China Lakers honored at Pentagon with DON awards
By Renee Hatcher
NAWCWD Public Affairs

Eight members of the NAWCWD China Lake work force received one of the Navy’s top honors during a ceremony held May 29 at the Pentagon for their achievements in advancing warfare technologies in support of the Global War on Terror.

Mike Wirtz was a winner in the Senior Investigator category, and the Anti-Swimmer Grenade (ASG) Team won in the group category of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition 2007 Top Navy Scientists and Engineers of the Year Award.

Wirtz is the lead engineer and project manager of the Digital Precision Strike Suite (DPSS) and the Precision Strike Suite for Special Operations Forces (PSS-SOF), and was honored for leading a revolution that has had a dramatic impact in Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. Soon after Sept. 11, Wirtz led his team to deliver real-time precision targeting technology into the hands of front-line soldiers and Marines.

“I would like to personally thank you and your staff for this system,” one Navy SEAL said to Wirtz about PSS-SOF. “It saved my life and the lives of many Marines fighting in Fallujah.”

Wirtz and his team developed a variety of applications that can be installed on either laptop or hand-held systems, which require as little as four hours of qualification training. These applications allow joint tactical air controllers, joint forward observers, and other special operations forces to compute validated precision coordinates for bomb-on-coordinate weapons like JDAM. Operator confidence in these applications allows for fire support at “danger-close”, “troops-in-contact” distances, a level of support that was unthinkable just a few years ago.

"I am honored and humbled to accept the award for myself, my team and China Lake,” Wirtz said. “I realize that this is an individual award but so many others need to share in the credit. Our sponsor has allowed us to receive feedback and directly support the Navy SEAL kicking down doors or the Army sniper or the Marine on patrol. My core team not only meets all my requirements but goes to the next level and provides additional capability that the war fighter loves.”

The ASG Team was honored for its significant progress in the development and demonstration of the ASG as an improved weapon for combating and deterring terrorist swimmers. The Navy and Coast Guard have long needed a specialized anti-swimmer replacement for the aged MK3A2 concussion grenade, which was never intended for underwater use. Using state-of-the-art weapon technology, while more lethal to the enemy, the ASG is safe to use and leaves no lasting hazard in the underwater environment.

The old Mk3A2 grenade had only a four-to-five-second delay before detonation, which meant it could only reach about 10 feet deep and could pose a threat to the user. The ASG’s detonation depth is set by the user in 10-foot increments from 10 to 100 feet. Packed with three times the explosive mass of the MK3A2, the ASG has greater effective depth and range. This new weapon will provide the Navy, Coast Guard, and other services a potent and efficient capability to protect and preserve ships in port.

“This is a really nice tribute to Anti-Swimmer Grenade technology and its development team especially designers Calvin Clayson and Gabriel Soto, who have performed the bulk of the technical work since ASG's inception in 2001,” said Walt Maurer, ASG project lead.

Soto is the head of the Safe-Arm Development Branch and ASG lead electronics design engineer, and Clayson is the ASG lead mechanical design and instrumentation technician. Other members of the ASG team are Hung Doan, ASG electronics engineer; Kurt Wittendorfer, ASG own-boat safety test engineer; Michael Aramanda, ASG explosives assembly technician; and Danny Wooldridge, ASG live test technician and firing officer.

PHOTO CUTLINES:

Contributed photo
Mike Wirtz, the lead engineer and project manager of the Digital Precision Strike Suite and the Precision Strike Suite for Special Operations Forces, was a winner in the Senior Investigator category of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition 2007 Top Navy Scientists and Engineers of the Year Award.

Photo by John Perrige
The Anti-Swimmer Grenade Team won in the group category of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition 2007 Top Navy Scientists and Engineers of the Year Award. Pictured from left are Calvin Clayson, Michael Aramanda, Kurt Wittendorfer, Hung Doan, Danny Wooldridge, Gabriel Soto and Walt Maurer.