The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) recognized 10 Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) teams with Defense Programs Awards of Excellence on Tuesday, March 15. NNSA Acting Principal Assistant Deputy Administrator for Enterprise Capabilities Dr. Kevin C. Greenaugh was on hand to congratulate the teams for their excellent work in support of the nation’s Stockpile Stewardship Program.
“I am simply amazed at the great things your teams are doing for our country and its defense,” noted Dr. Greenaugh in his opening remarks. “Congratulations to each and every one of you for your outstanding contributions to NNSA Defense Programs, to our warfighters in the Navy and Air Force, and ultimately to our nation’s strategic deterrence program.”
Adding further prestige to the honors, NNSA additionally awarded an Exceptional Achievement (EA) merit to six NNSS teams. The EA acknowledges extraordinary accomplishments in the nuclear weapons life cycle process that are “home run” examples of using stockpile stewardship capabilities to promote and further advance important national security objectives. The EA is issued exclusively to recognize only those efforts and accomplishments that result in an extensive, unique, unusual, remarkable, exceptional and/or unexpected contribution to the Defense Programs mission.
The following teams, made up of more than 170 federal, contractor and national laboratory personnel, were recognized for their contributions to various Defense Programs projects:
- C-3 Launcher/Shock Activated Research Collaboration Team
- Laser-Driven Ejecta Test Bed Team
- Vulnerability Analysis and Risk Planning Team
- Hydro 664B Radiographic Imaging System Team (Exceptional Achievement)
- Kraken Development Team (Exceptional Achievement)
- MSTS Los Alamos Fiber Lab – Red Sage/Nightshade A, B, and C – Hex Packages Team (Exceptional Achievement)
- Optical Pyrometry Team (Exceptional Achievement)
- Stockpile Stewardship Data Analysis Holography Scanning Microscope Team (Exceptional Achievement)
- Red Sage: Nightshade ‘A’ Analysis Team (Exceptional Achievement)
- Device Assembly Facility Downdraft Table Operations Restart First Virtual Federal Readiness Assessment Team
Speaking at the awards ceremony, Dr. David Bowman, Manager of NNSA’s Nevada Field Office, the federal oversight for the NNSS, noted: “The awards presented today are just a small example of the great work done here at the Nevada National Security Site. I want to personally offer my thanks for a job well done and ask you to keep up the great work!”
Mark W. Martinez, President of Mission Support and Test Services, which manages and operates the NNSS, added, “I’d like to offer my congratulations and my gratitude to each of the individuals earning awards for their work at the NNSS. Six Exceptional Achievements is an amazing accomplishment and demonstrates outstanding performance in the incredibly important work you do every day.”
Established in 1982, the Defense Programs Awards of Excellence are given annually to recognize significant individual and team achievements in quality, productivity, cost savings, safety or creativity in support of NNSA’s nuclear weapons modernization program. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the awards ceremony for these 2020 DPAE awards, usually held in person, was delayed until it could be held virtually this year.