Month: May 2022

Source: United States Navy

The Fire and Emergency Services (F&ES) program aims to train and equip Navy Reserve personnel as a firefighting force capable of rapidly mobilizing in cases of natural or manmade disasters, as well as provide relief and support for routine base functions. It was founded in 2007.

The course runs annually. It lasts nine weeks and qualifies graduates with six major certifications: First Aid Provider, Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) Awareness, HAZMAT Operations, HAZMAT Mission Specific Competent Personal Protective Equipment, Firefighter 1, Firefighter 2, and Aircraft & Rescue Firefighting. These graduates will also be awarded the Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC) 786B: Shore Base Airport and Aircraft Firefighter.

“This training builds the future force of Navy Reserve firefighters,” said Aviation Boatswain’s Mate Senior Chief Anthony Pena, the CNIC F&ES Military Firefighter Program Manager. “Students enter scenarios that challenge their natural instinct to save themselves and are encouraged to focus on saving others. The skills learned during this course can be use on the first day of their operational careers.”

This year’s graduating class comprises a mixture of personnel that fall under NR F&ES. Because this year’s class was smaller in size than previous years, students received nearly one-on-one facilitation and more hands-on training time during live fire burns and practical evolutions, resulting in a distinctly high-performing and unified team.

The graduates join the more than 150 NR Sailors capable of augmenting fire stations on installations around the world. Each is assigned to one of the four detachments under the NR CNIC headquarters F&ES or the NR Europe, Africa, Central F&ES/Air Operations Unit. The unit locations were strategically chosen to best equip fleet concentration areas and support any Department of Defense (DoD) installation worldwide.

This year, nine additional students joined for the last portion of the Academy course, to participate in the Aircraft and Rescue Firefighting Course only. Many of these students were catching up on training and certification impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The certifications earned reciprocate on the civilian side, allowing NR F&ES personnel to work at both military and civilian fire stations. Graduates often attain firefighting positions in civilian fire departments throughout the U.S. during their off-duty time.

This was the 5^th consecutive year for it to be hosted in Naval District Washington at Naval Support Activity Annapolis. The continued working relationship has strengthened bonds between instructors and NR F&ES leadership and allowed for both parties to better manage processes and support.

The NR CNIC F&ES program now boasts over 190 billets, with growth expected to continue, as requests for support come from around the world. Graduates stand ready to support emergency demand signals, postured to support a variety of contingent situations. NR CNIC F&ES is always searching for qualified or highly motivated personnel to join the team – to answer the call, “Ready Now. Anytime, Anywhere.”

Source: United States Navy

Hospital Corpsman First Class Matthew Papa has worked as a Radiation Health Technician within the Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune Radiology Department since 2020, becoming the command’s Acting Radiation Health Officer in 2021.

“As a Radiation Health Tech, I enjoy working with not only the [hospital corpsman] community, but the nuclear community as well,” said Papa. “I am able to take the best traits from both communities and ensure as a leader our Sailors are taken care of.”

During his tenure as Radiation Health Officer, HM1 Papa finalized the 2022 Annual Internal Radiation Health Audit and oversaw submission of the annual reports of 157 members within the Radiation Health Program among other duties.

“HM1 Papa has been an outstanding asset to our Radiology Department. His leadership has allowed our personnel to thrive,” said U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Matthew Burgess. “His expertise and willingness to go above and beyond have allowed the department to continue on an upward trajectory. I am not at all surprised by this recognition.”

When asked about his recent selection as Radiation Health Technician of the Year, HM1 Papa directs the credit back to his team.

“This award is a direct reflection of their tremendous hard work and efforts. It is not about an individual award but about representing our command our community to the best of our abilities,” Papa said.

In addition to his responsibilities for the Radiology Department, HM1 Papa is the Leading Petty Officer for the Directorate of Clinical Support Services. As the LPO, he supervises more than 95 Sailors in their daily execution of ancillary services at NMCCL. HM1 Papa also serves as a mentor for the Coalition of Sailors Against Destructive Decisions and is the Assistant Program Manager for the Casualty Assistance Calls Officer Program.

All of Papa’s endeavors culminated in receipt of the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal in March 2022. The award specifically highlighted his selection for the annual Radiation Health Technician of the Year distinction.

“Strive to be the best, and carry your team with you to achieve excellence and mission completion,” said Papa. “Work hard; it always pays off. Work hard while no one is looking, and never lower your expectations of yourself.”

Papa hails from Scituate, Rhode Island and is a 13-year Navy veteran. He holds an associate’s degree and bachelor’s degree, and he is currently embarking on obtaining a Master of Environmental Management.

Source: United States Navy

“Science is one of the most prestigious U.S.-based scientific journals,” Harvey said. “The articles need to describe ground-breaking work that is of interest to all scientists, and most scientists never get this opportunity.”

NAWCWD researchers began studying single molecule magnets (SMMs) in late 2017. At the time, McClain was a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow who has since transitioned to a full-time NAWCWD employee, and synthesized and characterized the SMMs while Harvey served as the principle investigator, directing the research and mentoring McClain during his fellowship and subsequent transition to full-time federal service. He also directed the research program and helped establish collaboration partnerships with academic organizations.

Conventional magnets, like those on a refrigerator or the powerful rare earth-based magnets used in computer hard drives, are composed of a network of inorganic structures with aligned electron spins. In contrast, SMMs are magnetic molecules that possess an energy barrier to re-orientation of their molecular spin. These molecules produce localized magnetic fields and are essentially the smallest possible magnets. These materials have the potential to greatly increase the magnetic storage density of hard drives or to induce magnetic fields with incredible precision, potentially enabling the development of novel components useful for quantum computers.

However, despite the promise of SMMs, these exotic materials can be easily disrupted by their environment, which eliminates their magnetic behavior, McClain said. In fact, most SMMs only exhibit their magnetic properties at temperatures near absolute zero. McClain’s work has shown that by controlling the SMM environment through molecular design, operating temperatures up to 80 kelvin can be realized. This advance makes the use of SMMs feasible in practical devices.

McClain and Harvey synthesized a series of novel lanthanide dimers that exhibit lanthanide-lanthanide bonds, a bonding interaction not previously described in the literature. This interaction aligns the magnetic moments of the metal centers.

“Using dysprosium as the lanthanide resulted in the best SMM ever created by any comparative metric,” Harvey said. “This new material exhibits slow magnetic relaxation at high temperatures and has an extremely high barrier to magnetic reversal. This type of hard magnetism at elevated temperature is unprecedented for SMMs and represents a major breakthrough. Leveraging collaborations with academic institutions can deliver next-generation materials and devices for use in both commercial and DOD applications,” he said.

The NAWCWD team collaborated with academic partners, with researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, conducting the magnetic characterization of the molecules and researchers at the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, conducting calculations to support and explain the team’s experimental results.

“This disruptive technology showcases the diverse talent of the Research Department at NAWCWD and is just one more example of the continued outcome-based focus our researchers have for the safety of the United States,” said Harlan Kooima, NAWCWD’s Research and Development Group director.

“High performance SMMs and related molecules offer the promise of transformational advances in data storage, high performance computing and quantum information science, all areas of crucial strategic importance,” Harvey said, noting that researchers at NAWCWD are continuing this line of research with the hope of transitioning to the fabrication and testing of devices based on the new SMMs.