We lead the System Safety team for the Joint Cooperative Target Identification – Ground (JCTI-G) project for the Navy. The JCTI-G uses millimeter waves (microwaves) to broadcast an interrogation signal before firing on a target. If the target is a Friendly (not a Hostile) it will have a companion transponder. The Friendly receives the interrogation and replies with a message that states “I’m a Friend – don’t shoot me!”, along with other data. An airplane can also send an interrogation before engaging a presumed Hostile, to confirm there are no Friendlies within “Danger Close” distance. These systems help reduce incidents of fratricide (“Friendly fire”).

As the Safety lead, we performed analyses, participated in testing, and prepared all the DoD MIL-STD-882E documentation:

• PESHE
• SSPP
• PHL
• SSHAR
• SAR

We built a sophisticated custom Hazard Tracking database (MS Access). We diagrammed the entire Safety Process flow to clearly communicate our role, and our inputs and outputs to the rest of the team. We also prepared and presented detailed Safety Briefings to Senior Management regularly.