Month: November 2023

Source: United States Navy

Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Southeast announced its 2024 Civilian and Military Engineers of the Year award selections.

Charles Stevens, P.E., Utilities and Energy Management (UEM) Water and Wastewater Commodity Manager at Public Works Department (PWD) Mayport, was selected as the Civilian Engineer of the Year; and Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Cloutier, P.E., Facilities Engineering and Acquisition Division (FEAD) Director at PWD Kings Bay, was selected as the Military Engineer of the Year.

“It brings me great pleasure to announce the recipients of the 2024 NAVFAC Southeast Engineer of the Year awards,” said NAVFAC Southeast Commanding Officer Capt. Miguel Dieguez. “In our community of exceptional engineers, the competition was truly intense. I extend my best wishes to each of them as they progress to the next stage of the competition!”

Each year, NAVFAC Southeast meticulously selects a Civilian and Military Engineer of the Year. These accomplished professionals subsequently progress to the NAVFAC Engineer of the Year competition, with the potential for earning further acclaim in the National Society of Professional Engineer’s Federal Engineer of the Year award program.

Originally from Warshaw, New York, and now resides in Jacksonville, Florida, Stevens served as the UEM Water and Wastewater Commodity Manager at PWD Mayport. He joined NAVFAC in 2020, holding a Bachelor’s in Natural Sciences from the University of North Florida and a master’s in environmental engineering from the University of Florida.

“It’s truly an honor to even be considered for NAVFAC Southeast’s Civilian Engineer of the Year,” said Stevens. “I’m surrounded by so many exceptional individuals at work who are equally deserving. Without their help and support, I wouldn’t have achieved what I have.”

Stevens demonstrated exceptional leadership and technical expertise, notably in his pivotal role supporting the Naval Station (NS) Mayport Waste Water Utilities Privatization initiative. His leadership achieved substantial cost savings and environmental risk reduction, transferring 238,000 linear feet of piping and 2,100 assets for a remarkable $65 million cost-avoidance over a 50-year contract. His efforts also set vital precedents for future Utilities Privatization projects within the Navy and Defense Logistics Agency Energy, showcasing his forward-thinking approach.

Stevens noted, “The Privatization of the Wastewater Treatment facilities at NS Mayport was a new experience for me and many others as well. The cooperation and encouragement shown by all involved truly paved the way for the project’s success.”

Furthermore, Stevens made a significant contribution to NS Mayport’s Inter-Governmental Support Agreement initiative, presently under assessment by the local utility provider. With his unwavering dedication, the City of Atlantic Beach was chosen for the Fiscal Year 2022 Defense Community Infrastructure Pilot Program, securing 70 percent of the funding for a $596,000 community water line recapitalization project. This accomplishment further underscores his commitment to fostering robust partnerships between the Navy and the local community.

Stevens’ remarkable contributions, innovative solutions, and tireless dedication have had a lasting impact on NS Mayport, exemplifying the qualities of an outstanding civilian engineer. His work has not only furthered the Navy’s mission but also positively influenced the surrounding community, creating a lasting legacy of cooperation and progress.

He provides this advice to his coworkers, “Always treat others with kindness, never hesitate to seek guidance or lend a hand, and cultivate a positive workspace through your interactions with people every day.”

Cloutier, originally from Placerville, California and presently residing in Yulee, Florida, is a Navy Seabee commissioned as an officer in the Civil Engineer Corps in 2010. He currently serves as the FEAD Director for PWD Kings Bay, Georgia, and holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from California State University, as well as a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Washington.

“To be named NAVFAC Southeast’s Military Engineer of the Year is a testament to the relentless effort and commitment of the exceptional teams I’ve been honored to collaborate with,” said Cloutier. “It’s been my privilege to contribute to projects directly linked to the Strategic Deterrence mission within the command, and achieving success in such endeavors relies on the strength of a unified team and extensive cooperation with our supported commands, contractor partners, and project stakeholders.”

Cloutier’s most remarkable achievement is his exceptional leadership in the $627 million Trident Refit Facility (TRF) Kings Bay Dry Dock Recapitalization Project. This ambitious endeavor brought together a 36-member team, consisting of military, civilian, and contracted personnel, to strengthen the crucial dry docks at TRF Kings Bay, which play a vital role in the Navy’s strategic deterrence mission.

“In my tenure at NAVFAC Southeast, I’ve faced a multitude of project challenges, not the least of which involved navigating over 15 months of round-the-clock construction to successfully complete the Kings Bay Dry Dock Recapitalization project, ensuring its readiness for the on-time docking of the USS Wyoming (SSBN-742) in November 2022.”

Furthermore, Cloutier’s leadership went beyond TRF Kings Bay. As the Officer In Charge (OIC) of the NAVFAC Pacific Northwest Seismic Mitigation Task Force, his team achieved an unprecedented transition from design-build contract award to construction execution within two weeks. In just five months, Cloutier and his team fully restored operational capability to all three docks, strengthening the Navy’s resilience to seismic threats in the Pacific Northwest.

NAVFAC Southeast proudly acknowledges Cloutier for his outstanding accomplishments and steadfast commitment to his responsibilities. His efforts have not only enhanced the Navy’s mission but have also highlighted the critical importance of exemplary leadership in safeguarding our nation’s security.

Cloutier imparts this advice to his fellow shipmates, “Understand the mission you support and the capabilities our team brings to the fight; develop brilliance in the basics; strive for continuous improvement; maintain a ‘yes, if’ rather than ‘no, because’ approach to problem solving; and appreciate the importance of and invest in relationships and partnering. Above all, remember why you serve and take pride in your commitment to the Navy and our Nation!”

NAVFAC Southeast oversees the planning and design of facility projects, offering essential services in contracting, construction, leasing, environmental management, maintenance, and contingency support, all of which are crucial for meeting the needs of the Navy and the Department of Defense within the Southeast Area of Responsibility. Operating from its Jacksonville office, NAVFAC Southeast is responsible for managing operations across Navy installations spanning from Charleston, South Carolina to Corpus Christi, Texas, and extending southward to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. NAVFAC professionals are also engaged in the acquisition and disposition of real estate, facility management, and maintenance on all Navy bases in the Southeast (SE) region, while concurrently supervising public-private venture (PPV) housing for military families.

Source: United States Navy

Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) is working together with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) to foster a world-class workforce through enabling a data driven culture, with NGA most recently delivering its “Data Science for Managers” course to a select NAVWAR audience throughout 2023.

This NAVWAR and NGA partnership aids in identifying and sourcing the best-of-breed training from across both organizations and allows NAVWAR access to NGA’s broad range of undergraduate- and graduate-level data science training classes.

In addition to NGA providing NAVWAR access to its “Data Science for Managers” course, NGA also began incorporating the NAVWAR-developed course “Fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence” into its learning framework, which was tailored for NGA’s mission-specific workforce.

The Department of Defense (DoD) National Defense Strategy highlights the importance of a data-driven culture and the need to develop the analytics skills of the DoD workforce: “We will emphasize new skills and complement our current workforce with information experts, data scientists, computer programmers, basic science researchers and engineers—to use information, not just manage it.”

NAVWAR and NGA both recognize the value of developing the data-driven capabilities of their employees to ensure decision advantage, actionable intelligence and delivery of relevant data at the point of need.

Aligned with the National Defense Strategy, NAVWAR’s strategic objectives concentrate on advancing a data-driven culture, with the command delivering advanced analytics training via a “Data Science Learning Program.” This program builds on foundational, “digital citizen” courses with more in-depth coverage of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) courses, including case study format training which guides students through a real-world application of AI and ML in a DoD context, leveraging a defined analytics process.

Rich Caccese, director of logistics and fleet support at NAVWAR, sums up the importance of advanced analytics training for the workforce: “It is a national strategic imperative that our Navy Sailors, Marines and civilians learn the data science and AI skills needed to achieve the speed of decisions necessary in today’s high-threat environment.”

Also focused on advancing data analytics skills, NGA’s National Geospatial-Intelligence College (NGC) along with other directorates in the Agency have been instrumental in building and implementing NGA’s Data Strategy to bolster data acumen in the workforce. Partnerships and collaboration are key to the advancement of NGA’s data acumen program to upskill, reskill and cross-skill at scale. NGC adopted a three-prong approach with three kinds of available training: industry, academic, and in-house. Industry training provides on-demand access, while academic and in-house developed training is tailored to meet specific mission needs.

Andy Hayden, the director of NGA’s college, is fully committed to developing a coordinated, enterprise approach increasing data intelligence agency-wide: “We must capitalize on the talent and skills of individuals in industry and academia and strengthen our partnerships to leverage and advance innovative learning models aimed at transforming the workforce to be data-driven.”

Moving forward, NAVWAR and NGA will seek opportunities for further collaboration. They will explore opportunities to leverage their respective strategic training alliances, like Moonshot Labs in St. Louis, Mo. and the University of California San Diego’s Halıcıoğlu Data Institute (HDSI). Moonshot Labs is the NGA’s hub for innovation and hackathon-type learning events, and HDSI is a cross-disciplinary academic unit dedicated to developing new data science methods and infrastructure. By working with institutions like Moonshot Labs and HSDI to broaden their scope and continue innovating, NGA and NAVWAR will be able to learn more cross-disciplinary, collaborative and scalable real-world AI and ML solutions.

About NAVWAR:

NAVWAR identifies, develops, delivers and sustains information warfighting capabilities and services that enable naval, joint, coalition and other national missions operating in warfighting domains from seabed to space and through cyberspace. NAVWAR consists of more than 11,000 civilian, active duty and reserve professionals located around the world. About NGA:

About NGA:

NGA delivers world-class geospatial intelligence which provides a decisive advantage to policymakers, warfighters, intelligence professionals and first responders. NGA consist of approximately 14,500 civilian, military and contractor employees work across more than 100 locations in the U.S. and 20 international locations. Hundreds of NGA employees also serve on support teams at U.S. military, diplomatic and allied locations around the world.

Source: United States Navy

WESTERN ATLANTIC OCEAN — An F-35 Lightning II test pilot performed the first night shipborne rolling vertical landing (SRVL) aboard HMS Prince of Wales (R09), the U.K.’s newest aircraft carrier, in Atlantic waters off the U.S. Eastern Seaboard just after 9 p.m. Oct. 29, 2023.

Source: United States Navy

Returning to Fiji for the second time during the 2023 mission, Pacific Partnership enables participants to work together to enhance disaster response capabilities and foster new and enduring friendships in Fiji. Engagements for this year’s mission are scheduled to take place across Suva, Savusavu and Nadi.

At the invitation of Fiji, Pacific Partnership’s mission is to conduct tailored humanitarian and civic preparedness activities in areas such as engineering, disaster response, public health, and Fijian outreach events. This year’s mission, featuring nearly 1500 personnel, was a joint effort on behalf of Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

“Unique to Pacific Partnership 2023, I am eager to announce that Pacific Partnership will make two visits to Fiji over the course of this year’s mission,” said U.S. Navy Capt. Claudine Caluori, mission commander. “We are very grateful that we have been given the opportunity to double our time to build enduring connections with the local Fijian community in support of a free and open Blue-Pacific.”

While in Fiji, Pacific Partnership 2023 will provide tailored medical care focusing on subject-matter exchanges and community education, conduct repairs at a local schoolhouse, and lead emergency preparedness training covering disaster response and humanitarian assistance. Additionally, the U.S. Pacific Fleet Band, accompanied by members of the Scots Guard, Royal Australian and Royal Canadian navies, will perform in a variety of community engagements.

“The United States thanks Fiji for the great cooperation and hospitality in hosting Pacific Partnership 2023,” said U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Fiji, Marie C. Damour. “This same strong relationship restored peace and security to the region eighty years ago, and continues to build a prosperous, healthy, and resilient Blue Pacific.”

As part of PP23, the mission team will conduct missions throughout Southeast Asia and the South Pacific Islands.

For more information about Pacific Partnership  visit www.facebook.com/pacificpartnership, www.instagram.com/pacific_partnership/ or https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/C-LGWP. Pacific Partnership public affairs can be reached via email at publicaffairs.pp23@gmail.com.

Source: United States Navy

The U.S. Navy holds commanding officers to a very high standard and holds them accountable when those standards are not met. Commanding officers are entrusted with essential responsibilities to their Sailors and their commands. They are expected to maintain the Navy’s high standards of leadership by demonstrating competence in their duties at all times.

Capt. Mary Decker, currently serving as executive officer of TSC Norfolk, will assume duties as TSC Great Lakes commanding officer. TSC Great Lakes is a command under NPPSC responsible for new accession pay and personnel transaction processing. Green has been administratively reassigned to higher headquarters in Millington, Tenn.