Kitty Hawk Weapons Dept. Takes Home Black "W" Award
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS060425-14
Release Date: 4/25/2006 9:47:00 PM
By Journalist 2nd Class Christopher Koons, USS Kitty Hawk Public Affairs
YOKOSUKA, Japan (NNS) -- Sailors in USS Kitty Hawk's (CV 63) weapons department were commended for their excellence in March when they earned the annual Black "W" award.
Weapons department Sailors are responsible for safely storing, handling and maintaining all explosives and ordnance used by Kitty Hawk and the aircraft embarked on the ship.
“Black ‘W’ is a competition for weapons departments in the areas of mission readiness and operational achievements,” said Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class (AW) Ronald Gwyn, a quality assurance safety observer for Kitty Hawk’s bomb builders division. “All the carriers in the Pacific region compete in it.”
According to Gwyn, a team from Commander, Naval Air Forces (COMNAVAIR) comes aboard each ship to assess the weapons department in areas such as magazine readiness, ordnance assembly and flight deck readiness. After inspecting all of the Pacific-based aircraft carriers, COMNAVAIR then determines the winner.
“We won this year due to our performance during the last underway period when we got ordnance up to the flight deck without any mishaps and always on time,” said Gwyn. “Because of our intense underway schedule, we’ve been able to get a lot of [hands-on] training done.”
Because of its victory in the competition, weapons department received a plaque with a large black “W” on it, as well as commemorative coins for department personnel. Each division will also celebrate the victory by painting a black “W” on their office doors. If Kitty Hawk wins the Black “W” again next year, a hash mark will be added to the plaque.
“Weapons is one big team, with everyone having a hand in getting ordnance where it needs to be,” said Gwyn. “Hopefully, our victory this year will motivate us to win it again next year.”
According to Lt. Cmdr. Dan Carscallen, Kitty Hawk’s weapons officer, superior leadership and a dedicated team were also responsible for weapons department winning the Black “W.”
“The old weapons officer, Cmdr. Jeff Sassone, and the old ordnance handling officer, Lt. Cmdr. Phil Szuba, were the ones who put us in the position to win the Black ‘W,’” said Carscallen. “I just helped finish up what they started.”
According to Master Chief Aviation Ordnanceman (AW) Timothy Lynch, weapons’ leading chief petty officer, paying close attention to detail is what contributes to the success of weapons department personnel every day on the job.
“We always do things by the book, learning from our mistakes and never taking any shortcuts,” said Lynch. “We always do things right the first time, since there are no second chances in our line of work.”
The Kitty Hawk Strike Group is the largest carrier strike group in the Navy and is composed of the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, the guided-missile cruisers USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) and USS Cowpens (CG 63), and Destroyer Squadron 15.
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