JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J.— The Support Equipment (SE) and Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment (ALRE) Department (AIR-4.8) recognized technical acumen and leadership excellence during its second segment of the 2015 AIR-4.8 awards ceremony on June 3 at NAVAIR’s Lakehurst site.  Trailing on the coattails of the inaugural ceremony that awarded SE Employee, ALRE Employee and Supervisor of the Year back in May, this ceremony rolled out the final three awards: Innovator of the Year, New Employee of the Year and Sailor/Marine of the Year.  “These awards are a way to stand behind when we say ‘People are our most important asset,’” said Kathleen Donnelly, AIR-4.8 Director and Senior Executive Service member.

The first two awards in the ceremony, Innovator and New Employee of the Year, were presented by Donnelly, while the final award of the afternoon, Sailor/Marine of the Year, was presented by Capt. Brady Bartosh, NAVAIR Lakehurst Military Director.

The Innovator of the Year received five nominations, and the New Employee of the Year received a total of 11 nominations.

As for Sailor/Marine of the Year, Bartosh told the audience that there were more than 50 nominees considered for this award.

The Integrated Diagnostics and Automated Test Systems (IDATS) team was named the Innovator of the Year for their work with avionics diagnostics.  The team consists of: Mark Blair, John Carswell, Dan Collins, Vontrelle Collins, Brian Curry, Nilson Garcia, Joe Heitmann, Andy Hernandez, Rob Lee-Own, George Lehaf, Caleb Li, Christian Ramos, Robert Realmuto, Luis Salinas, Dr. Russell Shannon, Glenn Shevach, Ivan Touevski, Mark Weber, Alex Wendt, Billy Yong and Gregory Zucaro.

The New Employee of the Year award was awarded to Brian Balut, an electronics engineer who was recognized for his work with the Aviation Data Management and Control System.

The Sailor/Marine of the Year award went to Senior Chief Petty Officer Erik Reed for his leadership and coordination of test events at NAVAIR Lakehurst’s test site.

During her opening remarks, Donnelly explained that Lakehurst, Point Mugu and Cherry Point representatives took part in the evaluation of nomination packages and selection of a winner in each of the categories.  Each of the award categories had their own unique set of criteria that the nominees were evaluated against.

The Innovator of the Year award is reserved for a team or member of the SE and ALRE community, who promotes innovation, generates new ideas and concepts and seeks innovative solutions that improve processes, policies and products.   

The New Employee of the Year award honors an employee with 1 to 3 years of Government civilian service who has displayed proactive leadership, a willingness to accept new challenges and a commitment to excellence.

The Sailor/Marine of the Year award recognizes an active military member who has demonstrated leadership qualities, a commitment to excellence and is recognized through significant contribution or leadership of a technical project.

“[The AIR-4.8 Awards] are our way of recognizing all the great things you do,” said Donnelly at the close of the ceremony and the close of the 2015 AIR-4.8 awards season.

The second annual AIR-4.8 awards are slated for spring of 2016.