January 23, 2015
SOUTH POTOMAC PILOT NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR THE NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY SOUTH POTOMAC DEFENSE COMMUNITY
Public Works employee honored for 58 years service By Cmdr. Dennis La NAVFACWASH
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King George Science Fair Page 2
Humble, dedicated, principled. These are just a few words that come to mind when describing Mr. Harold “Floyd” Atkinson. He is a boiler plant operator for the last coal-fired power plant in the Navy at Naval Support Facility Indian Head, Md., which is set to be demolished in 2015. Atkinson will be starting a new chapter in his life as he retires in January 2015 after 58 years of faithful service in the federal government. We take this opportunity to share the life of a man and recognize his contribution to our great nation. Growing up in Brooklyn, Atkinson enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1946 at the age of 19. As part of a rifle
U.S. Navy photo
Mr. Harold Floyd Atkinson operating a boiler in the Goddard Power Plant company he deployed to Guam and Japan, served combat time in the Ko-
rean War, and was a drill instructor on Parris Island. One of his memo-
rable stories recounts a time when he and a British soldier were tak-
ing cover from artillery fire, and the British soldier casually offered him some hot tea from a selfheating can as they waited for incoming rounds to stop. After serving 8 honorable years in the Marines, he served an additional 3 years with the United States Army. In the Army, he served time in Europe where he met his wife in England and got married. His wife was carrying their first-born as he continued to serve in the Army travelling across Europe. It was not until he was honorably discharged that he returned to New York to reunite with his wife and see his two-and-a-half year old son for the first time. He remembers it vividly, his wife and son walking up
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Dahlgren fire inspector completes investigations course By Zack Shelby NSASP Public Affairs Despite only having been a fire investigator since May, it was time for one 12-year veteran of the Dahlgren Fire Department to take a complex and multi-faceted investigations course. Matthew Smith, former fireman and current fire inspector, took the four-week Fire Cause and Origin Investigations class this fall. “Part of our job here as fire inspector is to investigate fires,” Smith said. “It’s not a requirement, but it’s preferred. In other words, if there was a fire, I would be the one to investigate it.” Because of that, Smith ended up at the Virginia State Fire Marshal Academy in Hanover, Va., for the investigations class, which used to only be one week long. “They’ve added a lot to it over the years,” Smith said. “For this one, a lot of it was classroom time - PowerPoint and lecture.” However, Smith did get some onsite training as well.
“Then we actually went to investigate fires with the instructor,” Smith said. “We went to both arson and accidental fires. We weren’t the official investigator, but we did do our own investigations.” The class had 18 people from different fire marshal offices in Virginia, including six military personnel, as well as one from the state police. “It was only a four-week class, but it was a lot of information for four weeks,” said Smith. In addition to the classroom lectures and several days spent investigating actual fires, the course covered vehicle fires. “We actually went to a junk yard and did an unofficial investigation of a bunch of cars that burnt up there,” Smith said. “Another part of it was we went through defensive tactics, since we do investigate fires by ourselves a lot. That was one whole day.” Smith added that another big aspect of the class cov-
U.S. Navy photo by Zack Shelby
Matthew Smith, fire inspector for the Naval Support Facility Dahlgren Fire Department, shows off the certificate he earned during the Fire Cause and Origin Investigations course. ered legalities such as going over laws, and what a fire inspector’s legal rights are at a fire scene. They also had a block of instruction on evidence collection. “We actually did foot prints samples,” Smith said. The class also went over finger printing although in
a real-life situation, Smith said that would be handled by NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service). “They just went over it so we understood all of it blood collection - things like that,” Smith said. “Part of it was photography because that’s a big part of the actual
fire investigation is documenting the scene. Most of it was new to me. I’ve been to plenty of fires in my career, but this (class) looked at a different aspect than what we’re used to seeing.” The class gave Smith valuable experience that can be used and shared with co-workers here at Dahlgren and throughout the Naval District Washington region. “We only have a few investigators throughout this whole department,” Smith said. “Naval District Washington encompasses many bases. We’re trying to hopefully have it where all of us can investigate together if there is a fire on any of the bases. It would be kind of a joint thing.” Smith described the class as a good learning experience and opportunity for professional development. “It opened my eyes to a lot of different things,” Smith said. “There was a lot more to it than I originally thought. It will definitely help me throughout my career.”
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