DUGWAY PROVING GROUND, Utah - Dugway honored two members of the past workforce by inducting Michael Merritt Sr. and SPC 6 Fred Kuddes to its Hall of Fame during an awards ceremony on February 27. Members of the Merritt and Kuddes families were in attendance and accepted the recognition on their behalf.
Mr. Michael Merritt often referred to as "Senior" came to Dugway with his family as a Military Senior NCO Police (MP) Chief in 1985. He was a well-known member of the Dugway community. Both his children graduated from Dugway High School (1991 and 1993). When his children left Dugway Mr. & Mrs. Merritt continued to live on Dugway until their departure in 2002.
Mr. Merritt was the last Senior NCO to manage the MP station. He was then hired as the first DA Civilian Chief of Police and he established a new police force. Mr. Merritt enjoyed his time managing the police force but decided he wanted to pursue new adventures and started his position within the West Desert Test Center. He was the first one to bring in units around the world to come and train at Dugway. When the request of units became too much for him to manage alone, he worked with Special Programs to start sharing the duties.
On the morning of January 27th, 1967, Munitions Specialist 6 Fred Martin Kuddes Jr. paid the ultimate sacrifice to his country and the advancement in Chemical weapons research when he was killed in Dugway's west desert. SPC Kuddes was the engineer on a test involving a CH-21C Shawnee helicopter. It was heading north to begin test runs at 1000ft elevation when a tragic accident occurred, and the aircraft crashed killing everyone on board.
Mr. Kuddes was one of the original board members of the Dugway Credit Union which opened to help soldiers and their families with financial needs. Mr. Kuddes was also an avid scout leader for the kids living at Dugway and often took them out on camping trips to teach them survival wilderness skills.
In November of 1988, the new 32,140 square foot test management building at Dugway was dedicated in memory of SPC Kuddes and named the Kuddes Operations Center.
Thank you for your service Mr. Merritt and Mr. Kuddes. Dugway will always be grateful.
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