NNSA recognizes Design Basis Threat Implementation Team as 2020 Security Team of the Year

On May 5, the 23 members of the Design Basis Threat (DBT) Implementation team were chosen as NNSA’s 2020 Security Team of the Year.

The nomination is unprecedented, spanning the entire Nuclear Security Enterprise and Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Security Policy. The approach the awardees took involved both management and operating partners, as well as federal oversight personnel, a truly comprehensive approach.

The award recognizes the contributions the members of the NNSA DBT Implementation team make each day to the nuclear security mission. The team protects some of the country’s most vital strategic assets and information, and through their award-winning work, have significantly influenced the way NNSA assesses risk and thereby made great strides in advancing U.S. national security objectives.

“I commend the team’s work to complete the rigorous analysis required to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of NNSA’s security performance relative to the DBT,” said Jeff Johnson, Associate Administrator for the NNSA's Office of Defense Nuclear Security and Chief of Defense Nuclear Security. “No team across the DOE spectrum has achieved similar progress on DBT implementation, and so each member can be justifiably proud they were selected by the review panel to receive this prestigious award.”

NNSA’s security risk management philosophy is based on establishing and maintaining a graded approach and defense-in-depth safeguards. The DBT policy the team developed is designed to represent a set of goals for the planning and implementation of Departmental safeguards and security programs for the next three to five years.

NNSA’s safeguards and security program has multiple areas of deterrence including protective force, physical security, information security, material control and accountability, personnel security, and security program operations and planning. These programs integrate personnel, equipment, and procedures to protect physical assets and resources against theft, sabotage, diversion, and other criminal acts.

The members of the award-winning team were:

• Kerry Hommertzheim, Honeywell/Kansas City National Security Complex (KCNSC)
• Anthony George, Kansas City Field Office
• Chad Hanawalt, Triad Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)
• Jimmy Ortega, Triad LANL
• Pamela Valdez, Los Alamos Field Office
• Samuel Lee, Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC
• Douglas Laniohan, Livermore Field Office
• Joshua Zamzow, Mission Support and Test Services, LLC (MSTS)
• Floriano Ciballos, MSTS
• David Digon, Nevada Field Office (NFO)
• Matthew Becker, NFO
• Jerry Weber, NFO
• Dwayne Cunningham, Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS) Pantex Plant
• Ramiro Alaniz, CNS Pantex
• Matthew Melton, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC (SRNS)
• George Kilpa, Savannah River Field Office
• Thomas Rodgers, National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC
• Luis “Toby” Velasquez, Sandia Field Office
• Kevin Mattern, CNS Y-12 National Security Complex
• Daniel Reeves, NNSA Production Office
• Matt Pincock, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
• Edwin Alas, DOE Office of Security Assistance (AU-52)
• Gary White, AU-52