Commander Joe reporting Page 2
Echoes from our past Page 4
E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Page 6
VOLUME 70, NUMBER 6
NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, MARYLAND
FEBRUARY 14, 2013
Valentine’s Day brings ‘blooming business’ By Donna Cipolloni Tester staff writer Besides a chubby little cherub wielding a bow and arrow, what else comes to mind when you think of Valentine’s Day? If you said candy, flowers and jewelry— you’re not alone. According to www.History.com, chocolate has been thought to be an aphrodisiac for centuries; used in the pursuit of love as long ago as the Aztec empire. The tradition of boxed Valentine’s Day candy is often credited to Richard Cadbury, one of the founders of the British chocolate-making family, who began packaging candy in artistically decorated boxes around 1868. The Victorians quickly came to consider the elaborate reusable chocolate boxes as special gifts, and the rest is history. Today, Nielsen research indicates that Americans will purchase around 58 million pounds of chocolate in the week leading up to Val-
entine’s Day, including 35 million heart-shaped boxes full of it. The Navy Exchange, anticipating the needs of all the chocoholic romantics at NAS Patuxent River, offers “an assortment of sizes and brands from Dove through Godiva,” said Juanita Hagan, softlines department manager. If you still want to “say it with candy” but not with chocolate, there’s the ever-popular conversation hearts. Manufactured by the New England Confectionery Company, Sweethearts have been a Valentine’s Day tradition for more than a century. According to the NECCO website, 8 billion pieces—or 100,000 pounds—of the candy is produced each year. A few of the most popular current sayings include “tweet me,” “text me,” “you rock,” “love bug” and “you + me.” Giving flowers on Valentine’s Day stems from floriography—flower writing— a long-standing method of sending flowers to convey
U.S. Navy photo by Donna Cipolloni
Navy Exchange floral designer Megan Jones holds a traditional favorite. Today, the NEX mall area will be transformed into a last-minute Valentine’s Day “grab and go” extravaganza of chocolates, plush animals, balloons and assorted flowers—both in arrangements and sold separately. Items will also be sold in the NAVAIR building outside the Sea Wings Café. messages of love when those messages dared not be spoken out loud. As the tradition of floral gift giving blossomed across Europe
Rising stars: Rear Adm. Donald Gaddis
in the 18th Century, it soon became a custom associated with Valentine’s Day. Anticipating the need, the NEX flower shop is
bursting with fragrant fresh blooms, including plenty of that Valentine’s Day staple—red roses. “We ordered 12,000 of
them,” said floral designer Megan Jones. “And we’re offering them at the special price of $18.99 per dozen,” added Kay Mammola, service operations clerk. The Society of American Florists reported last year that 224 million roses were produced for Valentine’s Day, and while roses made up 53 percent of all floral orders, red roses—the color symbolizing passionate love—made up 67 percent of all rose orders. When it comes to giving flowers for Valentine’s Day, most men buy for their spouse or significant other while women use the day as an opportunity to show they care to their mothers, daughters or friends. Reuters reports that the average guy will spend about $160 on Feb. 14 between gifts, entertainment and dinner out; with women expected to spend only half that amount. For those wishing to make the holiday extremely
See Valentine, Page 6
Citadel Shield countdown ...
It’s here: Expect delays, be prepared By Donna Cipolloni Tester staff writer
Members of the Program Executive Office for Tactical Aircraft (PEO(T)) congratulate Rear Adm. Donald Gaddis, PEO(T), Monday on receiving his second star. Gaddis, a graduate of the Navy Fighter Weapons School— TOPGUN, was officially promoted Feb. 1. He has more than 2,300 flight hours as a Radar Intercept Officer in the F-14A/F-14B/F-4S aircraft to include 523 traps in the F-14 Tomcat. His personal decorations include the Legion of Merit (three awards), Meritorious Service Medal (three awards), Strike Fighter Air Medal, and various other personal and unit awards.
Courtesy photo by Debbie Olsen
Over the past four weeks, the Tester has covered employee personnel reporting procedures and printed the official definition of Critical Employees and Mission Essential Personnel; explained the varying Force Protection Conditions and what occurs as a result of each; relayed suggestions for dealing with an active shooter/hostage situation; and described what a suspicious package might look like. All of this information was provided as a lead-in to Solid Curtain/Citadel Shield, the annual force protection/anti-terrorism exercise, designed to enhance the training and readiness of Navy security and emergency personnel. While Navy-wide budget cuts in spending have forced the cancelation of the Solid Curtain portion of the 2013
exercise, the more localized Citadel Shield portion will still take place within the gates Feb. 19-22, and employees and contractors at NAS Patuxent River can expect some delays and inconveniences that come with it. “The biggest impact people would see immediately comes if there is an escalation in the force protection condition resulting in a back-up in traffic at the front gate,” explained Craig Buist, installation program director for training and readiness. For instance, higher FPCONs would not only change how the gate sentries are dressed—flak jackets, battle helmets and carrying long guns—they would also trigger the sentries to initiate other processes that could slow things down considerably for the duration of the heightened protection measure. Other delays and frustra-
tions may come from closed streets and parking lots, rerouted traffic patterns, restricted access or additional barriers to sensitive areas on base. “In 2012, we had no complaints at all,” Buist said about the delays caused by Citadel Shield. “From previous years, we’d learned what information to provide our tenant commands so they could properly mitigate what was going to happen. Last year, we had tremendous success because they willingly participated so effectively with MEP execution, this base was practically a ghost town—and that was exactly what we needed and planned for.” During this year’s exercise, individuals at Pax should pay attention to and heed any updates or messages broadcast over the Wide Area Alert Network, or
See Countdown, Page 6