Oct 23, 2012
Engineers in the Integrated Battlespace Simulation and Test (IBST) Department at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division were honored with Beacon Awards on Oct. 22 during a national IBST all-hands meeting hosted via video teleconference from Naval Air Systems Command headquarters in Patuxent River, Md.
The IBST Department Beacon Award recognizes those within the NAVAIR IBST community who record significant achievements that enhance or extend the department's ability to support the mission of the warfighters.
“These awards are very significant because they're all about peer recognition,” said Susie Park, head of the Weapons and Strike Environments Division. “Anyone can nominate, and a panel of previous winners vote. It's an honor to receive this award because it's from the people you work with on a daily basis.”
There are three award categories associated with the Beacon Awards - professional, apprentice, and the team. The professional category recognizes those with more than three years of professional experience. The apprentice category recognizes those with three years or less of professional experience. The team category recognizes those who worked together in a committed way to achieve a common goal or mission.
Winners in the professional category were Dan Loibl, Jeff Werneking, Troy McClain, Shirli Kleinman and Steve Harrison.
Loibl was selected for a Beacon Award because of his work as the project engineer for the acquisition of the TOFT123, a fleet F/A-18E/F simulator. During the last year, he was responsible for acquiring and coordinating two F-18 trainers within NAWCWD’s Integrated Battlespace Arena.
Werneking, who passed away earlier this year, was honored with an award for his work as the administrator of many mission critical systems.
“Jeff did some great work for us,” said Amy Markowich, national department head for IBST. “He is very missed.”
McClain was recognized for his work in the fields of information technology/system administration. He was also cited for “outstanding customer service” and his work mentoring students.
Kleinman earned a Beacon Award for her support of Empire Challenge 2011. She received multiple letters of appreciation citing her work as “invaluable to the success of the event.”
Harrison received a Beacon Award for his work as the Research Development Test and Evaluation Network Security Operations Team lead ensuring that all network security systems were designed, configured and operating properly.
Tyler Coffey was the winner in the apprentice category. He was recognized for his work in developing a high-resolution camera for the ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicle. He also led an effort to develop a test bed aircraft.
“Among the young engineers in the division, he is a role model because of his dedication, motivation and competence,” said Andrew Tree, who nominated Coffey for the award.
The Host Based Security System Tools Development Team won in the Beacon Award team category. Members of the team were Jonathan Bushnell, Rafeale Hill, Jeremiah Cross, Lisa Welch and Keith Bennett. The team was recognized for taking a commercial-off-the-shelf product and customizing it to enable a significant improvement in the NAWCWD Cyber Security posture. The improved HBSS product helped NAWCWD pass the recent Cyber Security Inspection with the highest score in the Navy and is being leveraged by other commands.
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