Robert “Bob” M. Snuggs was recognized at the Naval Submarine League Annual Symposium banquet on October 20,2011, with the Distinguished Civilian Award for his outstanding contributions to U.S. national security, the Department of Defense and the submarine force. During a career spanning more than 50 years, he profoundly influenced the development of U. S. Navy submarine combat systems, which are widely recognized as the most capable in the world.

As a pioneer in the field of digital technology applied to combat systems and underwater sensors, he has been deeply involved in the conception and realization of one of the most impressive series of capability driven technology transformations in the history of the Navy.

While employed at NAVSEA early in his career, Bob led the development of the first submarine digital sonar system(AN/BQQ-5), providing submariners with a huge leap forward in capability enabled by the “new” digital technology. He planned, organized, technically directed and managed many of the Navy’s most complex engineering programs involving
submarine sonar and combat control systems.

In 1986, Bob was assigned as the Technical Director and Chief Engineer for the Integrated Undersea Surveillance Systems (IUSS). He led the development of the capability to detect submarines at long range in many tactical environments, achieving an order of magnitude greater detection range than any active sonar ever developed. Many advances, both in technology and in process, contributed to this achievement. Bob set the industry standard in his use of small business and academia to provide leading-edge science and engineering expertise. Additionally, he pioneered the use of commercial signal processors and an open systems architecture. Bob’s achievements with IUSS were the road map for the Navy that later provided the direction for the Acoustic Rapid COTS Insertion (ARCI) program. ARCI has become the standard of excellence within DOD for tactical weapons systems acquisition, deployment and modernization.

Bob’s trailblazing actions for commercial software development and COTS within the Navy have had major contributions to the submarine force. His early actions permitted the Virginia class submarine combat system to be developed on a faster schedule and at a much lower cost, allowing the program to achieve significantly reduced cost commitments.

In 1995, the Submarine Superiority Technology Panel was formed to investigate recent submarine encounters that indicated significant deficiencies in passive sonar capability. Bob, as the IUSS representative, demonstrated that existing IUSS algorithms could be used to restore the lost dBs and also showed that the algorithms worked as well for submarine arrays as for IUSS arrays. He and his IUSS team partnered with PEO SUB and the Advanced Sonar Technology Office to set up the ARCI /Advanced Program Build program incorporating COTS processing, forward area derived data driven analyses, frequent technology upgrades and participation by small businesses and academia participation.

In 1998, Bob retired from government service and joined EG&G (now URS' Federal Services business) as a Senior Scientist. Although he is no longer a civil servant, his contributions continue. As Chairman of the Surface Ship ASW Technology Refresh Integrated Product Team (IPT) and the Co-chairman of the Submarine Combat Systems Technology Refresh IPT, he is still an integral member of the Navy’s ASW enterprise. More significantly, he continues to push the envelope for innovation and results. Through his highly influential body of contributions and leadership style, Bob has had a profound influence on the culture of the submarine technical community. Bob has mentored countless engineers and managers in both government and industry. The acquisition culture that has kept U.S. submarines in the forefront of implementation of new technology and innovation bears the distinct imprint of Bob Snuggs.