KING GEORGE, Va. –
On Sept. 8, Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) hosted their second Early Career Organization (ECO): Career Paths and Mentoring event. This event included several guest speakers, a mentoring session and a networking opportunity for fellow NSWCDD employees. According to NSWCDD leadership and ECO, the most impactful mentorships evolved through sharing experiences and stories. The focus is to create an environment where Dahlgren employees are paying that knowledge forward to others by creating a space to seek a mentor, in order to gain crucial insights and advance their career.
The Career Path and Mentoring event kicked off with guest speaker, Joel Washington, the branch head for Aegis Based Combat Systems Development and Engineering. Washington has over 30 years of federal government service across multiple NSWCDD departments. Washington highlighted the importance of using all available resources, making connections and spoke to the different career paths obtainable at Dahlgren.
The event then shifted to a mentoring session with several NSWCDD leadership members ready and available for networking and discussion.
This segment of the event gave an opportunity for employees who were newer to the organization to connect with leadership members at NSWCDD and to hear about their career journey at Dahlgren. The career path representatives consisted of Senior Scientific Technical Manager Dr. Jeff Solka, Weapons Control and Integration Department head, Dr. John Seel, Human Resources Director Sandra Ambrose, Electromagnetic and Sensor Systems Branch head Kada Saunders, Business Director Chris Clifford, Digital Modeling Chief Engineer Garrett Wilson, Command Review and Investigations Office Director Robert Longworth and Chief of Staff Terri Gray.
The NSWCDD workforce values the development of a comfortable environment and culture for all employees. Hosting these ECO Career Path and Mentoring events creates new ways for professionals at Dahlgren to engage with the organization and to improve professional development here at NSWCDD.
ECO will be hosting several career path, mentoring and a variety of other events for career development in the near future.