Photo By Lt. Meghan Mcdonough | 240217-N-YV333-1233 BALTIMORE (Feb. 17, 2024) Capt. Kelly Elmore, Chief of Staff,...... read more read more
BALTIMORE – A group of Sailors composed of senior Navy Leadership, Navy Recruiting Command (NRC) staff, Navy Talent Acquisition Group (NTAG) Philadelphia recruiters, and various personnel from across the fleet attended the Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Conference, February 15-17, 2024. The BEYA STEM Conference originated in 1987 and returned to its original site in Baltimore, Maryland for its 38th convening this year.
One of the U.S. Navy’s attendees was Lt. Cmdr. Michelle Coleman, a Sailor who is working to make her own mark on Navy history. Originally, from New Orleans, Coleman was one of the first females to serve on submarines after the regulation was changed in 2010. Following a decorated Supply Corps tour aboard USS Louisiana (SSBN-743), Lt. Cmdr. Coleman continues her distinguished service assigned to PCU John F. Kennedy (CVN-79). Throughout the event, she attended the BEYA Stars and Stripes dinner and emphasized the importance of representation in the military with other distinguished Navy leaders during a roundtable discussion.
“Be humble enough to ask for help. I say that because, hey, I came in as an officer. Even though I entered as an officer, I'm not the subject matter expert, so I have to lean on my sailors heavily just to become competent, to learn my job, to understand what's going on. So, really, just be humble enough to ask for help,” Coleman stated when speaking about her personal philosophy as a Sailor and why she chose to attend the event. “Your network is your net worth. So, the more folks you get to know and interact with, they can definitely help propel you to the next level. Building a network is primarily a great reason to come to this event.”
“I think it's really important for young women and men to understand all their opportunities and also the ability that as they walk around an event like this that they see representations of what their future selves can be,” Rear Adm. Alexis “Lex” Walker, Commander, Navy Recruiting Command said, during the roundtable discussion on the importance of the Navy’s presence at BEYA this year. “So it's about explaining all of the jobs available in the Navy, but also that, no matter your gender, ethnicity, or race, you have the opportunity to be successful in any capacity in our Navy.”
During the Navy’s seminar titled “Voyage to Success”, Capt. Kelly Elmore, Chief of Staff, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, spoke to attendees, “You are uniquely and exquisitely made and that is why the Navy needs you.”
In addition to the currently serving Navy leaders in attendance, several notable retired faces bolstered the Navy’s outreach efforts. Dr. Laura Stubbs, the first African American Navy Nuclear Power School instructor visited with the recruiting site to offer her support and words of wisdom. Retired Adm. Cecil Haney, retired Vice Adm. Melvin Williams Jr., and retired Rear Adm. Anthony Watson, three of the submarine community’s “Centennial Seven,” provided guidance and inspiration to the Navy’s attendees, which included many submarine Sailors.
NTAG Philadelphia encompasses regions of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and West Virginia, providing recruiting services from more than 30 recruiting stations, with the combined goal of attracting the highest quality candidates to assure the ongoing success of America’s Navy.
With more than 330,000 active duty sailors, 290 deployable ships, more than 3,700 aircraft and dozens of bases in the U.S. and across the globe, America’s Navy is the largest, most powerful naval force in the world. The opportunities available in today’s Navy are as boundless as the sea itself. To learn more about the opportunities in the Navy, visit www.navy.com
| Date Taken: | 02.21.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 02.21.2024 14:36 |
| Story ID: | 464389 |
| Location: | MD, US |
| Web Views: | 214 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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