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June 12, 2015

SOUTH POTOMAC PILOT NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR THE NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY SOUTH POTOMAC DEFENSE COMMUNITY

614th AOC Det One Commander Passes Guidon By Barbara Wagner Staff Writer

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It was “welcome back to the 614th” for Maj. Erin Dunagan as she accepted the guidon from outgoing commander Maj. Roland Rainey, Jr. during the 614th Air Operations Center (AOC) Detachment One’s change of command ceremony June 5 at Naval Support Facility (NSF) Dahlgren. Dunagan previously served with the 614th AOC at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. as chief of the Space Analysis Cell. The presiding officer of the event was Col. John W. Giles, commander of the 614th AOC and director of the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC). He commended Rainey for the standards he set during his tour at Dahlgren, as well as the caliber of leadership that Dunagan exhibited in her journey back to the 614th AOC. Giles acknowledged the

U.S. Navy photo by Andrew Revelos

Col. John Giles, center, commander of the 614th Air Operations Center (AOC) and director of the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., presents Maj. Roland Rainey, right, outgoing commander of the 614th AOC Detachment One, with a plaque during the detachment’s change of command ceremony June 5 at Naval Support Facility (NSF) Dahlgren, Va. The detachment’s incoming commander, Maj. Erin Dunagan, is left. challenges faced by both Dunagan and Rainey, who must lead an Air Force mission

and command from a Navy installation. He also commented on the remarkable

period of transition at the 614th AOC Det One, through which Rainey successfully led

the organization’s Airmen and civilian employees. Through the changes, Giles stated that Rainey had “set the detachment up with a renewed sense of vigor and preparedness for the future.” Rainey’s tour was filled with many firsts for the organization, including the first 72-hour operation validating the continuity of operations. He also organized the first-ever Space Situational Awareness Symposium with the Joint Warfare Analysis Center (JWAC)-another Dahlgren-based command that falls under U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM)-to assess threats in the space domain. Another first for the 614th AOC Det One was Rainey’s establishment of the unit’s first-ever joint civilian and military integrated training program. He also led the effort to stand up the detach-

See Guidon, Page 7

Battle of Midway Remembrance Celebrates Navy Milestone at ATRC By Barbara Wagner Staff Writer With the love of a historian and the presentation of an engaging college professor, Lt. Jason King, a student at the Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Weapon Tactics Instructor (WTI) course, commemorated one of the most important events in U.S. Naval history - the Battle of Midway -with a compelling account of the fight during a presentation at the Aegis Training and Readiness Center (ATRC) auditorium June 5 at Naval Support Facility (NSF) Dahlgren. King, a third generation naval officer and the son of an avid military historian, said his love of history and particularly the Battle of Midway was only natural. “My father regularly took us to historical monuments and museums growing up and it really instilled that interest and curiosity.” When asked about what made this moment so important to not only naval history, but to world history, King was quick to answer. “[The battle] awakened the sleeping giant,” he said. “Pearl Harbor

was a significant moment in the timeline of World War II. Americans took notice and got engaged. However, Midway was the seminal moment when the rest of the world took notice of the military might of the U.S. Navy.” King’s presentation recreated the timeline of the events of the remarkable 1942 battle - June 4 to June 7-from the deciphering of the Japanese code that revealed that the Midway Island was the impending target of an attack, to those late, fateful moments in which American vessels paid the price for victory and slipped beneath the waves of the Pacific. He also included an order of the battle along with descriptions of the capabilities of the planes and ships of both the U.S. Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy at the time. In doing so, King explained that it was not U.S. technological advancements or the trained, very capable Japanese pilots that decided the day. Every aspect of the struggle-from the creation of a battle plan to its executionreflected the Navy’s calculated strategy and acquired knowl-

U.S. Navy photo by Barbara Wagner

Udo Goff, a contractor who supports the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD), and Lt. Jason King, a student at the Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) course, contributed artifacts and a compelling lesson in history, respectively, in support of the Battle of Midway commemoration at the Aegis Training and Readiness Center (ATRC) at Naval Support Facility (NSF) Dahlgren on June 4. edge. From the cunning manner in which members of the

decryption center at Station HYPO in Pearl Harbor were

able to decipher the Japanese code and therefore their attack plan for Midway, to the calculated risk employed by Admiral Nimitz in drawing the enemy out, to the selfless sacrifice of the U.S. Army Air Corps pilots who knowingly embarked on the risky Doolittle Raid a few months earlier, bravery was a key factor in the U.S. victory. That kind of courage remains the very essence of the Navy today. The Doolittle Raid was a significant turning point leading up to the Battle of Midway, King explained. “The result was significant. [The Doolittle Raiders] did strike Tokyo and although the damage was tactically minimal, the effect was strategically devastating. The Japanese military was ashamed that they weren’t able to protect the homeland and they realized that Japan was subject to counter attack and made the decision that the American carrier force must be eliminated.” Continuing, King touched on the Japanese perspective prior to the raid. “Rather than

See Midway, Page 3

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