WEST BETHESDA, Md. –
Capt. Cedric J. McNeal relieved Capt. Mark R. Vandroff as the commanding officer of Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division in a ceremony May 3, 2019, in the Maritime Technology Information Center at Carderock Division in West Bethesda, Maryland.
Vandroff, who was the 37th commanding officer at Carderock, thanked the many people in his life who have contributed to his success as a naval officer, to include his family and friends, as well as employees at Carderock.
“Carderock is an amazing place, a national treasure, where science and engineering are harnessed in the service of our Navy’s warfighters,” Vandroff said. “It has been a privilege to be a member of this organization, and I will always be grateful for the opportunity to be part of this important work.”
During his time at Carderock, Vandroff said there has been a rise in the number of people leaving Carderock, mostly through retirement. At the same time, though, Carderock has grown and hired at higher than the attrition rate to support additional technical research as necessary for the Navy. Vandroff said the new people coming in, whether engineers, scientists or business professionals, are some of the smartest and most diverse he’s ever seen.
“We still have a very high-quality workforce, and we’ve brought on so many great, new people across the spectrum, both here and at the detachments, and across all the skills, so many great engineers, great business professionals,” Vandroff said. “The ability to grow that workforce, and have it be such a talented workforce – that’s probably what I’m proudest of.”
Vandroff said the onboarding process of all the new employees over the last three years has become a little easier, especially with the establishment of the Common Access Card office on base, which has really improved the quality of life and quality of service for those employees.
During the ceremony, guest speaker Rear Adm. William Galinis, program executive officer, ships at Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), touted Vandroff’s naval career as very successful.
“Under Mark’s leadership, Carderock has continued to lead the way in naval architecture and marine engineering, pioneering the use of set-based design and building the next generation of design tools, which will lead to improved modeling and simulation capability in the ship-design process,” Galinis said.
Capt. Andy Arnold, chief of staff for Naval Surface and Undersea Warfare Center, presented the Legion of Merit Medal to Vandroff for his performance as the commanding officer of Carderock Division, specifically citing Vandroff’s role in providing significant analysis to the Surface Warfare Resource Sponsor regarding the Future Frigate, Zumwalt-class destroyer and Future Large Surface Combatant.
Retired Rear Adm. Tony Lengerich, currently the president of the American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE), presented Vandroff the 2018 ASNE Gold Medal Award for his accomplishments as the DDG 51 program manager and for his time as commanding officer of Carderock.
Vandroff is retiring June 1 after 30 years of service, which started with his commissioning from the Naval Academy in 1989. He has taken a job as the vice president of Maritime Programs for Zenetex, LLC, a company that provides management and technology support services to federal government agencies and commercial organizations in the U.S. and internationally.
McNeal came to Carderock from NAVSEA, serving as the deputy major program manager for the Guided-Missile Frigate (FFG(X)) Program (PMS 515).
During his speech after taking command, McNeal told the crowd of friends, family and Carderock employees that the day wasn’t really about him, but about Vandroff, whom he said paved the way for the next generation of engineering duty officers like himself.
“You’ve been a mentor and a role model, a pillar in the shipbuilding community, truly skillful at the aspects of program management and shipbuilding, and a walking body of knowledge for naval history, acquisition excellence and whatever else you may want to learn about in life,” McNeal said to Vandroff.
McNeal acknowledged the reputation of Carderock employees for their technical excellence and delivery of world-renowned capability in platform integrity, ship signatures and surface ship and submarine design and integration, but added that there was still work to be done.
“Vice Adm. (Thomas) Moore (NAVSEA commander) is calling for us to expand the advantage through enabling the talents of our workforce, instilling a culture of affordability by making every dollar count and ensuring innovation and collaboration in our efforts to achieve learning at high velocity across the enterprise,” McNeal said. “I’m beyond ecstatic about seeing what lies ahead, the cutting-edge technological advancements that will come from this team here at Carderock, contributing to the capabilities that will shape the force of our next generation Navy, all in support of the defense of our great nation.”