employment increased, andthe base remained highly productive until the end of theCold War. In 1993, with the Cold War over and defensebudget cuts looming, the decision to close the base wasreached. On April 1, 1996, it officially closed.

The early years

In 1890 Charleston was awarded the contract for a na-val yard. Charleston Mayor J. Adger Smyth and Sen. Ben-jamin Tillman had persistently lobbied the Navy for a ship-yard in order to revitalize the area’s economy after the CivilWar. The 56th Congress of the United States passed an actauthorizing then Secretary of the Navy John D. Long toinvestigate this proposal. Although Charleston proved to bethe ideal location, in reality the decision was probably basedas much on the political maneuvering of Sen. “Pitchfork

Ben” Tillman as on navalstrategy. On Aug. 12, 1901,the Navy formally took pos-session of the property withCapt. Edwin Longnecker asthe first commandant.

The Yard was quickly sur-veyed and laid out, a workforce organized, and the con-struction of buildings and adrydock began. The firstdrydock, the largest on theEast Coast, was completed in1907. In 1909 the power-house which supplied elec-tricity to the drydock pumpwas ready and the first shipwas placed in drydock. Of-ficers’ quarters, five mainshop buildings, an administra-tive building, several piers, adispensary, railroad facilities,

a sewer system and streets were completed and placed inservice between 1903 and 1909. Work began on vessels ofthe fleet in 1910.

Initially, the Navy Yard focused on the repair and supplyof stores to ships rather than on new construction; how-ever, new construction of two dredges, patrol cutters,gunboards, submarine chasers, tugs, barges, a ferry boatand two paddle-wheel steamboards also took place. By 1915there were approximately 800 civilians employed in the Yard,up from 478 in 1909. In March 1917 just before the U.S.entered the First World War, there were 1,708 employees atthe Yard.

World War I

When President Woodrow Wilson declared war in April1917, production at Charleston’s shipyard accelerated andfacilities, land area and the workforce expanded. The dec-laration of war prompted the seizure of five German freight-ers interned in Charleston harbor. The ships were over-hauled and refitted in the Yard and sent into action as partof the U.S. Fleet.

Eighteen new vessels were constructed and work startedon the Yard’s first destroyer, USS Tillman. Alterations andrepairs were made to 160 vessels from destroyers to smallcraft. It was during this time that a young Norman Rockwellwas one of 5,000 recruits going through basic training atCamp Bagley, a Naval Training Center established on theYard. Rockwell spent time painting officers’ portraits anddrawing cartoons for the Yard’s newsletter. A thousand ci-vilians, mostly women, were hired to operate the naval cloth-ing factory. A naval hospital was built (influenza was ram-pant), along with two new building ways along the marinerailway, a torpedo warehouse, additional buildings for theMachinist Mate School and a concrete pier.

This activity boosted Charleston’s economy by bringingjobs and commerce to city businesses. Employment roughlytripled from prewar numbers, peaking at 5,600. By the endof the war, 93 officers were attached to District Headquar-ters and the Navy Yard’s combined annual payroll exceeded$9 million. The Navy had become a major force in theCharleston economy.

Between wars

American participation in World War I lasted two years,and afterwards, employment at Charleston Naval Shipyarddropped to pre-war levels. In 1919, the 6th Naval Districtwas expanded, the Navy Yard commandant was given ad-ditional duty as district commandant, and the headquartersmoved from downtown Charleston back to the Navy Yard.Employment decreased to approximately 500 workers and

Charleston Navy tradition runs deep

Sen. “Pitchfork Ben” Tillman

Naval Historical Center photo


only minor vessels were sent to the base for repair alongwith the routine upkeep of minesweepers and tugboats. Onlysix boats and tugs were built during 1920 to 1932 and civil-ian employment reached a low of 479 in 1924. The Navyconsidered closing the Yard in 1922, 1931 and 1933 due tothe lack of workload. The base remained open largelythrough political pressure by congressional representativesand city leaders, especially efforts made by Sen. E.D. “Cot-ton Ed” Smith.

The Depression was hitting Charleston full-force whengood news arrived in 1933. Charleston was to be desig-nated as a new construction yard, creating the need formore facilities and a larger workforce. The Yard becameactive -- repairing, altering, converting and building ves-sels. By 1939 there was a$3.5 million expansion andimprovement program un-derway employing 1,800previously out-of-work ci-vilians. President FranklinDelano Roosevelt came toCharleston twice to checkon the Yard’s moderniza-tion. As employment at theYard climbed to 2,400,three apartment projectswere built to answer a se-vere shortage of housingin the area. In 1941 theTom McMillan, BenTillman and GeorgeLegare homes were built.

World War II

The Japanese bombingof Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7,1941, and subsequent en-try of the U.S. into World

War II found the Charleston Navy Yardwell prepared to back the war effort.The Yard became a first-class, nationaldefense activity during this expansionperiod with a mission to provide con-struction, repair and logistic support tothe operating forces. Thousands of sol-diers, Sailors, Marines and airmenpassed through its military facilities ontheir way to war.

Civilian employment increased rap-idly, peaking at 25,948 in 1943. Thisforce, working three shifts daily, wasthe largest civilian workforce employedat the Charleston Naval Yard/Naval Baseduring its history. By 1941 salaries for

civilian shipyard employees caused per capita income inCharleston to soar to almost three times that of the rest ofthe state.

As employment skyrocketed, a housing crisis followedas people were drawn to the Lowcountry by the opportuni-ties Charleston war industries afforded. It is estimated thatat least 55,000 people migrated to the area leading up to andduring World War II. Workers’ wages financed the growthof area neighborhoods, as evidenced by the number ofnearby homes dating to the 1940s. These homes and build-ings formed the base from which the city of North Charles-ton grew. Acquisition of large land areas known as the SouthYard, Naval Air Station and Noisette Creek area afforded



USS Peoria steams under Grace Memorial Bridge on her way to sea from Charleston in 1945.

Naval Historical Center photoAerial of Charleston Naval Base circa 1941.


further expansion. Drydocks, piers and shops went intooperation during the early part of 1943. Some naval unitsand activities were located beyond the base fences. MineForce activities were located on the tip of the peninsula andthe Fleet Landing was located off Concord Street in down-town Charleston.

During this period ship construction made up 60 percentof the workload. Ninety percent of the vessels built duringthe Yard’s history were constructed from 1939 to 1946.Destroyers, destroyer escorts, tank and amphibious land-ing ships and destroyer tenders were built. Many privatevessels were also converted for military use. The last twoships built, destroyer tenders USS Tidewater and USS BryceCanyon, were two of the largest vessels ever produced bythe Yard. The Charleston Navy Yard also made importantwar contributions by repairing numerous war-damaged shipsand submarines, servicing the fleet, docking destroyers andsmall vessels, and performing overhauls, alterations and con-versions.

It was during this period that thousands of womenworked on the base as replacements for men who had goneoff to war. They worked in the production shops as ma-chinists, insulators and welders. They were automotive me-chanics, riggers and police officers. They performed cleri-cal and supply clerk duties throughout the base. Their con-tributions were remarkable, particularly since many werealso responsible for the care of families with spouses andfathers off to war.

Employment numbers declined after 1944 and repairwork gradually replaced the construction of ships. At theend of the war, shipyard functions shifted and the majorworkload involved disposal of surplus stock and decom-

missioning of ships. The workforcestabilized at around 7,000.

Vietnam, Korea, the Cold War

The Cold War and the threat ofnuclear attack dominated internationalaffairs from 1945 to 1991. In 1945 theNavy Department reorganized the vari-ous activities at Charleston by creatingNaval Base, Charleston. During mostof the Yard’s history, the commandantof the Charleston Navy Yard also servedas Commandant of the 6th Naval Dis-trict. In November 1945 this dual com-mand ceased and the district comman-dant was given additional duty as com-mander of the Charleston Naval Base,and the Navy Yard became the Charles-ton Naval Shipyard, a component ofthe Naval Base. The 6th Naval Districtwas enlarged in 1948 to include the

seven southeastern U.S. states and 2,936 miles of coast-line, the longest of any district in the country.

Between 1945 and 1955, with the advent of nuclear pro-pulsion, submarines were transformed from diesel and bat-tery powered vessels to nuclear power, which enabled themto move and fight for weeks without surfacing. SSNs (fastattacks) and SSBNs (boomers) were considered the newtactical ships of the Cold War and Charleston became acenter for testing and refitting these new weapons. Crewsfrom Charleston were sent all over the world to provideinstruction to allied nations and their nuclear fleets and torefit and repair these modern submarines.

During the Korean War, 1950 to 1953, Charleston playeda vital role in naval readiness, remaining active as an over-haul facility. Many mothballed vessels were reactivated and

USS Jesse L. Brown ties up at Charleston Naval Station in1974.


Continued from previous page


During the launching of destroyers USS Tillman and USS Beatty at CharlestonNavy Yard Dec. 20, 1941, John D. Jennings tells Navy Yard Commandant RearAdm. William H. Allen that 12,000 Yard workers pledged to buy defense bonds.


sent to Far Eastern waters. In 1951 the number of workersincreased and civilian employment peaked at 9,220 in 1952,decreasing again after the cessation of Korean hostilities.

Employment increased with the Vietnam War and theinfluence of Congressman L. Mendel Rivers brought growthto the shipyard and other military facilities in Charleston.DuPont, Lockheed, McDonnell-Douglas and General Elec-tric Defense built plants in the area as war-related indus-tries grew.

In the late 1950s, the base became a major homeport forAtlantic Fleet combatant ships and submarines. Operationalstaffs and fleet support commands also arrived. New fa-cilities for a Naval Mine Craft Base, Mine Warfare School,and Fleet Training Center were constructed and the ammu-nition depot became home to Polaris missile submarineweapons facilities.

Construction began on new piers, barracks and build-ings for mine warfare ships and personnel, and two de-stroyer squadrons were moved to Charleston. In January1958 the base became responsible for the reactivation andmodernization of several ships transferred from the U.S.mothball fleet to allied foreign navies.

As the Cold War intensified and the base moved into thenuclear age, one of the largest ship conversion jobs everattempted began in 1959. The World War II-era, 530-footsubmarine tender USS Proteus was moved into drydock,cut amidships, and a 44-foot plug was installed in sectionsto accommodate the repair and transport of missiles. Pro-teus served the Navy’s first squadron of nuclear-poweredPolaris missile submarines and established, in successiveorder, Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) refit sites I (Scotland),II (Spain) and III (Guam), remaining at each location untilrelieved by one of the newly constructed FBM submarinetenders.

When the base was assigned the primary responsibilityfor the logistics and repair for the entire Atlantic Fleet Po-laris Weapons System network, engineering and industrialsupport increased, and industrial shops were expanded andequipped. Cranes, waste-handling facilities, offices and adrydock for Polaris submarines and other nuclear-poweredships were built. U.S. Representative L.F. Sikes describedCharleston as “the only base in the world for complete andself-contained support of a major part of the Polaris fleet,the hub of the Polaris system support for the entire world.”

For the duration of the Cold War the Charleston NavalBase, and in particular, the Shipyard and the Supply Center,maintained their designations as the Navy’s principal sup-port organizations for the Navy’s FBM Submarine Program.In addition, these organizations, in concert with other baseunits, provided support to the United Kingdom’s FBM Sub-marine Program.

In 1983 the Naval Base was the third largest navalhomeport in the U.S., employing roughly 36,700 people,including 23,500 Navy and Marine Corps personnel and13,200 civilians. This heavy workload of maintaining sur-

face ships, overhauling nuclear submarines and providingsupplies and support to the U.S. Navy continued until 1996.

Base closure

Charleston Naval Base remained the largest employer ofcivilians in South Carolina into the 1990s. The influence ofLowcountry legislators and the threat of nuclear attackplayed an important role in keeping Charleston’s base openin the face of periodic attempts at closure.

However, in the early 1990s, with the Cold War overand impending defense budget cuts, Charleston’s Navy Basewas again on the chopping block. In 1993 the CharlestonNaval Base was given a closure date of April 1, 1996.

The closing of the base was a blow to Charleston’seconomy. Many military personnel who worked at or passedthrough the base returned to Charleston to retire. Since theclosure of Charleston Naval Base, parts of the base anddrydocks have been leased out to various government andprivate businesses and community parks have been estab-lished on old base grounds. Part of the base has even “goneHollywood” and is the site of filming for Lifetime Television’s“Army Wives” series.

Though now a part of history, Charleston Naval Baseremains a vivid memory to those who served there. Ac-quaintances made, friendships forged and a great sense ofpride in what was accomplished will endure forever for allwho were a part of Navy Charleston from 1901 to 1996.


In the late 1950s, the ammunition depot became home toPolaris missile submarine weapons facilities.


A Publish It! productby Kevin Votapka, Code 5378

Got a technical problem? We have a solution!We have helped other SSC Charleston codes and ISEAs

with their projects from replacing connectors to engineer-ing a replacement for an expensive, aging COTS item. Butwait, there’s more!

Along with a free* Ginsu knife set, we can also help youwith your design or custom design test equipment suitablefor your application or system. This sounds too good to betrue, what’s the catch?

All you need to bring is a job order number (JON). That’sit! We have highly qualified personnel with decades of com-bined experience, ready to support your system and solveproblems. We work on everything from electronics to me-chanical equipment. Whatever your needs are, Code 5378is here for you.

We’ve developed a number of competencies in supportof the warfighter over the years, beginning with our expe-rience at the Charleston Naval Shipyard. We can engineercircuits and systems from the component level up, includ-ing developing the firmware, if needed. We can reengineerand recondition circuits and modules for use by thewarfighter. And we can perform quality assurance on equip-ment used by the military by developing tests and proce-dures based on tolerances and specs. And, of course, wecan design and fabricate custom printed circuit boards.

Code 5378A unique resource for SSC Charleston

Custom PrintedCircuit Board

fabricationA Publish It! product

by Steve Richards, Code 5378Anyone requiring prototyping services or custom printed

circuit boards (PCB) will benefit from a unique service weprovide here at SSC Charleston: small scale, single anddouble-sided PCB fabrication!

Continued on page 30

Shawn Peterson uses a circuit board plotter to rapidlyprototype and fabricate a printed circuit board in thelab in Bldg. 187 on the old naval base.


Design, reverseengineering and

quality assurancefor the warfighter



We possess an impressive array of procedures and equip-ment to assist us. In addition to equipment we use for PCBprototyping and fabrication, we also have the following ca-pabilities at our disposal:

· A graphical interface tool for high level C-program-ming that allows us to interface with measurement and con-trol equipment, analyze data, share results, and automatesystems.

· Powerful and easy-to-use tools for schematic capture,interactive (Simulation Program With Integrated CircuitEmphasis) SPICE circuit simulation, board layout and de-sign validation used to develop circuits for prototype boardsand intelligent circuits with communication and I/O. Thesoftware we use for PCB design integrates with these tools,optimizing the process.

· Microchip in-circuit programmer which programs mi-croprocessors for intelligent interfaces and provides emu-lation for a system interface. We can custom design thesoftware or you can program it within your code.

· Thermal imaging technology that allows us to detectpower failures, “hot” components that may have gone bador are supplying excessive current, and troubled areas of acircuit. Got a hot module? Come see its thermal curves.That’s temperature variances to you engineers.

· Tools that let us perform in-circuit functional tests of

Electronics Engineer Kevin Votapka tests components in the Code 5378 lab.

both analog and digital components, edge card functional-ity, VI analysis, boundary scan, PXI tests and schematicreverse engineering. We can troubleshoot your moduleswhile powered up – sort of like a surgeon, except a lot lessmessy.

· A machine that supports virtually every programmabledevice available, regardless of technology or package. Infact, for industries with extended lifetime products, it is themost sophisticated programming solution available that alsouses the newest devices on the market.

· An optic engineering and alignment design tool whichprovides absolute control in positioning all ultra fine pitchand SMT packaging.

· General purpose test equipment: We’ve got oscillo-scopes, function generators, handheld DMMs, power sup-plies, synchro simulators, loads of all sorts, spectrum ana-lyzers and much, much more.

We’re looking forward to bridging the “code gap” andworking with other SPAWARriors and systems. Come byand check us out! We’re on the old Navy base in building187, Rm. 121. If you’re interested in our services, contactDan Yohman at extension 5615, or via email:[email protected].

*You don’t actually get a free Ginsu knife set (sorry).



Interested customers can send us designs as a com-puter-aided design (CAD) file or they can utilize our devel-opment team. With decades of experience, beginning at theCharleston Naval Shipyard providing submarine electronicsystem support, our team possesses expertise with a broadrange of hardware applications.

So what are the benefits to you when you take advan-tage of in-house prototyping? A major benefit is security.Your designs and prototypes are kept within SPAWAR, in-stead of being sent out to commercial vendors, risking se-curity issues such as foreign disclosure or industrial espio-nage. Another benefit is time. Traditionally, a new boarddesign gets shuffled from design team to manufacturer sev-eral times before the design is stable. Any changes in de-sign can go though several iterations, which is time con-suming. We can cut the wait time between iterations downfrom weeks to days.

The third benefit is customization. The main purpose ofprototyping is to perform functional tests of the design.Prototyping converts the design concepts to working model.The prototype can be carefully tested and evaluated forperformance, fit and function. During the prototyping stage,changes are easy to incorporate before mass productionbegins.

We’ve developed our core competencies in componentlevel repair and functional testing, working with all man-ners of analog and digital circuits, as well as electrome-chanical assemblies. Our incorporation into SPAWARevolved our vision and mission, broadening our horizonsbecause of the training and business opportunities. To be-come more competitive, we improved our processes andtechniques by becoming ISO-9000 certified in the past. Wenow support a number of customers both internal and ex-ternal to the command.

Our ability to fabricate circuit cards for in-house use astest adapters and fixtures arose as part of our ongoing evo-lution and improvement effort. The next logical step for uswas to produce low population PCBs for our customers.We have asked ourselves, “How can we use our depot levelexpertise to benefit the command and provide our custom-ers and warfighters with the best value product?” The an-swer is by providing turnkey support and prototyping ser-vice.

So, how does the PCB fabrication process work? Thefirst step is design. The design can be customer supplied ordeveloped in-house. There are a number of commercial offthe shelf software applications dedicated to circuit design.We use a PCB layout and design program which allows forbuilding virtual circuit boards. It optimizes the PCB designprocess and helps you easily take a design from schematic

Photo by Steve Richards

Continued from page 28

The CNC machine cuts circuit tracks on a new PCB destined for an ATC project.

Custom PCB fabrication


to production. The preproduction process requires a num-ber of different files to create the PCB. The most commonare Gerber files for the top and bottom of the board, netlists, bills of material, assembly drawings, drill files, leg-ends, to name a few. The final version is commonly re-ferred to as “art work.” At this stage the art work is used tofabricate a production model.

The art work is an essential step, and used to transforma bare sheet of copper clad material into a circuit board.This base material is a fiberglass laminate material sand-wiched between thin copper sheets. The most popular ma-terial is FR-4. However, the type of material is dependenton the customer’s application, as are the thickness and di-mensions of the base material The laminate material is cutin one of two ways, either photo-etching or by milling meth-ods. The photoetching or photoengraving process utilizes aprocess similar to developing a roll of film. A negative im-age is superimposed into the base material. When exposedto light the image is transferred to the material. The imageis then chemically etched into the surface. The unneces-sary copper is dissolved leaving only the intended circuittraces and pads.

The second method utilizes a special milling machine orcomputer numerical control (CNC) machine. The CNCmachine cuts away the excess copper from the base lami-nate material, drills vias, holes and defines the lettering. Onceprogrammed, the robotic CNC machine removes the ex-cess copper from the laminate, exposing the circuit.

At this point, the PCB is starting to take shape. Once theholes are drilled, the exposed laminate material needs to becoated with copper. It would be impossible to properly sol-der components without copper plating the newly drilledholes. A Plated Through-Hole (PTH) process utilizes achemical bath to clean, degrease and transfer a small amountof copper onto the holes. This is an important step to en-sure quality and reliability of the prototype.

Industrial standards require a permanent protective coat-ing to be applied to the board. To accomplish this, a soldermask is used. The mask is a thin polymer film that protectsthe PCB and prevents solder from bridging between com-ponents, physically and electrically insulating the circuit.Usually green in color, the mask is applied to the board andcured using ultraviolet light. The mask is usually appliedbefore the tinning process. The component labeling, outlin-ing and board information are transformed onto the boardusing a thermal curing process.

At this stage the board is ready for component installa-tion or “stuffing.” The through-hole components are shapedand installed. Surface mount components are prepared andinstalled using a hot air process that reduces thermal stressto the board and components. Once the PCB is visuallyinspected by a quality insurance team it’s ready for the nextstep: functional testing.

Functional testing allows engineers to test the finishedprototype. Does it perform according to the specifications?

If changes are required, the original design can be revisedper system engineering processes. The changes will be in-corporated into the design. This might require a new proto-type to be fabricated for testing and evaluation purposes.After the prototype has been tested and evaluated, the nextstep is PCB sourcing. This step takes the prototype intomass production.

Although we’re perfectly capable of assisting you in thedesign process with our experience and knowledge, wehave no desire to become a PCB production facility andcompete with outside vendors. We have the capacity tomake small scale production runs (typically, fewer than 100boards), depending upon the size and complexity of thedesign. There are numerous vendors providing PCB manu-facturing capabilities, and we can assist you in evaluatingthem. Selecting a quality manufacturing facility is critical toensuring the quality of the end product.

If you’re working on a project and would like to use ourfabrication services, contact Dan Yohman at extension 5615,or via email, [email protected], or Steve Richardsat extension 4266, [email protected].

Photos by Steve Richards

The new board has completed the through-hole plating (top)and CNC processes (bottom).


Georgia Lack has pulled cable under the flight deck ofan aircraft carrier in the July heat of Norfolk, Va., and de-scended ladders to submarines in wind gusts of 40 milesper hour in the Norfolk winter. She has worked on subma-rines in glamorous locales like Hawaii and Scotland, and insome not-so-glamorous, like Groton, Conn.

As she retired Jan. 31, Georgia could reflect on numer-ous changes that have occurred over her 31-year govern-ment service career. In many cases, she was the one lead-ing the change.

Without intentionally setting out to be, young GeorgiaKeenan of Lugoff, S.C., became a trailblazer back in 1971,when she became the first female accepted into ClemsonUniversity’s electrical engineering (EE) program. “I lovedmath and science,” she explained, and instead of taking thetraditional path and becoming a teacher, she wanted a ca-reer that offered hands-on involvement in an engineeringfield.

What started as a logical choice of a major turned into afootnote in Clemson history when she, along with two oth-ers who later transferred to the major, became theuniversity’s first women to earn degrees in electrical andcomputer engineering in 1975.

When Georgia joined the Charleston Naval Shipyard Plan-ning Department in 1977, she was the first female engineerworking in Electrical Design in Code 270. When she wentto Naval Electronic Systems Engineering Center (NAVELEX)in October of 1980 she was the only female engineer there,and later the first female division head and the first depart-ment head at NAVELEX.

Over the years Georgia progressed from road trips andship checks to managerial responsibilities, from pulling cableto “pushing paper,” as she refers to it. Most recently atSSC Charleston she has served as CorporateOperation’s Chief of Operations (COO, Code80O, formerly OAB) and acting CorporateStrategy Division Head (Code 84). While shehas been described by her superiors as a pro-active and visionary manager and by her em-ployees as a caring boss and excellent rolemodel, Georgia considers her shipboard workon submarines in the early days the most re-warding in her career.

“The submarine crews were some of themost professional people I’ve ever workedwith,” Georgia said. “I enjoyed the work be-cause when I left the ship, I knew I had donesomething important … I was giving them a

Georgia Keenan atClemson

Photo provided

capability they didn’t have, and they were trained to use it.I knew when I left those ships they were better off thanwhen I arrived. I really felt like I had done a good job.”

Georgia worked up and down the East and West Coastsand in Guam, Hawaii and Scotland, usually with electronicstechnician Jimmy Hucks of Code 55310 (formerly Code531) installing cryptographic systems on submarines andsubmarine tenders. She relished carrying out the projectsfrom cradle to grave at NAVELEX, as opposed to beinginvolved in only a narrow part of the process in planning atthe Shipyard. “I have lugged equipment on board and slith-ered behind many a rack in submarine radio rooms,” Geor-gia said, usually as the only woman working with an all-male crew. It was a pretty big deal when she had to use the“ladies room” (which does not exist) on the submarines.“Jimmy would have to stand watch for me outside thechief’s head [restroom],” Georgia said.

“Georgia always has been a hard worker and honest.She never had the attitude that some engineers fresh out ofcollege have,” said Hucks at Georgia’s retirement. He re-called a time when they were lifting a heavy piece of equip-ment together. “At one point, one of us had to open thedoor. Georgia got into position and I said let go and I’ll holdit while you open the door. She kept saying, ‘Jimmy, I’vegot a good bit of the load here,’ but I said go ahead and letit go. Well, when she did let it go I grunted, my knees buck-led and it was all I could do to hold on to it.

“Georgia always insisted on carrying her share of theload,” Hucks said, “and she taught me a lot about friend-ship.”

Georgia’s strong work ethic is another trait consistentwith trailblazers. She had been told in one of her first jobinterviews that she would be great for the job, but they

wanted to hire a man. “If you’ve never facedthat kind of discrimination, you don’t knowwhat it’s like. It was a very discouraging thingto be told ‘I don’t care what you know, I don’twant to hire you because you are a woman.’”

Georgia vowed to prove she wasn’t just asgood but better. “That situation forces youinto a self-critical sort of mode. I’d be con-stantly pushing myself more than anyone else,”she said, adding, “I’m glad women today don’thave to put up with that.”

Georgia has helped make sure of that, notonly by being a role model for engineers at atime when women were just beginning to en-ter the field, but through various volunteer ef-

Georgia Lack retires after 31 years of service

TransitionsTransitions


forts. She has served as the localFederal Women’s Program Managerand Upward Mobility Coordinator,holds a Black Belt in Lean Six Sigmaand is a graduate of the Federal Ex-ecutive Institute. Her awards are nu-merous and include two MeritoriousCivilian Service Awards, a Letter ofAppreciation from the Canadian Na-tional Defence Headquarters, a Let-ter of Commendation from the Chiefof Naval Operations and countlessperformance awards. She has servedas a member of the SSC CharlestonExecutive Council and as the facili-tator of the command’s BusinessBoard.

As a plankowner, Georgia hasbeen a part of the command’s trans-formation from NAVELEX, toNCCOSC In-Service Engineering(NISE)-East to SSC Charleston,with the most notable change beingthe incredible growth. “When I wentto work at NAVELEX there were about 300 people there. Iknew everyone, knew what was going on, knew who wasdoing what, and we all did our own work.

“Then we got bigger and started contracting out moreand more. As we’ve gotten bigger through the years I think

we’ve moved more toward what theshipyard was like, in that everythingis compartmentalized and you don’tknow what the guy next door is do-ing.”

As January came to an end, the“retirement countdown” that Geor-gia started three years ago finallyreached zero. She is now enjoyingher role as a “preacher’s wife” tohusband Michael, whom she met atClemson. A chemist who alsoworked at the Shipyard, he was latercalled to the ministry, went to DukeUniversity Seminary and is a UnitedMethodist Church pastor.

While they will go where the min-istry calls and Georgia looks forwardto doing more with the church, thecouple hope to eventually settle onproperty they own in PickensCounty, S.C., and devote more timeto the rest of their family, two sonswho are also Clemson men. Chris-

topher is a chemical engineering major now working at Nor-folk Naval Shipyard as a nuclear engineer, and Timothy willearn a degree in economics in 2008.

While she’s seen things change over the last 31 years,Georgia is happy with her career choices and would advisewomen today to pursue the engineering career field with-

out hesitation. “I was in the first,small class; now it’s so mucheasier for women to pursue what-ever path they want,” she said.

Her best advice to those start-ing out, male or female, is to neverbe afraid to try new things, takeevery opportunity to learn some-thing new and never, ever com-promise your values. “Nothing,nobody is worth it,” she said.

At her retirement, Georgia saidshe will miss the people she hasworked with more than anythingelse. “It’s hard to say goodbye tofriends,” she said. “I have beenblessed with a loving family, won-derful friends and a great career.I hope that you find that true hap-piness in whatever you choose todo in life, and I thank you for hon-oring me with your friendship forall these years.”

- Susan Piedfort,Chronicle Editor

Bob Kappler, former SSC Charleston chief of staff and emcee for Georgia Lack’s re-tirement ceremony at the Redbank Club Feb. 1, watches as Georgia moves her statusboard indicator to the “out” position for the final time.

Photo by Tom Egbert

SSC Charleston Commanding Officer Capt.Red Hoover presents Georgia a retirementcertificate noting her 31 years of service.

Photo by Tom Egbert


SSC Charleston encourages all employees to set a shin-ing example for involvement with community causes, anda great number of them take this to heart. They mentor inlocal schools, organize food drives, work in soup kitchens,work with troubled youth, coach neighborhood sports teamsand help to improve impoverished communities. They alsovolunteer their time as members of boards of directors ofnonprofit and nongovernmental organizations, and lend theirexpertise to community organizations.

SSC Charleston’s Marion Welch, a technician in Code53360 (formerly Code 636), has made service to his com-munity and state a way of life. He hasbeen a Sailor, an electronics mechanic, alabor coordinator, a state coordinator forHurricane Hugo Relief and has been ac-tive in community activities.

His involvement started when he be-gan serving as an executive board mem-ber of the North Charleston NAACP. In1982 he was elected vice president of theCharleston County Leadership Council.In 1985 he was appointed a board mem-ber of the Charleston County EconomicOpportunity Commission. In 1987 he waselected to serve as secretary/coordinatorfor the committee to form Single Mem-ber Districts in North Charleston, a peti-tion effort that changed the form of elec-tion in the city.

After Hurricane Hugo, Welch servedas the state coordinator for the S.C. HugoProject, supervising 240 employees in 13of the hardest hit counties and oversee-ing the expenditure of hundreds of thousands of dollars indonations and goods.

In 1988 he founded the S.C. Coalition for Black VoterParticipation, which has grown into the state’s largest Afri-can American, nonpartisan, church-based organization aimedat political education. The group developed one of the larg-est task forces in the Southeastern region, composed of 32organizations to head the Census 2000 effort. Welch alsodeveloped the pilot for a Youth Citizenship Academy, a sum-mer program which trains 13- to 17-year-olds in social skills.The group also sponsors an annual 400 Church Voter Reg-istration Drive, public service announcement campaigns andother events. In 1989 Welch was appointed vice chairmanof the State NAACP Political Action Committee.

While on a leave of absence from 1991 to 1996, heworked as the state’s first and only Job Training Partner-

Giving backMarion Welch commited to community causes

ship Act Labor Coordinator, working with the S.C. Em-ployment Security Commission, state AFL-CIO, U.S. La-bor Department, County Grants Administration Offices andstate and federal employers to resolve downsizing and re-training issues at Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, CharlestonNaval Base and other sites.

Welch is currently a member of the Board of Directorsof the Charleston Education Network, which consists ofeducation professionals and elected officials. He also servesthe Charleston County School Board as a member of theSchool-To-Career Advisory Committee, which under fed-

eral and state law develops curriculum,mentors, supports job shadowing as wellas other programs for the CharlestonCounty School District. Welch volunteersfor SSC Charleston-sponsored schools,and teaches software applications to resi-dents in low income housing areas twoevenings a week.

Welch has received numerous com-munity service awards, including a “Cer-tificate of Appreciation for OutstandingService and Valuable Contributions to thePeople of South Carolina,” presented bythe South Carolina Senate.

He has also served as a member ofthe Board of Directors of the CharlestonEducation Network, a board consistingof education professionals and elected of-ficials, confronting educational issues inCharleston County. He serves at the plea-sure of the Charleston County SchoolBoard as an original member of the

School-to-Career Advisory Committee which under fed-eral and state law develops mentoring and shadowing pro-grams. He serves a a board member of the Nemi Board ofDirectors of the Arts and a member of the Board of Direc-tors for the Denmark Vesey Monument Project. He is also amember of Citizens Patrol Against Drugs (CPAD).

In 2003 he was appointed to and currently serves asvice chairman of the Charleston County TransportationBoard, a 14-member board appointed by Charleston CountyCouncil to provide citizen input surrounding the $1 billionroad project.

Welch has also authored a number of articles for theCharleston Chronicle and former Coastal Times newspa-pers including “We Won’t Remain Silent” (March on Wash-ington), “Two Party System, Our Vantage Point” and “Ra-cial Bloc Voting,” to name a few.

Marion WelchPhoto by Susan Piedfort


By Lt. Scott M. ThomsonSenior Naval Instructor, NROTCU The Citadel

Midshipmen from Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) Unit listen to the real-life aviation experiences of Irv-ing “I.V.” Velez during their first training session at the SSC Charleston ATC operations center.


Mids benefit from SPAWARriors’ experience

Six midshipmen (mids) from Naval Reserve OfficersTraining Corps (NROTC) Unit The Citadel participated in atraining session at SSC Charleston’s Air Traffic Control op-erations Jan. 31. This was the first training session in whatwill be a routine working relationship between NROTCUThe Citadel and the ATC operations center.

The six midshipmen attending the training are all futureNavy Aviators in their junior and senior years at The Cita-del.

This was a great opportunity for my future Navy Avia-tors to appreciate the efforts of air traffic controllers on theground. The midshipmen were learning from some of theNavy’s best. The staff at SPAWAR’s ATC operations areseasoned professionals in the field of Air Traffic Control.

“I’ll certainly take these lessons with me to flight school,”said Midshipman First Class Zachary Franklin. Instructorscovered basic lessons in air traffic control, including typesof air space, air traffic control equipment, basic air trafficcontrol on aircraft carriers, and how to develop a flightplan. The midshipmen were treated to a tour of the Air TrafficControl operations center, including the control tower.

This is latest of many training events that have been hostedby SSC Charleston for the benefit of NROTCU The Citadelover the last two years. Previous training events, tours andbriefs have included many different work centers in thecommand, and all strive for the same common goal of in-creasing the professional knowledge of future naval offic-ers. Midshipmen are exposed to the latest technologies be-ing employed on U.S. Navy platforms, putting these offic-

ers ahead of their peers when they are commissioned andenter the fleet.

SSC Charleston also benefits from this relationship. Eachmidshipman that has an opportunity to interact with SSCCharleston staff and tour the facilities gains an appreciationfor the command’s important mission. After they are com-missioned as ensigns, they enter the fleet understandinghow SPAWAR can assist them in accomplishing their mis-sion. Business relationships can eventually come to frui-tion as these officers go through the officer ranks.

Special thanks go to Bob Miller for coordinating thesetraining events with SSC Charleston. These events are pos-sible because of the generous support from Phil Braswell’sand Dave Monahan’s teams, and support by others like Lt.Brian Phillips, Tom Glaab, Coy Johnson, I.V. Velez and SSCCharleston Command Master Chief, ACCM Anthony Cor-pus.

SSC Charleston is currently in the process of broaden-ing the relationship with The Citadel and we are pursuingan Education Partnership Agreement (EPA). This is a greatoportunity for both organizations to leverage talent and re-sources. SSC Charleston will have access to world classinstructors in military sciences who could help us withSPAWAR 101. The partnership offers other areas for de-velopment for New Professionals and SSC Charleston’sseasoned scientists and engineers.

Although working with midshipmen at NROTCU TheCitadel is an excellent opportunity for SPAWAR engineersto interact with the warfighter, it is merely one part of whatcould be an important partnership between The Citadel andSSC Charleston.


Lunch BuddiesSharing more than lunch

More than 90 Hanahan Middle School students visitedSSC Charleston recently as part of the command’s “LunchBuddies” program.

A Lunch Buddy is paired with an SSC Charleston em-ployee who has lunch with him or her every month to men-tor and offer support with school work. Lunch Buddiesdiscuss grades, school activities, how coursework relatesto career opportunities, and other topics important to thestudent. This academically motivating program, now in itsfifth year at SSC Charleston, has grown each year. Thisyear there was increased participation from SSCCharleston’s New Professionals — recent college gradu-ates hired at the command — according to Odette Foore,who is volunteer coordinator of the program for SSCCharleston.

The visit to SSC Charleston kicked off this year’s pro-gram and was designed to give the kids from grades 5through 8 a unique, up-close look at the world of work,and in particular, career opportunities for those with mathand science skills.

Above, visiting stu-dents get to see acombat vehicle upclose and personalduring their visit toSSC Charleston. Atright James Reston,far left, tellsHanahan MiddleSchool students, es-corted by parent vol-unteer Lisa Pelloni,center, about the ca-pabilities of the airtraffic control tower.Photos by HaroldSenn.

Photos by Harold Senn

In an Internet café, like more than 600 others SSCCharleston personnel have established in the Middle East toallow warfighters to see, talk to and e-mail their loved onesback home, students surfed the Net and called a warfighterin Iraq.

PartneringPartnering


Above, Hanahan Middle School students surfing the Net inan Internet café are, from bottom right, Candace Gentile,Taylor Pyle, Breanna Moats and Jessie Carpenter. Below,SSC Charleston Public Affairs Officer Lonnie Cowart andhis Lunch Buddy Bryan Gross pause for a photo op duringthe pizza lunch.

In SSC Charleston’s Air Traffic Control facility, the stu-dents toured an actual air traffic control tower and learnedhow the command operates and supports all aspects ofairport and airfield operations, from the desert to Antarc-tica. They also climbed aboard a combat vehicle outfittedwith the latest command, control, communications, com-puters, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR)equipment by SPAWAR employees.

Historically, students paired with Lunch Buddies see animprovement in grades over time. And, the SSC Charlestonmentors hope, the students become more interested in mathand science and the careers opportunities like those offeredat the command.

Karen Cowell, Hanahan Middle School guidance coun-selor, noted that the kids learned a lot during their visit, forexample, a warfighter told them that it was 100 degrees inBaghdad today. “I appreciate the time and effort SSCCharleston has put into this program,” she said.

As part of its partnership with Hanahan Middle School,SSC Charleston volunteers help in classrooms, at math con-tests, science and career fairs and other special activities,emphasizing good character and academic achievement, in-cluding an annual patriotic essay contest.

- Susan Piedfort, Chronicle Editor


Increasing automated system accuracy

by improving algorithms used for

digital motion estimation

A Publish It! product by Joey F. Pomperada, Code 56410As the use of digital video for surveillance increases,

there remains a need to automate and improve these sys-tems not only to decrease the amount of manpower re-quired to operate surveillance systems but also to increasetheir capability.

The information below details the evolution and improve-ment of extracting “moving” objects from the original digi-tal video input (*.avi or *.mpeg). SSC Charleston is re-searching, developing and simulating different algorithmsused to automate motion detection in digital video. As thecapabilities of digital video surveillance increases, the sys-tems will not only rely on improving hardware such as pro-cessor speed and memory size, but also the use of intelli-gent computing.

In the past five years, commercial companies have de-veloped software systems that allow automated video sur-veillance. Video motion detection performed independentlyusing methods such as block matching, edge detection andoptical intensity flow analysis are obsolete compared to thesystems in use today.

The first commercial companies to provide intelligentdigital video motion detection provided recorded frameswhenever motion was detected. Now the latest capabilitiesinclude sophisticated boundary control, integrated camerapanning to automate tracking of the object in motion, and

increasingly important, color identification along with gaitand motion pattern classification.

The challenge in being able to provide a reliable auto-mated video surveillance system, however, remains that thesystem is dependent on the input digital video and the ef-fects of the environment in that video.

Last year, SSC Charleston conducted an evaluation ofcommercial automated video surveillance systems moni-toring a harbor. The environment captured on the videocaused the systems to output false alarms. Some of thenuisances found in the testing were caused by the windblowing leaves on trees, unintentional movement by thecamera due to the wind and changes due to light reflectionin the moving water. This summer, SSC Charleston is do-ing an additional evaluation of automated video surveillancesystems paired with night vision technology such as highperformance monochrome, image intensifiers, and thermalimagers.

Using Matlab and Simulink to model and simulate thealgorithms, SSC Charleston is able to test the proficiencyof the algorithms before porting them to embedded DSPand DLP processors. One specific algorithm inspected wasthe Sum of Absolute Differences (SAD), as detailed by E.A.Hakkennes of the Delft University of Technology in theNetherlands. SAD is one of the more effective algorithmsthat vendors can employ in current automated video sur-veillance systems.

SAD is a summation of the absolute differences betweenpixels in an image. In this algorithm, each pixel is comparedwith every pixel from the next image (one frame delay).The sum of these calculations corresponds to a value whichcan be used to form an output matrix (video) with only thechanged (moving) pixels.

Enhancing

automated

video

surveillance


The formula is shown above, where,

(x,y) – position of current block(r,s) – motion vector

Displacement of current block (A) relative to the blockin the reference frame (B).

A model of SAD was created in Simulink. A sample video(*.avi / *.mpeg) was used as input and the numbering sys-tem was changed from fixed point 8 bit integer to 16 bitinteger (int16) to be compatible with the SAD algorithm.

Further development needs to take place to improve thesealgorithms by using noise filters and building supportingfunctions such as marking, tracking, and alerting. One wayto filter out water-caused nuisances is to develop a waterclassification engine that characterizes the behavior and ef-fects of the natural environment on water. Particularly, SSCCharleston is focused on reducing wake detection, so thata more accurate bounding box containing the real objectbecomes the output, which gives the user a better objectsize estimation, classification, etc.

Due to the complex characteristics of the water envi-ronment, an algorithm to handle water reflections, shad-ows, waves and wakes should also be included. SSCCharleston is currently investigating new algorithms thatuse subbands from the frequency domain in addition to thecurrent methods. Subband coding breaks a signal into anumber of different frequency bands and encodes each oneindependently. This decompositon is often the first step indata compression for audio and video signals.

Future video surveillance systems will take advantage ofintelligent computing such as the use of state theory andartificial neural networks. State theory is a theory of abso-

lute time in which the number of states from the first mo-ment in time up to the current moment in time can becounted.

In contrast with Einstein’s theory of relativity in whichtime is modeled using the real number system, state theorydefines a state as a moment in time, a point of time, aninstant and as such has no duration. State theory and binarylogic overlap somewhat due to the definition of a state-ment. In bindary logic, a statement is a sentence which iseither true or false, but cannot be true and false simulta-neously. That is, no statement can be true and false in thesame state.

An artificial neural network (ANN), also called a simu-lated neural network (SNN), or commonly just neural net-work (NN), is an interconnected group of artificial neuronsthat uses a mathematical or computational model for infor-mation processing based on a connectionistic approach tocomputation.

In most cases an ANN is an adaptive system that changesits structure based on external or internal information thatflows through the network. In more practical terms, neuralnetworks are nonlinear statistical data modeling or decisionmaking tools. They can be used to model complex relation-ships between inputs and outputs or to find patterns in data.

Beause of the higher level of analysis and adapation gainedwith these two methods, intelligent systems can be devel-oped that will not only be able to characterize objects ofinterest from nuance; but will also be able to learn and rec-ognize simlar objects from the past.

Analysis and modeling for this work was conducted byJoey F. Pomperada, and field work and operational as-sessment was conducted by Justin Firestone as part of SSCCharleston’s 2006 Innovation Program.

The photo at farleft is a framefrom a digitalvideo. The im-age at left is thesame frame afterapplication ofthe SAD algo-rithm.

SAD ( x, y, r, s ) = Σ Σ | A( x + i, y + j )

- B(( x + r ) + i, ( y + s ) + j )

|i = 15 j = 15

i = 0 j = 0


More than 350 people attended thefourth annual ThinkTEC 2008 Home-land Security Innovation ConferenceFeb. 21 through 22 at SSC Charles-ton.

The conference, themed “CurrentChallenges and Real Time Solutions inResiliency,” featured international, na-tional and regional briefings on suicideterrorism, transportation security, DHSinitiatives, Project Seahawk, technolo-gies on threat detection, command andcontrol and resiliency. Hands on exhib-its also showcased over 50 cutting-edge technologies and equipment.

SSC Charleston projects featured in-cluded next-generation antiterrorismgadgets such as an underwater acous-tic sentinel security system that can de-tect divers swimming around vesselsdocked in port; hand-held biometricprocessors that can read identificationcards and fingerprints; and a hand-heldheat-sensing device for detecting hand-prints and footprints on walls andfloors. These products were the resultof SSC Charleston’s teaming with in-dustry partners.

The conference, held for the sec-ond year at SSC Charleston, began witha welcome and brief by SSC Charles-ton Technical Director James Ward,followed by a keynote address byOwen Doherty, director of the Officeof Security at the U.S. Maritime Ad-

ministration. Doherty applauded ProjectSeahawk, a command and control in-telligence program that brings togetherfederal, state and local agencies to en-sure security in the region. ProjectSeahawk, which was piloted inCharleston, has established a model forother ports in the nation, Dohertynoted.

Port security was also the topic ofa panel discussion by Capt. MichaelMcAllister, commanding officer ofU.S. Coast Guard Sector Charleston;Kelly Shackelford, assistant U.S. At-torney and Project Seahawk director;and Pamela Zaresk, area port director

for U.S. Customs and Border Protec-tion in Charleston. Their discussioncentered on the national perspective andlocal impact of the Security and Ac-countability for Every (SAFE) Port Act,signed into law in October 2006.

The conference offered a great op-portunity to showcase the technologyand talents of SSC Charleston. Specialthanks were extended to the NavalWeapons Station Security Departmentfor assistance with base passes forconference participants.

Next year’s ThinkTEC conferenceis tentatively scheduled for mid-Feb-ruary, 2009.

ThinkTEC innovation conference a huge success

Leaders in business, homeland security technology, science, military, governmentand economic development gather at SSC Charleston for the ThinkTEC 2008Homeland Security Innovation Conference.

Photo provided by Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce

Photo by Tom Egbert

Photo by Tom Egbert

Conference attendees saw new technologies for warfightersand homeland security in more than 50 exhibits such as these.


Recruiters attract best and brightestBy Gary Scott

Spring recruiting events are well underway.SSC Charleston has attended 22 events since Jan.31. Recruiting events include career fairs, infor-mation sessions, networking banquets, etc.,which have been held at numerous institutions,such as Georgia Tech, Auburn University,Clemson University, University of South Caro-lina, North Carolina State University, Universityof Miami, University of Virginia, North CarolinaAgricultural &Technical, Duke University, etc.

Each technical code identified a select groupof recruiters, totaling 63, who attended recruit-ing training Jan. 28.

In addition to the universities, SSC Charlestonhas attended seven career days at local elemen-tary and high schools. Every year, there are fewerstudents (especially females) who pursue careersin engineering, technology, science and math re-lated fields. Partnering with local schools allowsSSC Charleston to promote these fields of studyand encourage students to choose a career in oneof these disciplines in the future. SSC Charlestonbenefits in many ways by partnering with localschools. A few of them are:

· Exposes students to an actual work settingand allows them to understand different aspectsof the industry.

· Introduces students to SPAWAR and to promising ca-reers, thereby increasing their interest in the industry.

· Introduces teachers to SPAWAR and the needs of ourindustry.

· Helps us understand what schools are teaching.· Enhances staff morale through mentoring responsibili-

ties.· Gives us a sense of satisfaction from making a valued

contribution and giving back to the community.In preparation for spring recruiting events, SSC Charles-

ton updated all marketing materials. Handout materials in-clude a trifold brochure, benefits brochure, updated CDand more. The career fair display now has a more contem-porary appearance and is easier to transport. Informationabout the programs, employment opportunities and areasof expertise are clearly defined on the display.

One of our goals is to increase SSC Charleston’s foot-print at targeted colleges and universities. We would likestudents to see SPAWAR as an “employer of choice.” Inorder to accomplish this goal, we are reaching out to col-leges and universities outside of the Southeast geographicarea in hopes of developing long-term partnerships.

Recently, SSC Charleston invited a group of Universityof Michigan-Flint students and advisors to Charleston tolearn more about the organization. Their two-day visit in-cluded a command overview by SSC Charleston Command-ing Officer Capt. Red Hoover, lab tours, briefings by eachtechnical code and panel interviews. This effort has beencited by leadership for approaches to other institutions.

Our college recruitment program is continually evolv-ing. As of press time, in fiscal year 2008, SSC Charlestonhas hired approximately 45 career interns and 10 interns/co-ops. In addition to our recruiting programs, we’ve alsoestablished monthly New Professionals Brown Bag sessionsand are working with the career interns to make their em-ployment experience a positive one.

If you would like to refer someone to the Navy CareerIntern Program (NCIP), Student Temporary EmploymentProgram (STEP, also know as Summer Internship Program)or the Student Career Experience Program (SCEP, alsoknown as co-op) please send resume and transcripts [email protected]. Applicants’ resumes can befound on CnE in the CHS WFM Resume Review Workspace(for access call Melissa Cosker at (843) 218-6298).

Photo by Diane Owens

SSC Charleston’s updated career fair display now has a more contem-porary appearance and is easier to transport. Information about theprograms, employment opportunities and areas of expertise are clearlydefined on the display.


A Publish It! product by George Lunney, Code 5313I’ll confess right up front to being old as dirt and twice

as dumb. In my 25 years of government service, I’ve triedto keep abreast of all this new technology, but then again,I’m not all that willing to part with the old and familiar.

One of these days I really will play all those 78 RPMsstashed in the closet and convert them to MP3s. Really.

Such combining of the old and the new, by the way, isthe kind of a job I love; and over years, I have had plenty ofopportunities to do so with the IFS (Internal FrequencyStandard) program. The IFS was, as we politely say,“legacy” equipment, but the test methods were often at thecutting edge of technology. Adding something old to some-thing new can bring about a totally new, unique product -which, oddly enough, brings me to the subject of interns,and why everyone should have one.

They’re young, eager and they learn fast

As a new employee, the stark reality of job orders, pa-perwork and deadlines has not yet quenched the intern’snatural enthusiasm. Interns approach every task with spiritand gusto. They’re also usually agile, and can bend andmove stuff around in a way I can’t do without feeling somedegree of discomfort.

The most mundane assignment (like keeping the labstraight) is performed promptly and vigorously. And it’s agood thing, too: not the neatest person by nature, my in-terns have taught me a thing or two about staying orga-nized and having everything in the proper place. Now if Icould only find where they put everything....

The intern also has a natural curiosity for learning whatI call the “Ancient Technical Arts.” For example, all myinterns were particularly fascinated with soldering tools,and the fact that I could actually use them. My interns alsolearned very quickly how to align a 5061A Frequency Stan-dard, a skill that generally doesn’t come that easy. In fact,they did such a good job aligning the house standard that

the drift rate was a perfect 0. I’m still wondering howthey did that.

And when it comes to new technology, the intern reallyshines. If a controller goes down in the lab, what wouldnormally be a disaster becomes a minor nuisance. In amanner of nanoseconds, the interns will have it ready withthree new operating systems.

Then there is that burdensome chore called typing. Be-lieve me, all that instant messaging has really paid off, forthese dudes could type - certainly a most desirable talent

Something old,something new

Incorporating interns into the job

Intern Andrew Kinard, Bob Miller, George Lunney andDavid Keller discuss their recent project, the Next Genera-tion IFS initative.



when there are reports to submit, documents to compileand programming to do.

Most importantly, interns provide fresh, new minds. Withmy mathematical skills somewhere at the seventh gradelevel, having an intern that just finished calculus is a definiteplus in my book, especially with all the computations re-quired for frequency standard work.

And all of my interns were quick learners - my com-puter scientist major had little experience with electronics,but after an introduction to LabView and the oscilloscope,he was showing me how to program -- and use -- the oscil-loscope.

And then there was my music major, fresh from highschool, who now is a virtuoso of such exotic instrumentsas the frequency counter, the digital multimeter, and thedifficult-to-play spectrum analyzer.

They provide an extra pair of hands

…and eyes and ears and everything else. Especially herein the lab, my interns provided tools, equipment and thetelephone when I was tied up (literally) inside the test set.While I was busy with other tasks, my interns typicallywould assemble documentation with unrivaled neatness. Myinterns often reviewed my work and, thankfully, watchedmy every move, correcting me without being too obviouswhen I connected a plug in the wrong jack or made a pro-gramming “enhancement.”

Then there were those times when my supervisor wouldmake a surprise visit and communicate a verbal agenda ofnew initiatives. Before I could grab a pen, my intern wouldbe way ahead of me, busily jotting down all that was saidand needed to be done. They also politely reminded me,

fortunately, to do the tasks in a timely manner. I also ben-efited greatly by having someone to talk and share ideaswith, often initiating some rather bold and ambitious plans.

They provide great value

For projects such as mine -- where every nickel counts-- interns are a great value. Certainly they cost a lot lessthan a weathered technician like me. Nevertheless, one issurely justified to ask: what does SSC Charleston get inreturn?

Well, for one thing, a great product! All my interns be-came effective LabView programmers, and it was my plea-sure to step aside and let them write the software for thelab. After all, my interns possessed new technological skillsthat I wanted to exploit as much as possible. In addition,they brought a new perspective to a job that really needed afresh approach. Most importantly, the hands-on experiencemy interns gained in the lab will make them better engi-neers. It’s one thing to talk abstractly about how a circuitworks; it’s quite another to actually see the blinking lightsand changing waveforms.

In a nutshell, hiring an intern brings something new to aproject or code that is, shall we say, a bit seasoned. Anintern can be a valuable assistant and a bargain to boot for aproject on a shoestring. As for my interns, I’m certain theytook back with them experiences that will not only makethem better engineers but better students as well. I’m suremy electrical engineering intern will be showing his profes-sors a thing or two about counters, voltmeters, oscillo-scopes, phase comparators, attenuators and spectrum ana-lyzers.

Now if I could only find where he put all those things!

can automatically view the caller’s telephone numberand present location. The dispatcher will enter an eventcode into the NERMS system, say for instance the codefor a domestic disturbance, and the system will auto-matically recommend the type and number of vehicles torespond based on the event code and closest availablevehicles.

Vehicle disposition status, along with other currentevent information, will appear on two monitors. Anothermonitor will display geographical information systems(GIS) information -- a street map of the event location(like a car GPS) will automatically appear with the firstresponder vehicles shown en route.

Another monitor will display land mobile radio com-munications. The dispatcher will be able to communi-cate to any talk group for an entire naval region.

NERMSNavy fire responders are excited about upgrading to

NERMS. “NERMS is gigantic step forward in NavyFire Protection, probably the most advanced since theintegration of Personal Protective Clothing in the field,”said Battalion Chief David Lanier of the First Coast NavyFire and Emergency Services.

“The quality of data being given to the responder dra-matically enhances the prearrival decision making of thecompany officer during those critical first moments,potentially leading to a more positive outcome,” he added.

Navy Region Southwest is set to receive NERMSnext and they are more than ready for its deployment.The Southwest region has already experienced a levelof regionalization in the San Diego area, so NERMS willfit right into their current operations. Through severalNERMS working groups, fire, police and dispatch rep-resentatives from both regions have had the opportu-nity to standardize their predefined response plans, nam-ing conventions, event types, work shifts, workflowprocesses, emergency response zones and much more.

Continued from page 18


Nine from SSC Charleston were honoredin the command briefing theater during aMarch 5 SPAWAR Systems Command AllHands gathering. SSC Charleston personnelin San Diego, Calif., were also honored at theheadquarters gathering which was hosted bythe commander of SPAWARSYSCOM, RearAdm. Michael Bachmann.

Director of Engineering Operations MikeKutch, Code 5600 (formerly Code 70) re-ceived a Lightning Bolt Award in recognitionof his contributions toward the command’sattainment in April 2007 of CMMI MaturityLevel 3, as set forth by the Software Engi-neering Institute (SEI). SSC Charleston wasthe first SPAWAR systems center to success-fully achieve this distinction.

Micheal Moody and Joseph Forbes wererecognized for their work on the Navy GlobalBroadcast Service.

Barry Tanju received a Lightning Bolt Award for the ac-complishments of the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71)Refueling Complex Overhaul Design Build Team (PEO C4I).

Five SSC Charleston per-sonnel were honored forTEAM SPAWAR InnovationAwards. Robert Regal re-ceived an Innovation Award(Science and TechnologyProcess or Service) for theMulti-Touch, Multi-Userproject. Michael Pereira andChris All received a TEAMSPAWAR Innovation Award(Operational process) for

their work with the inflatable antenna. John Cut-ter was honored as first runner up for the TEAM SPAWARInnovation Award (Operational Process) for the Service-Oriented Desperado Architecture (SODA) innovation.

William Addison was presented the Financial Manage-ment and Comptroller Award.

Local SPAWARriors honored at All Hands

AllRegalMoody Forbes Cutter

In San Diego, Lothrop Richards accepted a LightningBolt Award for Ron Lowder and Jennifer Watson and theSYSCOM Architecture Development and Integration Envi-ronment Team. Also in San Diego, Andrew Tash was hon-

ored as second runner up forthe TEAM SPAWAR Innova-tion Award (Operational Pro-cess) for the Wireless Mo-bility Network Analysis andAssessment project.

Scott Crellin received rec-ognition as second runner upfor the TEAM SPAWAR In-novation Award (BusinessModel and Process) for theProject-Based SituationalAwareness innovation.

James Ward’s receipt of the Order of the Palmetto byGov. Mark Sanford was acknowledged and praised byBachmann at the end of the awards ceremony. Ward re-ceived a rousing ovation from the SSC Charleston group inthe command briefing theater for the All Hands VTC.

Pereira

Kutch

James Ward, center, reacts to applause in the command briefing theaterafter Commander, SPAWAR Systems Command Rear Adm. MichaelBachmann announced Ward was presented the Order of the Palmetto.


Tanju Addison


TCDL: Real-time actionA Publish It! productby Devang Topiwala, Code 53140

Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Gary Granger Jr.

The Navy Mobile Operations Control Center (MOCC) TCDL SurfaceTerminal Equipment (STE) is an Internet Protocol (IP)-based systemproviding the fleet with a reliable real-time communication link anddata with a TCDL-equipped aircraft such as a P-3 pictured above.

and STE computer. The RETC houses the 17-inch direc-tional and omnidirectional antenna assemblies.

There are currently numerous MOCC STEs in theater.The most widely used application is surveillance and

monitoring activity of adversaries. The data re-ceived plays a critical role in planning mobile

missions. Data received from missions in-clude voice, high-rate sensor data and full-motion video. Real-time monitoring andfull-motion video display can bestreamed to personnel in the field suchas those on ships and shore sites.

An example of TCDL real-time actionwas the U.S. Northern Command

(USNORTHCOM) exercise that occurredJune 28 and 29, 2007. The high-visibility

exercise required the broadcast of real-time,full-motion video to the White House situation room

and the Department of Homeland Security.The TCDL STE and P-3 ATE were in full force during

this exercise. The equipment was a vital part in streamingmission-like video. All shore sites were able to view full-time video with navigation data on their personal comput-ers as well as their large screen displays, easily exceedingthe specified requirements. This high-visibility mission wascoordinated through Wing-11, VP-16, VP-30, CMO, MOCCLANT, MOCC DELTA, Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, andSSC Charleston.

Refresh and system delta training plans are in place, en-veloped in the Navy MOCC Operational Assessment (OA)

event. Training will in-volve real-time opera-tion with an aircraft aswell as the built-insimulator. MOCC per-sonnel will get a first-hand introduction tocurrent and futuretechnologies.

SSC Charlestoncontinues to providesupport and training tothe MOCC. Plans arein place to provide allMOCCs with STEsand training to helpsupport critical mis-sions such as GlobalWar on Terror.

Tactical Common Data Link (TCDL) is a wideband net-worked data link. The stand-alone system design ar-chitecture supports a broad range of end-usersfrom the Navy to Air Force.

The TCDL system is a vital part of mari-time patrol and reconnaissance forces.The system is being added to numerousmissions including support of nationaldisaster relief efforts.

The Navy Mobile Operations ControlCenter (MOCC) TCDL Surface Termi-nal Equipment (STE) is an Internet Pro-tocol (IP)-based system providing the fleetwith a reliable real-time communication linkand data with a TCDL-equipped aircraft suchas a P-3 Orion. Communication data include voicecommunications, data transfer, video and still images.

The TCDL system is a quick path to send and receivedata from an aircraft to the surface terminal equipment (STE)for the P-3 and MOCC community (prime mission users).The full-duplex path is a microwave radio frequency (RF)signal which consists of command and return signals toand from the aircraft. The full-duplex path provides theprime mission users with a digital point-to-point, Line-of-Sight (LOS) with the prime mission user’s airborne intelli-gence gathering Airborne Terminal Equipment (ATE).

The system is capable of data transfer up to Top Secretclassification. Currently the MOCC uses the STE in un-classified and secretmodes.

The MOCC utilizesthe STE within the fulllow-rate Common DataLink (CDL) specifica-tion. The major hard-ware includes the Lo-cal Equipment Group(LEG) and RemoteEquipment Group(REG).

The LEG consistsof the Local EquipmentTransit Case (LETC)and the REG consistsof the Remote Equip-ment Transit Case(RETC). The LETChouses the fiber com-munication equipment


Oceanographer and Navigator of the Navy Rear Adm.David A. Gove visited SSC Charleston’s Little Creek Iner-tial Navigation lab Jan. 10.

The visit was a followup to a Dec. 13 visit by SSCCharleston Commanding Officer Capt. Red Hoover, Tide-

Rear Adm. David Gove,second from right, tells asea story to, from left,Capt. Bruce Urbon, FlagLt. Mathias Roth and Lt.Carlus Greathouse aftermeeting Russ Breeding,far right, a former Sailorfrom fast attack subma-rine USS Flying Fish.

water Fleet Support Office Head Capt. Bruce Urbon andJohn Carvil of Code 525AO (formerly Code 84D) to theNaval Observatory, where they reviewed support to theNavy and to Integrated Warfare Systems (IWS) for navi-gation programs. SSC Charleston’s Urbon and Lt. Carlus

Greathouse, Strike Group Officer and AssistantNavigation Program Manager, led the admiral onthe tour, with Division 52500 personnel supportingwith demos and discussions of ongoing Navynaviation systems and initiatives.

The admiral looked at the Small Craft and Un-manned Sea Surface Vessel (USSV) Nav Guidanceand Control, new Digital Dead Reckoning Tracer(DDRT), Quartermaster of the Watch Workstation(QMOWW) concept and the Network Centric Map-ping Database (NCMD) during his visit. He alsoviewed the Navigation Sensor System Interface(NAVSSI) in Surface, Enhanced Control DisplayUnit (ECDU) in submarines, Digital Depth Detec-tor, Speed Sensors, RLGN Lab Testing, AircraftInertial Alignment System and the Navigation Sys-tem Test and RepairNav Capability.

Gove, a submariner, showed much interest inall of the projects, noting specifically the stridesthe submarine community had achieved with re-spect to submarine modernization. On departing,the admiral thanked the SSC Charleston navigationstaff and expressed his desire to keep SSC Charles-ton engaged in the Nav Vision 2025 initiative.

Rear Adm. David Gove visits Tidewater labOceanographer and Navigator of the Navy

Bill Browne explains the inner workings of the Digital Dead Reck-oning Tracer (DDRT) to Rear Adm. David Gove, as James Bacaoanof WR Systems looks on.


Lt. Brian Phillips, pictured at right briefing the visiting Sec-retary of Defense Robert Gates, was presented the Navy Com-mendation medal during a December All Hands gathering.SSC Charleston Commanding Officer Capt. Red Hoover pre-sented the award which noted Phillips’ outstanding merito-rious service as science and technology liaison officer, in-formation assurance officer, operations security managerand division officer at SSC Charleston from February to Sep-tember 2007. Phillips was praised for revitalizing the center’sOPSEC program and integrating it into every program andproject onboard, and for saving $4.6 million annually forthe cross-domain solutions virtual program office and theeraser software efforts.

Phillips awardedNavy Commendation Medal

SSC Charleston’s own Herb Steerman, right, ofSSC Charleston Code 55340 gets a photo opwith Gen. David H. Petraeus, Commanding Gen-eral of the Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNFI),after meeting the general at a promotion cer-emony recently. Steerman is on an extended as-signment to Iraq helping build and fully inte-grate the Department of State’s (DoS)Emergency and Evacuation Radio Network.One of Steerman’s duties is to meet regularlywith his MNFI counterparts to ensure reliableoperational compatibility between the DoS andMNFI networks.Photo provided

General Petraeusand friend


Photo by Tom Egbert

Lois Hughes, secretary to the SSC technical director since2003, retired recently after more than 25 years of federalservice. Prior to serving in the front office, Hughes hadbeen the administrative assistant to SSC Charleston’s busi-ness manager since 2000. An SSC Charleston plankowner,Hughes joined the former NAVELEX Charleston in 1987 inthe contracts division, then moved to the Intelligence andInformation Warfare Systems Engineering Department in1988.

At right, SSC Charleston Commanding Officer Capt. RedHoover, Hughes and SSC Charleston Technical DirectorJames Ward share a laugh during a retirement ceremonyfor Hughes in the atrium of Bldg. 3147.

Fair winds andfollowing seas


The Honorable John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania’s12th Congressional District, listens to SSCCharleston Commanding Officer Capt. RedHoover during a visit to the MRAP integrationfacility in October.

Photo by Tom Egbert

The Honorable Gene Taylor of Mississippi’s 4th Congres-sional District, asks a question during a visit to SSCCharleston’s MRAP vehicle integration facility in lateJanuary. Taylor, who first visited in early November, is a

Photo by Tom Egbert

From left, Pete Ward of Code 53160 explains the MRAP ve-hicle integration timetable to Maj. Gen. Dennis Via, USA,commanding general of the Communications-ElectronicsLife Cycle Management Command at Fort Monmouth, N.J.,as Brig. Gen. Thomas Cole, USA, PEO IEW&S, center, lookson. The generals visited from Fort Monmouth, N.J., in lateOctober.

Photo by Tom Egbert

member of the House Armed Services Committee andchairman of the subcommittee on Seapower and Expedi-tionary Forces. A U.S. Coast Guardsman from 1971 to1984, Taylor was elected to Congress in 1989.

VisitorsVisitors


Maj. Gen. James Hawkins, USAF commander of Scott Air Force Base,makes a point to SSC Charleston Commanding Officer Capt. Red Hooverduring a visit to the MRAP vehicle integration facility Nov. 15.


Pete Ward speaks to Maj. Gen. DougRobinson, commander of the U.S. Army Re-search, Development and Engineering Com-mand during the general’s tour of the MRAPintegration facility.


During a visit to SSC Charleston inDecember Maj. Gen. Russell Czerw,commander of the U.S. Army Medi-cal Department Center and Schooland Fort Sam Houston, got behindthe wheel of an MRAP vehicle usedto respond to medical emergencies.Czerw also got a chance to look atthe gear worn by military respond-ers, below during the visit.



Thousands celebrate the New Year by taking an icydip in the Atlantic Ocean during the Polar Bear SwimJan. 1 on Sullivans Island. This year Dennis Ehney andLara Byrns decided it was also a good time to start theirmarried life together.

What started as Lara teasing her fiance in late De-cember about never taking the Polar Bear plunge endedwith the couple making a last minute decision to takethe marriage plunge three months ahead of schedule.

Dennis, an industry partner supporting SSC

No cold feet for these Polar Bear swimmers

At left, bride andgroom pledgetheir marriagevows on thebeach as DennisEhney’s daugh-ter Logan servesas maid ofhonor. Above,the couple en-joys their firstkiss as man andwife. At right, Channel 5’s Marika Kelderman interviewsthe Ehneys after their Polar Bear swim.

Charleston’s Common Submarine Radio Room in Code55300 (formerly Code 53) as an integrator/technician,and Lara signed the marriage license among the throngof Polar Bear swimmers gathered for the 15th annualevent. They all walked to the beach near Station 22,where Dennis and Lara were married by Sullivans Is-land Town Municipal Judge Steve Steinert. Their firstofficial act as man and wife: they took the Polar Bearplunge.

“We just felt it was appropriate,” the groom said.

Photos by Steve Ehney

Chronicle Lite: SSC Charleston’s employee newsletterThe first issue of the command’s employee newsletter,

Chronicle Lite, was published in January 2008. The monthlypublication contains short, focused, easy-to-understand ar-ticles on government, military and contractor employeesand work-related issues. In many cases, articles summarizeand simplify complex subjects, providing bottom line infor-mation for use on the job.

Employees are e-mailed a copy of each issue, and it isalso available in paper format and on CnE. Printed copies of

each issue are sent to major buildings in the command’slocations worldwide for distribution.

Lite Bites, tidbits of information posted weekly on table-top signs in the command’s café in Bldg. 3147, are an off-shoot product. A different employee is featured each week.

To submit an idea or information for a Chronicle Litearticle or a Lite Bite, call Diane Owens at 843-218-5888 [email protected].

The Final WordThe Final Word


We are now soliciting photography submissions from SSC Charleston employees

for the next Chronicle photo contest.

The Employee Services Association will offer the winner a choice of a coffee cup, thermal

mug, command coin, cookbook (if available) or $5 credit toward another logo item.

MWR will offer a certificate for a free lunch in the Cooper River Cafe to the winner.

Send your best shot to [email protected], or drop your print by the Chronicle office.

Send us your best shot

And the winner is...

spring 2008 the chronicle 1 · ssc charleston technical director james ward posted this final...

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