Lt. Cmdr. John Hamilton earned the ONR-RC Junior Science and Technology Officer of the Year Award — and Capt. Mark Murphy the ONR-RC Senior Science and Technology Officer of the Year Award (senior officers are commanders and above). The officers received the accolades for their efforts to help accelerate the rapid delivery of technology to warfighters.
“ONR’s Reserve Component is a uniquely qualified cadre of personnel with advanced scientific and technical skills, as well as experience in fleet operations and technical program management,” said Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Lorin Selby. “These Science and Technology Officer of the Year Awards recognize the leadership and technical expertise of Lt. Cmdr. Hamilton and Capt. Murphy. They should be proud of their achievements, which reflect the excellence of the ONR Reserve Component.”
Reservists play an important role in ONR’s mission to support science efforts around the world — from basic and conceptual research to applied research and quick-turnaround technologies requested by Sailors and Marines.
Hamilton won his award for serving as a science advisor for ONR’s international arm, ONR Global. He served with Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet (PACFLT). Hamilton’s duties included understanding PACFLT’s warfighting capabilities, evaluating existing and emerging technologies, and making recommendations to PACFLT staff on what actions should be taken.
One of Hamilton’s most rewarding accomplishments was helping to plan the PACFLT-led Unmanned Integrated Battle Problem 21. In that exercise, a large number of multi-domain unmanned platforms — many sponsored by ONR — were put into real-world, “blue-water” environments, working in sync with manned platforms in actual combat drills designed to support PACFLT objectives in the Indo-Pacific region.
For his civilian job, Hamilton is a country director in ONR Global’s International Engagement Office. He fosters engagement, collaboration and licensing regarding technology matters between ONR Global and France, Israel and other North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries.
Murphy’s award recognized his stint as a science advisor at U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (COMUSNAVCENT), where he was accountable for executing the command’s science and technology national security goals. His accomplishments included spearheading a study of littoral combat ships and addressing capability gaps in areas such as mine warfare, port security and unmanned systems.
After his time at COMUSNAVCENT, Murphy helped plan and carry out the NATO Coherent Resilience Table Top Exercise — which evaluated the critical energy infrastructure of Ukraine and Lithuania and determined best practices for maintaining security in those nations.
In his civilian role, Murphy works as a lead systems engineer at Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division in Orlando, Florida. There, he designs training simulators for F-18 and F-35 fighter jets.
“The talents and expertise of reservists like Lt. Cmdr. Hamilton and Capt. Murphy demonstrate why the ONR-RC is among the Navy’s most highly integrated, technically skilled reserve components,” said Capt. Michael Van Poots, ONR-RC commander.
“The Science and Technology Officer of the Year Awards spotlight how valuable these two Sailors are in enabling the ONR-RC to provide warfighting readiness, strategic depth and operational relevance to the fleet — advancing its technical edge.”
The ONR-RC comprises approximately 190 Navy reservists from 15 units nationwide. Many of these individuals have advanced technical degrees in science and engineering disciplines, as well as deep operational experience in the fleet.
These reservists support ONR in many ways — including developing concepts of operations and integration plans for new and developing technologies; taking part in transition boards and assessments; participating in technology demonstrations and war-gaming exercises to identify capability gaps and speed solutions to warfighters; and serving as military liaisons to allied nations.
Learn more about the ONR-RC at https://www.nre.navy.mil/organization/naval-reservist-component.
Warren Duffie Jr. is a contractor for ONR Corporate Strategic Communications.