NAVSEA celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

WASHINGTON -Tony TorresRamos (SES), Director of the Office of Civilian Human Resources (OCHR) spoke to NAVSEA employees in the Humphreys Building Auditorium during the Oct. 4 Hispanic Heritage event sponsored by the NAVSEA Hispanic Employee Resource Group.

This year's theme for National Hispanic Heritage Month is "Shaping the Bright Future of America."

TorresRamos has had an exceptional career, both as a Marine Corps officer and as a Department of the Navy (DON) civilian. He discussed his personal experiences, career, philosophy of success and how the Navy need to reach out to recruit next generation of leaders.

TorresRamos began his speech by discussing contributions of notable Hispanic leaders in Department of the Navy history including Adm. David Farragut, the first admiral in the U.S. Navy who fought during the Civil War; Marine Maj. Gen. Angelia Salinas, first Hispanic female Marine Corps general officer; and Navy Lt. Edward Hildago, who would later become the first Hispanic Secretary of the Navy under President Jimmy Carter.

"Our Hispanic leaders have paved the way for you and me to be here," said TorresRamos.

TorresRamos also spoke about the importance of reaching out to other Hispanics and encouraging them to consider the privilege of serving in the Navy. He said he considered his civilian service as serving those in uniform who place their lives on the line everyday to protect our freedom. He noted that while there are approximately 58.6 million Hispanics in the U.S., only 12,000 – 5.7 percent – of the 207,000 DON employees are Hispanic. He talked about Hispanics being underrepresented in the Navy and that more outreach is needed to recruit qualified Hispanics and people from all backgrounds to create a strong and diverse workforce.

TorresRamos spoke about his roots growing up in Puerto Rico and how his decision to join the Marine Corps shaped him into who he is today. He said he believes a key to success is finding that passion inside your heart that drives you, to be part of something bigger than yourself and explained that passion gives you the fuel to motivate yourself to take on hard challenges to grow.

"Finding that passion helps you find the opportunities and the willingness to embrace tough challenges, the willingness to take on those hard assignments that test you and help you grow stronger," he said.

TorresRamos ended his keynote with a quote from Brazilian author and philosopher Paulo Coelho, "Be brave, take risks, nothing can beat experience."

As the Director of OCHR, TorresRamos provides leadership to OCHR and the Human Resources community at large. He provides the technical authority (as delegated by the SECNAV) for HR systems, civilian HR policies and programs, and hiring for 21 Major Commands and the United States Marine Corps. Annually, he manages a diverse portfolio of HR programs for more than 200,000 civilian employees across the globe, to include foreign nationals. His operations fill approximately 47,000 vacancies, issuing 1.7 million certificates of eligibility, processing close to 1.2 million transactions a year and managing 11 separate civilian personnel systems with more than 500 different hiring authorities.