Photo By Tim Gantner | Rich Burr, Point Mugu Sea Range director, center, poses with award recipients during...... read more read more
Long hours, demanding schedules and time away from loved ones—these are the often-unseen sacrifices behind the excellence at the Point Mugu Sea Range.
On Monday, March 3, the annual PMSR Employee of the Year Awards recognized the dedicated men and women behind critical research, development, test and evaluation efforts supporting America's warfighters, as well as the families who support them.
Rich Burr, PMSR Director, values this tradition.
"These awards are by the people, for the people," Burr said. "These are your teams. These are your supervisors nominating you and being recognized by the leadership within the sea range."
PMSR awards have recognized high-performing individuals in various categories for more than two decades. But who exactly? Those who stand out in supporting customers, teammates and the warfighter. The awards highlight the range of work involved in creating, developing and operating advanced systems for instrumentation, communications and displays, all of which are essential to complex testing and training exercises.
However, Burr didn't shy away from the truth about what it takes to keep the sea range mission moving—and who makes it possible.
"We have a lot of weekends, late nights and early mornings, and that makes it really difficult for family members," Burr said. "Just like in the military, our families are just as critical to what we do."
PMSR was extremely busy operationally in 2024. But it wasn't the long hours that made the difference—it was what happened in those long hours. They weren't just punching a clock—they were working tirelessly around it.
So, what exactly did they accomplish?
PMSR safely completed 377 priority events across 65 programs, supporting all branches of the Department of Defense, government agencies, international partners and private industry. PMSR employees supported an additional 740 nonpriority events, including critical training exercises, research missions and infrastructure maintenance.
Specific highlights from 2024 included the first launch of Japan's Hyper Velocity Gliding Projectile, simultaneous deployment of four U.S. Navy Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles, and hosting Gray Flag 24—a large-force test event supporting U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
But achieving operational excellence doesn't happen by chance—it happens by design. PMSR also aggressively invested in workforce development.
In 2024, PMSR invested heavily in workforce development: 20 employees achieved critical positional certifications; six completed leadership programs through NAWCWD and NAVAIR; five finished Project Management 101; twelve joined the Defense Acquisition Workforce; and PMSR delivered 11 technical courses plus seven specialized training sessions through collaboration with NAWCWD.
Although the awards recognize individuals, Burr emphasized that every accomplishment at the sea range is truly a team effort.
"One of the great things about this organization is that very little of what we do is because of one person," Burr said. "Everything's connected to everybody else, and none of this great work gets done without everybody contributing."
This connection creates momentum, with each achievement building on the last, year after year. Burr reminded attendees that many of them were part of this legacy.
"Many of the folks in the room here are former Employees of the Year, and you just keep building and building," Burr said. "Those selected this year are standing on the shoulders of giants."
2024 PMSR Award Winners
New to Range Award: Matthew Mariotti & Jasmin Silva
Technician Employee of the Year: Phil Wiseman
Specialist Employee of the Year: Kyle Gaughan
Business Operations Employee of the Year: Chris White
Science & Engineering Professional Employee of the Year: Ryan McConnehey & Angel Montes
Supervisory Employee of the Year: Dan Michaud
Military Employee of the Year: Operations Specialist 1st Class Viktaurean Bambarael
Team of the Year (Sea Range Safety Branch): Shabahang Ardaghi, Megan Cantrell, Jared Eastman, Adam Hajost, Steven Mahoney, John Morris, Hovhanness Shadanyan, Josiah Shelton, Greg Speth, Joshua Steward, Eric Wenschlag
| Date Taken: | 03.10.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 03.10.2025 15:54 |
| Story ID: | 492427 |
| Location: | POINT MUGU NAWC, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 159 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, PMSR Celebrates the People Who Power the Sea Range, by Tim Gantner, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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