Ceremony honors nation’s flag
Every year the Ridgecrest Elks Lodge celebrates Flag Day with a special ceremony, followed by local Boy Scouts holding a flag retirement ceremony to properly dispose of worn-out flags. The guest speaker this year was Naval Air Weapons Station Chaplain, Lt. Derrick Horne, who spoke . . . Read Full Story >>
Navy and civilian communities collaborate to support museum foundation
Bidding at the China Lake Museum Foundation auction on June 1 gets lively as Dave Janiec holds up a decisive paddle to bid on a table made by Merrie Giles. Also prominent in the photo (from left) are Rear Adm. Paul Sohl, Scott O’Neil, Peter . . . Read Full Story >>
Winter notes China Lake connection to UAV milestone
Rebecca Neipp
“It’s a great month to be an American, to be in the Navy, and to be working in unmanned systems. We are truly making history right now. And you don’t get to say that every day.” At a May 24 luncheon hosted by the China . . . Read Full Story >>
WD’s innovative fuel technology licensed to Mountain View firm
CHINA LAKE — Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division Commander Rear Adm. Paul Sohl signed an exclusive patent license agreement between NAWCWD and Cobalt Technologies on April 8. The agreement includes a suite of inventions covering technology capable of converting butanol to drop-in jet fuels . . . Read Full Story >>
Community observes Memorial Day
The Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake Color Guard participates in the American Legion’s Memorial Day ceremony held Monday at Desert Memorial Park. The service was supported by more than a dozen organizations. After the ceremony, the Legion fed about 350 members of the community. . . . Read Full Story >>
Navy launches next era of aviation
Rebecca Neipp
In the wake of a milestone officials say will change naval aviation forever, Indian Wells Valley residents will have an opportunity to hear from NAVAIR’s program executive officer of unmanned aviation and strike weapons — and former commander of Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division . . . Read Full Story >>
Secretary of Defense announces start of furloughs
Rebecca Neipp
After months of uncertainty about how deeply sequestration would impact the DOD workforce, the Secretary of Defense an-nounced last week how furloughs will be implemented. While most employees will see a reduction in their incomes during the remainder of the current fiscal year, the number . . . Read Full Story >>
Accident victim was American hero
Rebecca Neipp
In a tragic twist of irony, an American hero who survived traumatic wounds in the line of duty during his multiple deployments to the Middle East was killed last week in a vehicular accident. According to a report from the California Highway Patrol, Timo-thy Michael . . . Read Full Story >>
It wasn’t supposed to end this way for Tim Johns
Originally published on the New York Times blog. Republished with permission from the author. The first time I heard Timmy Johns’ name, it was in a casualty report. In 2007 he stepped on a concealed pressure plate while entering a home in Baqubah, Iraq, and . . . Read Full Story >>
Navy League award dinner set
The IWV Navy League’s May 2013 dinner meeting and Archie Meyer Scholarship Award will be held Tuesday, May 14, at Victoria’s at the Heritage, 1050 N. Norma St., beginning at 6:30 p.m. for a social half-hour. Dinner will be served at 7 p.m. Tickets are . . . Read Full Story >>
Youngsters learn to say YES! to engineering, science
CHINA LAKE — Fifty-one volunteers welcomed 156 middle school boys and girls to McLean Lab, during the 2013 YES! (Young Engineers and Scientists) conference on April 20. Rear Adm. Paul Sohl, Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division commander, kicked off the event, speaking about the . . . Read Full Story >>
Use it or lose it -- saving the China Lake Golf Course
Rebecca Neipp
In order to survive the austerity of a fiscal climate that brings furloughs, cuts and reductions, China Lake is under a mandate to use federal support to fund only mission-critical operations. But in keeping with the pioneering spirit between Navy and community that helped shape . . . Read Full Story >>
Captain simplifies base access process
CHINA?LAKE — Over his past year in command of the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Capt. Dennis Lazar realized that many people in Ridgecrest and the surrounding area didn’t seem to come aboard the base very much. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to . . . Read Full Story >>
VX-31 Operation Darken Skies features rare three-aircraft flight
Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 31’s Search and Rescue Department recently conducted a rare three-aircraft training flight known as “Darken Skies.” The operation normally demonstrates a unit’s ability to fly all of its aircraft at one time. “The opportunity to conduct such a flight is . . . Read Full Story >>
NAWCWD shows students how science, technology, can be used in real life
CHINA LAKE — Scientists, engineers and technicians from the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division reached out to more than 1,200 students at Sherman E. Burroughs High School on April 5 during a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Showcase with seven hands-on demonstrations designed to . . . Read Full Story >>
Lower speed limit, speed bumps now at front gate
CHINA?LAKE – People using the main gate to enter or depart from the Naval Air Weapons Station at China Lake will have to slow down to 10 miles per hour as they drive over new speed bumps placed directly in front of the active barriers . . . Read Full Story >>
Meet WD’s only female Marine pilot
CHINA LAKE — Marine Corps Capt. Leigh G. Irwin, a UH-1Y Huey pilot and the operational test director for Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 9, has the distinction of being the only female Marine Corps pilot here. “I put this uniform on every day because . . . Read Full Story >>
China Lake connects with award-winning screenwriter
Screenwriter-producer Mark Boal shows off a T-shirt from China Lake EODTEU One, presented to him by F. Gary Hareland on behalf of Explosive Ordnance Disposal at China Lake. Boal won an Academy Award for writing “The Hurt Locker,” which was about EOD in the Middle . . . Read Full Story >>
Young Engineers and Scientists conference set
The Young Engineers and Scientists of Ridgecrest will hold a Young Men’s Conference on Saturday, April 20, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at McLean Laboratory Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division. The conference is open to young males in grades 6, 7 and 8. . . . Read Full Story >>
China Lake postpones furloughs
Rebecca Neipp
An internal memo circulated among China Lake employees indicates that sequestration-triggered furloughs will be delayed pending further interpretation of the still-hazy fiscal landscape in the wake of a newly passed budget. “We just received direction from the Acting Undersecretary of Defense for Per-sonnel and Readiness . . . Read Full Story >>