DAHLGREN,
Va. - Dohn Burnett, Deputy Technical Director for the Naval Surface Warfare
Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD), retired after 34 years of civil service
during a ceremony here in March.
During
his tenure, Burnett led the planning and execution of the command’s technical
mission of research, development, test, and evaluation of surface naval
warfighting systems. He directed a workforce of 3,700 employees and oversaw
annual operations of $1.5 billion.
"This
is a really exciting time for the Navy and for Dahlgren,” said Burnett, citing
innovative technologies developed at the command such as hypervelocity
projectiles, lasers, railgun, and cyber engineering. “We have a lot of
revolutionary work going on right now."
Burnett's
insight and involvement spanned the command’s research, development, test,
evaluation, analysis, systems engineering, and integration efforts for complex
naval combat, systems.
The technological
work has been evolving - and the range of technical programs increasing - at
Dahlgren over the last century with the changing missions of the warfighter and
advances in technology.
"In
addition to the revolutionary work there’s a great deal of evolutionary work,"
said Burnett, referring to initiatives in radars, missiles, and command and control
systems in addition to new methodologies in combat systems engineering and new
capabilities through integration of combat systems.
Burnett
and NSWCDD leadership anticipate that the command's unique set of capabilities
in warfare systems development and integration will lead the Navy's efforts to develop
new naval and joint warfare systems.
Burnett's
leadership was crucial to realigning NSWCDD to make sure its organizational
construct was aligned to the command’s strategy. He also impacted the
development of the command's 2015-2020 Strategic Plan, charting the course for
NSWCDD to remain the Navy’s leader in warfare systems research, development,
and integration.
"We're
still implementing our new strategic plan,” said Burnett, who previously served
as the NSWCDD Warfare Systems Department head, leading Navy surface combat
system development and support efforts. “I think we’ve made really good
progress aligning the organization to that plan."
The
strategic plan placed special emphasis on technical opportunities in emerging
warfare or "thrust" areas aligned with NSWCDD’s core capability to deliver
integrated solutions through innovation and systems engineering.
The
thrust areas - electric weapons design, development and integration; mission
engineering and analysis; and cyber warfare engineering in naval systems -
build off the command’s science and engineering foundation, and are envisioned
to become an integral part of the organization's core technical expertise in
the future.
"Most
people understand that we have these thrust areas and now we've been able to
modify our processes so that investments and other resource decisions are based
on criteria in that plan," said Burnett. “Implementing the plan and using it to
guide our decisions, especially funding investments and hiring, is really
important."
Burnett
recounted the top three highlights of his civil service career.
-
"Developing leaders at all levels who will be here long after I'm gone – their work is going to continue after the systems I helped develop are gone. I made it a priority in my career to work on developing leaders and, in turn, they will develop leaders. That legacy will live on and Dahlgren will continue to do great work because it has good leaders."
-
"The work I’ve done over the years on Aegis, and the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. I was fortunate to help build Aegis, deploy it in the Fleet, and have a role in what it’s become today and for the foreseeable future. It’s the backbone of the surface Navy, and will continue to be for a long time. I had a small part to play in its development and I’m proud of that. Aegis is the best warfighting system ever developed and deployed."
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"Dahlgren is stronger than when I got here. It was a great organization when I got here, and I think we have improved it over the 34 years to where it’s even stronger now. Dahlgren is involved in everything big going on in the surface Navy. Virtually every sponsor we have wants more Dahlgren involvement. Our workforce – scientists and engineers and support workforce – are second to none. I feel really good about where Dahlgren is. I had a small part to play in that, and I’m proud of that."
Prior
to his NSWCDD deputy technical director and department head positions, Burnett
served as the division head for the command’s Systems Certification and Fleet
Operations Division where he had management oversight of system certification
and configuration management; combat system test and evaluation; shipboard
computer program installations and control; and direct Fleet support. Burnett
also served as the program manager for the NSWCDD Sly Fox leadership
development program and he was the deputy program manager for the DD-21
Zumwalt-class Land Attack Destroyer Program.