May 4, 2012
SOUTH POTOMAC PILOT NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR THE NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY SOUTH POTOMAC DEFENSE COMMUNITY
Upcoming Events Dahlgren Commissary Caselot Sale May 17 - 19 Dahlgren Navy Ball Burger Burn Every Wednesday Dahlgren ASBP Blood Drive May 10
PRESORT STD US POSTAGE PAID SO. MD. NEWSPAPERS PERMIT #1
Indian Head ASBP Blood Drive June 12
Dahlgren hosts 'Bring Your Child to Work Day' By Andrew Revelos NSASP Staff Writer Children made their boisterous presence felt acrossNavalSupportFacility(NSF)Dahlgrenascommands across the base hosted Bring Your Child to Work Day events April 26. More than 400 employees and dependents participated in the program, which featured 19 separate demonstrations, tours and hands-onprojectssponsoredbyfivesupportedcommandsandtenantactivitiesontheinstallation.While thechildrenwerethecenterofattention,thekids'enthusiasm was nearly matched by their service member or Navy employee parents. From scientific experiments, to interactive and competitive events, parents relished the chance to show kids a little bit about what mom or dad does at work. "I think there's a lot of mystique about where we go off to every day," said Michael Burkholder, a scientist with the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) who brought his 10year-old daughter Emily to work. "[Children] see the base, but there's a fence around it and they don't know what goes on.This gives them the ideal opportunity to spend the day on the base and actually see our offices. [Emily] has been looking forward to it for quite some time." EmilycheckedoutthedisplaysatNSWCDD'sZDepartment with her friend Tamara, 11, whose parents, Donna and EricWheater, also work for NSWCDD. "It's a fantastic opportunity for their own education and to expand what they think about science," said Donna, an engineer. "This opens up the world of what we do and how we apply science." At the Chemical, Biological and Radiological (CBR) Defense branch, parents and their children marveled at NSWCDD scientist Max Lupton's everpopular liquid nitrogen demonstration. "I think that BringYour Child toWork Day is really important because the kids don't know what we do," said Diane Cox, a security officer and mother of two, who observed, "The science, technology and math applications they have [in Dahlgren] are important, especiallyforyounggirls.Today'sexperimentsarereally exciting. There are good role models here." Coxnotedhowseeingclassroomsubjectsapplied in real life makes her job as academic cheerleader a bit easier. "I remember thinking in high school when am I ever going to use math or geometry again," she said. "So this is a really cool way for the kids to see how education translates into a job. "The briefs the employees are giving have been greatbecausethey'respeakingtothekids'level.Anything [the children] are interested in, they can do in Dahlgren, which is amazing." Cox's son Montgomery, 6, certainly had the necessarycuriositytoonedaybecomeascientist."Myfavorite [subject] is math," he said, zeroing in on the reporter's smallvoicerecorder."That'sareallysmallphone." Overlooking the action was Mike Purello, head of CBR Defense Division, who seemed surprisingly at ease with the young people overrunning his conference room. "One of the things that I think makes our country -andNavy-greatistechnology,especiallyintheareas of math, science and engineering," he said. "A lot of the technology and quality of life products that we takeforgrantedtodaycanbeattributedbacktoascientist or engineer." PurellothoughtBringYourChildtoWorkDaywas not only a fun event, but one which might help Navy maintain a pool of talented employees in the future.
U.S. Navy photo by Andrew Revelos
NSWCDD employee Anthony Nicoletti with his sons Ethan, 4, and Mason, 6, get a better look at an experiment during Dahlgren's Bring Your Child to Work Day on April 26. "We owe it to young students to try and get them interested in those fields, and they are tough fields," he said. "They require a lot of academic discipline and although I think there are a lot of kids interested, they don't always get exposed to these fields. "Thiskindofeventletsthekidsseewhattheirparentsdoandexperiencedifferenttechnologiestopeak their interest. It is fun and the kids see that. If several of the kids in this room decide they want to be a scientist or engineer based on what they saw today, I think we've accomplished something." Purellopraisedtheextra-curriculareffortshisemployees put forward to make the day's CBR events possible. "Obviously a lot of time and effort goes into the preparation," he said. "Our folks love what they do and this is reflected in the demonstrations." Over at the System Safety Engineering Division, no amount of preparation could ready adults for the creativeresponsesgivenbychildrenaspartofasafety
exercise. A group of kids were shown photos depicting obviously unsafe behavior, such as a car driving with an extension ladder sticking out the window. Then, the kiddy focus group was asked what could go wrong. "If you stopped the guy could go flying through the air and he would say weee!" noted Autumn, 7. "He could fall off and get run over and die," suggested Emma, who maintained the worst-case-scenario track for the duration of the presentation. Young Matthew took Emma's thought to its logical conclusion and mused about what could happen if a fire truck arrived and there were nails in the road. Moreimpressivethantheyoungpeoples'imaginations, however, was presenter and engineer Brandy Jackson'sabilitytomaintainhercomposure."Ifyousee anythinglikethis,"saidagrinningJackson,"runaway!"
See pages 6 and 7 for more photos.