Weapons system team earns William J. Perry Award

18 Jan 2012 | Tech. Sgt. Richard A. Williams Jr.

Members of the Massive Ordnance Penetrator program team received the 16th annual William J. Perry Award in recognition of their contributions to precision strike systems during an awards ceremony hosted by the Precision Strike Association here Jan. 17.

The program team, consisting of representatives from the Air Force, Defense Threat Reduction Agency and in partnership with The Boeing Company, was honored for their technical excellence in the development, testing and fielding of the MOP, one of the Secretary of Defense's number one weapons programs, according to the award citation.

"We are really humbled to win this award," said Col. Leonard D'Amico, Air Force Global Precision Attack and Nuclear Deterrence Operations division chief.

D'Amico, who accepted the award on behalf of the entire MOP team, explained the success of the program as a very large team effort consisting of multiple Air Force agencies working side-by-side with Defense Threat Reduction Agency and The Boeing Company contractors.

The MOP is a 30,000 pound, guided bomb unit which uses an inertial navigation system and a geospatial positioning system to accurately destroy targets. It is 20.5 feet long and 31.5 inches in diameter and carries 5,600 pounds of explosives. 

The precision penetrator weapon supports the President's Nuclear Policy Reviews emphasis on giving conventional weapon options to national commands to help reduce the nation's dependence on nuclear weapons as a deterrent in the national security strategy. The project began in 2004.

The award is named in honor of former Secretary of Defense Dr. William J. Perry (1994-1997) and recognizes exceptional contributions to precision strike systems in the private or public sector by an individual or team. The recipient's contributions must lead to the strengthening of national security by a direct application of precision strike capabilities to a Department of Defense system or enhance the industrial technology base for application to precision strike technology, according to award guidelines.

"MOP is an awesome arrow in the quiver of this nation's arsenal," D'Amico said. "I can't say enough about the great work our team has done to make this program a success."

The MOP Program Team award winners are:

Headquarters Air Force A5 Requirements:

U.S. Air Force Col. Leonard D'Amico, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Richard Bohn, James Crum and Charles Hale

Secretary of the Air Force office of Acquisitions:

U.S. Air Force Col. David Chelen, U.S. Air Force Maj. Ryan Knapp and A. Fozdar

Air Combat Command:

U.S. Air Force Maj. Bryan Elder, U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Jason Wood, Michael Bata, Brian Kieffer and Jeffrey Lord

Air Armament Center MOP Program Office:

U.S. Air Force Capt. Jason Seitz, Richard Walley, Marya Bard, Kevin Delery, Shava Meadows, Penny Daniels, Justin Vest, William Arnold, Mari Paredes, Russell Klug, Ronald Foskey, Greg Glenn, Edwardo Freeman, Robert Buff, Kathleen Sheperd and Michael Stoughton

Defense Threat Reduction Agency:

Stephen Dowling, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Daniel Saucer, U.S. Army Maj. Michael Bonura, U.S. Army Maj. Jeffrey Moran, Doug Gross, Bruce Brown, Randy Long, Mike Giltrud, Eric Rinehart, Robert Hastie and Philip Randles

Air Force Research Laboratory:

Sandra Davis, Brian Plunkett, Mark Green and Morris Dilmore