NAVAL AIR WARFARE CENTER WEAPONS DIVISION CHINA LAKE, Calif. - Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) leadership presented Weapons Division’s Mary Jacobs, contracts, and Dan Carreño and his synthetic guidance demonstration team with two of the organization’s most prestigious honors during the 15th annual NAVAIR Commander’s Awards ceremony June 17 at Patuxent River, Maryland and via video teleconference aboard Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake, California.

 In the statement announcing this year’s team awards, Vice Adm. David Dunaway wrote: “The winners were selected from a diverse pool of nominations representing a broad spectrum of programs across the entire NAVAIR team. They exemplify the dedication, innovative spirit and drive for results that enable NAVAIR to accomplish our mission effectively on behalf of our warfighters.”

 Small Business Advocacy Award (Individual): Mary Jacobs, contracts

 Mary Jacobs, team lead for small business in the Contracts Department at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD), received an award her supervisor calls “a capstone for her career.”

 “I’m extremely proud that [Jacobs] is being recognized,” said Derrick Hu, deputy director for the office of small business programs. “She’s our local champion for small businesses and has been an advocate for small business and small business programs continually throughout her career.”

 During fiscal year 2014, Jacobs’ contract portfolio included approximately $200 million in awards to small businesses. Her team awarded $44.3 million to small businesses in the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development Program and $42.2 million to service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB).

 Within the past three years, the Contracts Department has surpassed the 3 percent statutory goal to award prime contracts to SDVOSB. Jacobs was personally responsible for meeting 94 percent of NAWCWD's SDVOSB obligations for fiscal year 2014.

 “I think supporting small businesses is essential to NAWCWD and the government as a whole,” Jacobs said. “It’s vital to our economy that we continue to encourage new business leaders to start and build their own organizations.”

 According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses employ 70 percent of U.S. citizens and account for 98 percent of the businesses in the U.S.

 Research, Development, Test and Evaluation: Dan Carreño and team, synthetic guidance

 Dan Carreño and his synthetic guidance team at NAWCWD executed a test in synthetic guidance that unlocked capability never before seen in the Tomahawk missile. Aside from the explicit benefits to the Tomahawk missile, the demonstration carries a substantial implication that networking advancements developed by NAWCWD could have a broader and resounding impact on the Navy’s existing fleet to include currently deployed weapons, surveillance platforms and in-service data links.

 “It’s an absolute honor,” Carreño said. “But it’s also a testament to the capability and direction that we have resonant here and among the other warfare centers. A good partnership takes leadership that is willing to take the kinds of risks that allow us to go out there and try.”

 The test on Jan. 27 proved that a Block IV Tomahawk cruise missile, designed to only hit stationary land targets, could hit moving ship targets successfully while being supported with synthetic guidance.