EMRTC Wins Prestigious Cogswell Award

Contact: EMRTC

(Photo, left to right: Dennis Hunter, EMRTC, Assoc. Dir. Safety, Security & Training; Don Tripp, State Representative; Carolyn Collis, DSS, Industrial Security Representative; Elva Delgado, DSS, Industrial Security Representative; Loretta Reinicke, EMRTC, Associate FSO; Marcie Gallegos, EMRTC, FSO; W. D. Peterson, NM Tech, VP for Admin & Finance; Dr. Daniel H. Lopez, NM Tech, President; Mayor Ravi Baskher, City of Socorro, Mayor; MG Randall Horn, NM Tech Board of Regents; Dr. John Meason, EMRTC, Director)

SOCORRO, N.M., Nov. 14, 2002 -- The Defense Security Service (DSS) has announced that New Mexico Tech's division, Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center (EMRTC), is a 2002 recipient of the coveted James S. Cogswell Outstanding Industrial Security Achievement Award.

The award is named in honor of the late Colonel James S. Cogswell, U.S. Air Force, the first chief of the unified office of Industrial Security (established in 1965). Colonel Cogswell was responsible for developing basic principles of the Industrial Security Program, including the Program's emphasis on partnership between industry and government.

John Whitecotton, West Area Deputy Field Director for Industrial Security, presented the award on November 13, 2002. The DSS West Area of Responsibility includes all of the Rocky Mountain states, Alaska, Hawaii, and the El Paso area of West Texas.

Tech President Dr. Daniel H. López and Marcie Gallegos, Tech's Facility Security Officer, accepted the award on behalf of the Board of Regents, students, faculty and staff.

Whitecotton was accompanied by Alfredo Sanchez, Jr., Chief of the DSS Phoenix Field Office; Martin Drexler, Special Agent in Charge of the DSS Albuquerque Office; Stephen Sigurdson, Special Agent in Charge of the DSS El Paso Office; Debra Blasing, Special Agent, DSS Albuquerque Office; Carolyn Collis, Industrial Security Representative, DSS Albuquerque Office; and Elva Delgado, Industrial Security Representative, DSS Albuquerque Office.

Elva Delgado, Carolyn Collis, and Debra Blasing are the three DSS representatives who work closely with NM Tech. Ms Delgado is the primary industrial security specialist responsible for monitoring implementation of the National Industrial Security Program (NISP) at NM Tech; Ms Collis oversees the Arms, Ammunition and Explosives Program; and Ms Blasing is responsible for conducting personnel security background investigations in the Socorro, NM, area.

The Cogswell Awards, the most prestigious in the industrial security field, are now in their 35th year. Only 12 of more than 11,000 eligible facilities are being recognized for their industrial security programs in 2002.

According to DSS, achieving this distinction requires extraordinary excellence involving a total team effort by top management, the facility security officer and the facility workforce. It is based on the following specific criteria:

• An outstanding overall security program in which the contractor routinely resolves problems independently and is extremely responsive to changes in the NISP.
• Management's active support and involvement in maintaining an excellent security posture.
• Knowledge and professionalism on the part of the Facility Security Officer.
• A record of outstanding security review results that set standards for emulation by other contractors.
• Internal operating procedures that implement or exceed applicable requirements of the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM).
• An absence of security violations that affect the integrity of security systems.
• An effective, ongoing security education and awareness program.
• Support for DoD personnel security initiatives by all levels of management.
• A program to limit the number of classified holdings in the facility.

The Cogswell Award selection process is very rigorous. Facilities are nominated by their assigned DSS Industrial Security Representatives, based on the criteria noted above and two consecutive industrial security reviews that show a sustained degree of excellence in program requirements. Nominations are then submitted throughout all levels of the DSS field organization for endorsement and vetting. A National Review consolidates and ranks the nominations, which in turn are submitted to Senior DSS Management for final endorsement.

In addition to New Mexico Tech, the 11 other 2002 recipients of the Cogswell Award include ATK Thiokol Propulsion, Corinne, UT; AVISYS, Inc., Austin, TX; Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation, Dayton Office, Fairborn, OH; General Dynamics Land Systems (Lima Army Tank Plant), Lima, OH; Goodrich Corporation, Optical & Space Systems, Lexington, MA; Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, VA; Osborne Technologies, Inc., Huntsville, AL; SRI International, Arlington, VA; Sverdrup Technology, Inc., Naval Systems Group, Camarillo, CA; Syracuse Research Corporation, San Antonio, TX; and The Boeing Company, Tulsa, OK.