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Air & Sea
Navy Invites Rev. Rufus Wood
to Commemorate Martin
Luther King Jr. Celebration
The Naval Surface Warfare Center
Panama City Division gathered together
on January 11 at the NSA
PC’s Long Glass Conference Center in observance
of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Commanding Officer Capt. Scott Pratt said
the holiday served to commemorate one of
the nation’s most influential American civil
rights leaders. In 1994, to further commemorate
a man who lived his life in service to others,
Congress transformed the MLK holiday
into a national day of community service.
Guest speaker Rev. Dr. Rufus Wood Jr., a
prominent local civil rights leader and reverend
in Panama City, commended Capt.
Pratt’s command for the center’s Science,
Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
community outreach programs to local
schools, recognizing that these efforts embodied
the core teachings of Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
was a minister, an orator, a scholar, a theologian,
an educator, a civil rights activist, and
he was also a great humanitarian,” Wood
said, “probably best remembered for this
most famous speech given on the steps of the
Lincoln Memorial when he told America, ‘I
have a Dream.’”
Wood recounted how Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. spoke the truth in the midst of adversity,
but did so with courage, and that he stressed
the importance of continuing education for
all races equally.
“If we’re going to prepare our younger generation
then we need to encourage them to be
educated,” he said. “I often remind them that
if you think the price of education is expensive,
try paying for ignorance. I tell young
people if you don’t continue developing your
mind, then you will always be controlled by
the thoughts and opinions of other people.”
Pictured left: Panama City Navy leadership
present Rev. Rufus Wood a ‘Respect and
Appreciation Award’ on January 11, 2012 for
serving as keynote speaker. From left: Dr.
Jermaine Kennedy; Cmdr. Anthony Anglin; Rev.
Rufus Wood, Ph.D.; Capt. Scott Pratt.
Naval Warfare Center Awards
Top Performers
The Naval Surface Warfare Center
Panama City Division recently presented
awards to employees whose
efforts demonstrated leadership and dedication
above and beyond their respective calls
of duty. Commanding Officer Capt. Scott
Pratt presided over the all hands ceremony
held at the Naval Support Activity Panama
City Long Glass Conference Center.
Award categories for the year 2011 included
Collaboration Excellence, Exemplary Leadership,
Outstanding Fleet Support, Outstanding
Innovation, Outstanding Organizational Support,
Outstanding Program Success, Technical
Excellence and the Dr. David P. Skinner Award
for Scientific and Engineering Achievement.
Individuals honored with a 2011 Panama City
Division Annual Award included:
• Tom Cothern was presented the award for
Collaboration Excellence for demonstrating
excellence in collaborative relationships in
his position as Littoral Combat Ship Mission
Package Certification Manager.
• Lanshava Booker received the award for
Exemplary Leadership. Booker leads a team
of computer an electronic engineers developing
unmanned vehicles command and control
systems for the Navy’s newest platform,
the Littoral Combat Ship.
• Roger Hawkins received the Outstanding
Fleet Support award. Under Hawkins’
leadership, over 75 Airborne Mine Countermeasures
technical manuals were put in one
electronic location centralizing computer
based training improving efficiency for Fleet
manual and equipment maintenance.
• Harold Suiter was recognized with the
Outstanding Innovation award for harnessing
techniques used by the astronomical
community to help substantially improve
the distance at which objects in turbid water
could be identified with low-cost cameras.
The resulting capability will reduce risk to
operators by reducing the time spent to re-
10 THE CIRCUIT March/April 2012