FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 14, 2021
Release #2128 Point of Contact—Jeffrey Prater (401) 832-2039
Retired NUWC Division Newport employees receive Meritorious Civilian Service Awards
Two retired Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport employees, Martin “Marty” Moebus and Dr. Kimberly Cipolla, have received Department of the Navy (DON) Meritorious Civilian Service Awards, the third highest honorary civilian award bestowed by the U.S. Navy.
Moebus, a resident of Norwich, Connecticut, earned his award for accomplishments as chief strategic analyst in the Strategic Planning Office, from November 2014 through his retirement in July 2020, after a 40-year career. He supported Division Newport leadership in establishing key long-term objectives, identifying strategies in critical business and technical areas, and implementing strategic guidance and actions.
Moebus served as the Naval Acquisition Development Program field career manager, guiding more than 100 interns through the first years of their career, and helped create high velocity learning communication and training plans, which rolled out across the Naval Sea Systems Command. Moebus was instrumental in reinvigorating NUWC Division Newport University, establishing and updating 24 courses reaching approximately 650 employees annually. He served as the Navy’s lead instructor for Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Submarine Combat Systems Course, educating military and civilians including Department of Defense/DON program offices, the Pentagon, and intelligence services. He also developed a tailored cyber boot camp after learning of MIT’s need for a succinct cyber training course.
Cipolla, a resident of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, earned a Meritorious Civilian Service Award for her contributions in several roles from January 2007 through October 2020, when she retired after a 24-year career. Her roles included being chief scientist in Division Newport’s Sensors and Sonar Systems Department, a technical project manager at the Office of Naval Research (ONR), and serving as Division Newport’s deputy chief technology officer.
As a Navy expert in sonar and underwater acoustics, Cipolla focused on hydroacoustics, and her ONR research addressed fleet issues relating to towed arrays. Her development of the thin-line vector sensor towed array provided the submarine community with visible and instantaneous distinction of contact bearing without requiring a maneuver, which is operationally significant for submarines.
Cipolla’s efforts improved towed array performance in cluttered environments while offering an initial estimated savings of $300,000 per thin-line array, and her patented contributions across towed array basic and applied research were key to coordinated experimental, computational and analytic research programs. She created the Undersea Warfare Science and Technology (S&T) Integrated Community and leveraged members’ knowledge to provide technical guidance for the Division’s S&T plans and investments, creating an opportunity for the S&T workforce to advance while helping the Navy address critical needs.
Moebus and Cipolla were recognized during a livestream with Commanding Officer Capt. Chad Hennings and Technical Director Ron Vien on April 21.
NUWC Division Newport is a shore command of the U.S. Navy within the Naval Sea Systems Command, which engineers, builds and supports America’s fleet of ships and combat systems. NUWC Newport provides research, development, test and evaluation, engineering and fleet support for submarines, autonomous underwater systems, undersea offensive and defensive weapons systems, and countermeasures associated with undersea warfare.
NUWC Newport is the oldest warfare center in the country, tracing its heritage to the Naval Torpedo Station established on Goat Island in Newport Harbor in 1869. Commanded by Capt. Chad Hennings, NUWC Newport maintains major detachments in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Andros Island in the Bahamas, as well as test facilities at Seneca Lake and Fisher's Island, New York, Leesburg, Florida, and Dodge Pond, Connecticut.
###
