Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center’s (MARMC) Miniature/Micro Miniature (2M) Lab Electronics Technician (ET) 2nd Class Dustin Powell received a gold disk award for his timely and abundant work on circuit card assemblies (CCA), February 2019.

Powell, a native of Michigan, joined the Navy in May 2010. In 2014, he was brought to MARMC on limited duty and had his first opportunity to work in the 2M lab. That initial experience started Powell down a path where his interest and excitement to perform miniature and micro miniature repairs has continued to grow.

“During my first assignment to MARMC, I was fortunate to be placed in the 2M lab and had an opportunity to see more of the technical side of my rate, which really started to teach me how these CCA components work,” said Powell. “I then went on to receive my 2M Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC) in June of 2018.

A gold disk is a computer compact disk that has troubleshooting routines for thousands of circuit cards the Navy uses. These circuit cards can range from, but are not limited to, radars and aircraft parts to Close-in Weapons Systems (CIWS) or other display and weapons systems used in a ship’s Combat Information Center.

“These routines can be developed by technicians in the field or by Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC), the organization that oversees the program and, ultimately, puts out guidance for the routines we use to test circuit cards,” said Powell.

“Often times these routines focus on gear that have high failure rates, and give the Navy a way to repair the components instead of just replacing an entire card.”

The Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) monthly Gold Disk Awards Program encourages fleet personnel in the maritime community to develop gold disk test routines and repair CCAs and electronic modules to improve operational readiness of a wide range of C5I and HM&E systems.

Powell repaired nearly 60 CCAs during the first quarter of Fiscal Year (FY) 2019, and he recently received notice that his work during the second quarter of FY19 has earned him an award.

“It’s a good feeling knowing I’m helping the ships and gives me a sense of accomplishment. I also really enjoy the challenge of taking on uncommon repairs. This is all a learning experience that MARMC has helped facilitate to give me the experience and skill set I need to go back to the fleet, do my job better and be impactful on the deck plates,” said Powell.  

The work performed by the techs in the 2M lab gets at the heart of MARMC’s missions – “We Fix Ships!” Aiding ships in their quest to maintain mission readiness is not lost on Powell. 

“The work load ebbs and flows depending on when ships are in port. When they are here in Norfolk, we tend to see a lot of CCAs come in and we are dedicated to ensuring we fix every single one, since most of them are used by a mission critical piece of equipment,” said Powell.

For leadership within MARMC’s 2M lab, the Gold Disk Award has brought recognition to an important shop within MARMC’s Production Department.

“To a certain degree the 2M lab at MARMC is kind of forgotten,” said MARMC 2M Leading Chief Petty Officer Chief Electronics Technician (SW/EXW/PJ) Justin Holder. “We have a locked door and not everyone understands what exactly we are doing in here. Having ET2 Powell get this recognition really shines a light on our contributions to the Navy.”

To date during FY19, MARMC 2M lab has exceeded expectations and with Powell’s fast start to the year, they are hoping to end the second half of the year just as strong. 

“ET2 Powell has made leaps and bounds in his progress as a technician. His initiative and work ethic has made him my go to guy in the shop and that is saying a lot when I have a shop full of outstanding techs. I can’t say enough of how well he is doing here at MARMC,” said Holder.

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