Oak Ridge Today





DOE/NNSA test mobile nuclear facilities with Army during national security exercise

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Personnel from Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory participate in simulated radiation contamination and perform large drum packaging operations. (Photo by NNSA)

Personnel from Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory participate in simulated radiation contamination and perform large drum packaging operations. (Photo by NNSA)

 

Experts from across the U.S. Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration recently teamed up with the U.S. Army at Naval Air Station Key West, Florida, to exercise the capabilities of two rapid response facilities critical to national security.

For six weeks in May and June, interagency partners practiced the operations and procedures necessary to deploy the Mobile Plutonium Facility and Mobile Uranium Facility as part of Exercise Corvina Loco, the NNSA said in a story published on its website in June.

“These two assets would allow the U.S. to package and safely remove nuclear materials quickly,” the NNSA said. [Read more…]

Tonight in Clinton: Retired Army major general to discuss current, future national security concerns

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John R. D'Araujo Jr.

John R. D’Araujo Jr.

A retired Army major general will discuss current and future national security concerns at a presentation in Clinton tonight (Tuesday, October 4).

The presentation by Major General John R. D’Araujo is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. at the Clinton Community Center, which is at 101 Hicks Street in Clinton. The presentation will include a question-and-answer session.

D’Araujo was invited by Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank, a press release said.

“I hope our community will take advantage of this excellent opportunity to take part in discussion of some of the major issues of national security concern with an expert of General D’Araujo’s caliber,” Frank said in the press release. “I am extremely thankful he is joining us to deliver a presentation, and also appreciative of his willingness to give the people of Anderson County an opportunity to ask questions about national security and our military.” [Read more…]

ORPD welcomes new police officers, celebrates deputy chief promotion

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ORPD-Uher-Smith-Smith-Akagi-Feb-19-2016-1

Officials and officers celebrated the promotion of Charles Robin Smith, second from left, to deputy chief during a promotions and swearing-in ceremony in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016. Also pictured are, at left, Captain Michael Uher, retired TVA Commander Charles Smith (the deputy chief’s father), second from right, and Oak Ridge Police Chief James Akagi. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

New Oak Ridge Police Department officers were sworn in at the Oak Ridge Municipal Building on Friday, and the department celebrated the promotion of Charles Robin Smith to deputy chief.

Smith has served with the Oak Ridge Police Department since 2012.

Before he joined the ORPD, he served for 17 years with the Tennessee Valley Authority Police. He served the last 14 of those as commander of police operations.

Smith began his law enforcement career with the Sevierville Police Department, where he worked 15 years.

Smith is a 1982 graduate of the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy and a 1990 graduate of the FBI National Academy. He has a bachelor’s degree in applied organizational management from Tusculum College and master’s in business administration from Bethel University.

ORPD-New-Officers-Feb-19-2016

New Oak Ridge Police Department officers were sworn in at the Oak Ridge Municipal Building on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Here is information on the new officers sworn into service, provided by the Oak Ridge Police Department: [Read more…]

Oak Ridge small business wins DOD chemical, biological defense contract

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Omega-Technical-Services-Logo

Omega Consultants Incorporated has been awarded a prime contract by the U.S. Army’s Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense, or JPEO-CBD, under the Department of Defense.

There were 17 companies selected for this Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity, or IDIQ, contract consisting of 10 small business awards and seven large business awards. The contract ceiling is $900 million throughout the period of performance.

Omega was the only Tennessee business selected as a prime contractor for this contract award. Omega is also a subcontractor for the Camber Corporation team that received a large business award. The contract award is for three years, with an option for three additional years. JPEO-CBD is the Joint Services single focal point for research, development, acquisition, fielding, and life-cycle support of chemical and biological defense equipment and medical countermeasures. [Read more…]

The Volunteers, a U.S. Army band, perform for free at Grove

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The Volunteers

The Volunteers

The Volunteers of the U.S. Army Field Band will play for free this afternoon at the Grove Theater in Oak Ridge.

The show starts at 4 p.m. today (Sunday, October 19). It’s presented by Masskus Productions.

The Volunteers are the musical ambassadors of the U.S. Army in Washington, D.C., a press release said.

“Since 1981, The Volunteers has been bringing the Army story to life through rock, pop, country, and patriotic music,” the release said. “Whether rocking out major arenas around the country, thrilling crowds at community events, or entertaining veterans in more intimate shows, these soldier-musicians proudly represent their fellow soldiers for hundreds of thousands of Americans each year.” [Read more…]

UT’s Medal of Honor involvement very special for grad student and her dad

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Peter and Laura Lemon at Medal of Honor Convention

Medal of Honor recipient Peter Lemon, on the right, sits next to his daughter, Laura Lemon, a University of Tennessee doctoral student. They are surrounded by UT public relations students, some of whom are in Laura Lemon’s class. (Photos courtesy UT)

 

KNOXVILLE—Graduate teaching associate Laura Lemon found herself in an interesting spot at last week’s Medal of Honor Town Hall at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

On one side of her sat her public relations students, eagerly taking notes to write a press release about the event. On the other side sat her father, Medal of Honor recipient Peter Lemon.

A doctoral student, Laura Lemon said her involvement with UT’s Medal of Honor Project began last year when she went to Assistant Professor Nick Geidner’s office for help in one of his classes that she was taking.

Geidner directs the Medal of Honor Project, which is an award-winning service-learning collaboration between UT’s School of Journalism and Electronic Media and the 2014 Medal of Honor Convention, held last week in Knoxville. (It included a Town Hall Forum in Oak Ridge on Friday.) Through the project, students produced written, audio, and video pieces related to the convention. Although the convention is over, the project will continue sharing stories about Medal of Honor recipients and become a model for other universities that want to partner with future conventions. [Read more…]

Medal of Honor recipients honored at Y-12

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Medal of Honor Recipients at Y-12 National Security Complex

Medal of Honor recipients Herschel “Woody” Williams (USMC, WWII, Iwo Jima); Ron Rosser (US Army, Ponggilli, Korea); and Wesley Fox (USMC, Quang Tri, Vietnam) were welcomed by CNS President Jim Haynes (far left) and NNSA Production Office Manager Steve Erhart (far right) at the Medal of Honor Town Hall Forum held at Y-12’s New Hope Center on Friday. (Photo courtesy CNS)

 

Three Medal of Honor recipients were honored at the Y-12 National Security Complex during a Town Hall Forum on Friday, part of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s annual convention held in Knoxville last week.

The Medal of Honor recipients honored at Y-12 were Herschel “Woody” Williams (U.S. Marine Corps, Iwo Jima, World War II), Ron Rosser (U.S. Army, Ponggilli, Korea) and Wesley Fox (USMC, Quang Tri, Vietnam). They were welcomed at Y-12’s New Hope Center by CNS President Jim Haynes and Steve Erhart, manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration Production Office.

The three recipients discussed their experiences and answered questions from the public. Williams and Rosser also toured the Y-12 National Security complex with Haynes and Y-12 Historian Ray Smith. The group visited 9731, Y-12’s pilot plant during the Manhattan Project, and the south ridge of the site.

Many of the honorees also visited area schools, where Tennessee leads the nation in adopting the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation’s Character Development Program. To learn more about the program, go to http://www.mohknoxville.com/character-development/.

See also this story from the Medal of Honor Town Hall at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Mobile app developed by ORAU featured in emergency preparedness campaign

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CSEPP Ready Mobile App

CSEPP Ready Mobile App

ORAU training and mobile app help communities near chemical stockpiles be prepared for related emergencies

CSEPP Ready, a mobile application developed by Oak Ridge Associated Universities, is a featured element in the inaugural 2013-2014 Prepare Pueblo emergency preparedness campaign in Pueblo, Colo., which is in its final phase from June to August 2014. Both the campaign and the app are intended to assist residents living in communities surrounding one of the last two active U.S. Army chemical warfare agent stockpiles with preparing for a potential related emergency.

Even though an accident is unlikely, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Army work together to ensure the local communities are prepared through the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program, or CSEPP. Through CSEPP, ORAU experts provide hands-on technology courses to train public affairs professionals and emergency managers to develop and deliver timely public information in an emergency event using the latest technology tools, including mobile apps, cloud technology, and social media. Specifically, CSEPP Ready, which can be downloaded free in both Android and iPhone/iPad mobile formats, provides checklists for family disaster kits, information on how to respond to emergency sirens, and directions for sheltering in place. [Read more…]

Public Defender Marshall seeks re-election in 2014

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Tom Marshall

Tom Marshall

Anderson County Public Defender Tom Marshall has announced that he will seek re-election to a fourth eight-year term in 2014.

Marshall has served as Anderson County public defender since 1989, and he is also an adjunct law professor at Roane State Community College.

A graduate of the University of North Carolina School Of Law, Marshall was appointed Anderson County public defender by Gov. Ned McWherter in 1989, a press release said. He was then elected by Anderson County voters in 1990 and re-elected in 1998 and 2006. [Read more…]

Guest column: State officials comment on death of Oak Ridge soldier

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Christopher Michael Ward

Christopher Michael Ward

Note: This is an edited copy of a Thursday announcement from the Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Many-Bears Grinder regretfully announce the loss of Tennessee soldier Staff Sgt. Christopher Michael Ward of Oak Ridge.

Ward was fatally injured when his patrol was struck by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, which detonated on Saturday, April 6, in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Staff Sergeant Ward was serving with Troop A, 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armor Brigade Combat Team, Fort Stewart, Ga.

The 24-year old soldier grew up in Arcadia, Fla. However, Ward moved to Tennessee with his mother, Joyce Ward, and attended Oak Ridge High School before earning his General Educational Development, or GED, diploma and enlisting in the United States Army in November 2006. [Read more…]

‘Grateful nation’ honors slain soldier who receives Purple Heart, Bronze Star

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Christopher Michael Ward Family at Funeral

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class David Bickham, second from right, of Fort Campbell, Ky., escorts Joyce Ward, right, of Oak Ridge, after a Saturday funeral for her oldest son, Staff Sgt. Christopher Michael Ward, who died in an April 6 explosion in Afghanistan. Also pictured are Christopher’s two younger brothers, Travis and Matthew.

For many of us, the war in Afghanistan—now the nation’s longest—is largely forgotten. We are consumed, most of the time, by our daily lives, working, paying bills, raising children, and having a little fun when we can.

But Joyce Ward of Oak Ridge will never forget. Her oldest son, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Christopher Michael Ward, 24, died in southern Afghanistan one week ago, the victim of an apparent suicide car bombing that also killed two other soldiers, a U.S. diplomat, and a Department of Defense civilian. They had been delivering donated books to children in Zabul province.

Christopher Michael Ward

Christopher Michael Ward

Ward was remembered and honored during a Saturday funeral at Weatherford Mortuary in Oak Ridge. In a celebration of his life that mixed occasional laughter with many tears, Ward received the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star Medal, as well as the Tennessee Fallen Heroes Medal.

The three medals were presented to his mother, Joyce Ward of Oak Ridge, in a ceremony with Gen. Jefforey Smith, commanding general of Fort Knox, Ky. Smith called Ward a man of character, a member of the small group of Americans who join the military. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge soldier killed in Afghanistan receives Purple Heart, Bronze Star

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SSG Christopher Michael Ward

Christopher Michael Ward

The Oak Ridge soldier who was killed in Afghanistan one week ago received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star Medal during his funeral Saturday, as well as a Tennessee Fallen Heroes Medal.

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Christopher Michael Ward, 24, was killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan on April 6.

The medals were presented to his mother, Joyce Ward of Oak Ridge, during a funeral on Saturday at Weatherford Mortuary.

“On behalf of a grateful nation, thank you,” U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann told Joyce Ward.

[Read more…]

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