POINT MUGU, Calif., – Henry Patterson retired from Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) Point Mugu, after 42 years of combined military and civilian service. Colleagues and family members celebrated at a luncheon held at the Bard Mansion, Port Hueneme, Calif., Dec. 13.

Patterson, a mathematician at Threat/Target Systems department, received three awards. Tom Dowd, the director of TTSDTE, presented Patterson a plaque recognizing his eight years of dedicated support. The second was presented by Scott Foisy, the associate director of TTSDTE on behalf of NAWCWD commander, Rear Adm. Mat Winter, for his 42 years of loyal federal service. Foisy presented a third plaque that read, “with sincere appreciation for your support and service to the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, 23 Nov. 1969 through 31 Dec. 2011.”

During his time at NAWCWD, Patterson completed a process improvement project that helped the BQM-74 target logisticians improve their tracking of maintenance performed on the BQM-74 targets and ADU-482 target launch racks. He worked with a team of logisticians and engineers to design and implement a memorandum of understanding and a schedule for performance of maintenance on the ADU-482 target launcher and the AERO 7 target ejector rack.

As a Black Belt, with use of the AIRSpeed Lean Six Sigma metrics, Patterson helped streamline the TTSDTE engineering and acquisition processes and reduce the cycle time for receipt of product. The team that worked on the AIRSpeed Information Technology (IT) Improvement Project developed an efficient IT acquisition process that reduced acquisition time by 80%, and put in place a computer communication network which, enabled department employees to resolve IT acquisition problems within the department. He also created an electronic training guide for IT acquisitions.

In 2007, Patterson was appointed executive director for the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), which includes support for all federal government agencies in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Louis Obispo counties. He initiated an annual CFC golf tournament, an annual financial report, implemented a curbside CFC kiosk that permitted participation of retired military and federal workers, and developed a new business plan that garnered praise from the director of the Office of Personnel Management.

Patterson reflected, “Over the years, I have held several challenging jobs which afforded me the opportunity to excel and advance, from a fast-paced military career that was adventurous, filled with meeting new responsibilities while allowing attendance at various military technical schools located throughout the United States. All contributed to my success at NAWCWD,” he said. “From the 17 years spent at Camarillo Air Force Base to present, I have accomplished a lot and worked with some terrific people.”