NAVY, (Hinton News) – The United States Navy awarded Hinton native, Dawn (Katz) Rodes, with the Department of the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award (NMCSA), their third highest civilian service award, for exemplary leadership, exceptional ability, initiative, and total dedication in the performance of her duties. Rodes managed a team consisting of government and industry experts in the removal and remediation of the U.S. Fleet Operational Readiness Accuracy Check Site (FORACS) located on the west coast of Oahu, Hawaii from May 2017 through June 2022. During this project, she organized the removal of in-water conduits and cables and ashore concrete conduit, manholes, and broken concrete associated with the Fleet Operational Readiness Accuracy Check Site (FORACS). She also coordinated the removal of potential safety hazards and environmental remediation of the site, making it a safe and aesthetically pleasing addition to the State of Hawaii’s public oceanfront. The project also included transplanting live coral that had grown on the underwater cables, preserving an important part of the oceanic ecosystem. Rodes collaborated with a host of activities and agencies including the Army Corps of Engineers, Navy Region Hawaii Public Affairs Office, Mobile Dive and Salvage Unit One, State of Hawaii Department of Land & Natural Resources and many others. Her efforts directly enabled the Navy to fulfill its lease agreement with the State of Hawaii and satisfactorily restored the site to as close as possible to its original state.
Rodes is a 1995 graduate of Summers County High School, a 2000 graduate of Concord University, and earned a Masters in Business Administration from The Citadel in 2005. In her more than 15 years as a Department of the Navy civilian employee, she has held the positions of Business Financial Manager (BFM) of the Europe Division for Navy Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic (formerly Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SPAWAR)), BFM for the Test & Evaluation (T&E) Program for Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), Ranges Deputy Program Manager and Deputy U.S. Representative to NATO FORACS, and is currently the Ranges Program Manager and the United States National Representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Naval Forces Sensor and Weapon Accuracy Check Sites (FORACS).
Rodes is married to her high school sweetheart and Hinton native, David Rodes, and they have three beautiful daughters. They currently reside in Connecticut.
Rodes is the daughter of Hinton native, Ruby Meadows Wiseman, and the granddaughter of Juanita Cales Meadows.
For more information, visit:
https://www.dvidshub.net/news/374608/mdsu-1-navsea-remove-defunct-foracs-equipment-off-nanakuli-beach
https://www.dvidshub.net/news/420217/navsea-completes-final-phase-foracs-project-nanakuli
https://issuu.com/navyregionhawaii/docs/hookele_may_finalpages pg. 6
https://issuu.com/navyregionhawaii/docs/ho_okele_april21_finalfinal/s/12053308
