Photo By Troy Miller | Norfolk Naval Shipyard welcomes our new Executive Support Officer (Code 1100) - Tom Tyree!... read more read more
For those of you who are into DC Comics, in particular The CW network’s The Flash, you might know of the infamous villain Captain Cold. In one of the episodes, Captain Cold told The Flash his view on plans: “You make a plan. You execute the plan. Expect the plan to go off the rails. Throw away the plan.” Now some people might think that is a horrible plan.
For Norfolk Naval Shipyard’s (NNSY) Executive Support Officer (Code 1100) Tom Tyree, he had a plan starting at NNSY on Sept. 14, 1984 as a Machinist Apprentice for Shop 31, the Inside Machinist Shop. It was a simple plan: come to work every day, work hard, and earn your way up the chain to take on greater responsibilities.
During the next nine years, Tyree executed his plan. “I graduated the apprenticeship program and became a mechanic,” said Tyree. “I worked my way up to becoming a nuclear mechanic, then a Nuclear Mechanical Systems Inspector [in] Code 1390, and finally to refueling.”
While on the USS South Carolina (CGN 37) refueling project, Tyree received the devastating news that he was one of approximately 1,900 shipyard personnel being affected in the Reduction in Force (RIF) in October 1993. His plan was derailed.
“I had to make a decision that would affect my career plan drastically,” said Tyree. “I received wise advice from my father saying that I can push through this or hang it up for good. I decided to push forward, even though I had to take a lower paying position.”
Deciding to throw out his original plan of being a machinist, Tyree became a Department of the Navy (DON) Police Officer (GS-5) serving NNSY. “This was before we had Common Access Cards (CAC),” said Tyree. “I stood outside the Controlled Industrial Area (CIA) gates checking IDs for shipyard employees, contractors and Sailors, because there were no scanners back then.” After a few years as a DON Police Officer, Tyree returned to refueling as an Assistant Fuel Security Officer (Code 1120) and completed a number of defueling projects.
Constantly seeking to excel and go where the government needed him most, he left NNSY in January 2001 to join Commander Navy Region Mid-Atlantic (CNRMA) as the Director of the Regional Training Academy and later as the senior civilian police officer at Joint Base Little Creek-Fort Story.
This led to the opportunity to become the Operations Officer for Regional Security at CNRMA and help lead Navy Security Force (NSF) at its 14 installations. Finally, Tyree ended up as the Deputy Port Operations Office at CNRMA rounding out 19 years working for that command.
In 2020, he seized an opportunity to return to his old stomping grounds of NNSY as the Deputy Executive Support Officer (Code 1101). Unbeknownst to him, this job was preparing him to become NNSY’s Executive Support Officer (Code 1100).
“For me, it’s all about taking care of your people, because it is the people who work for you that will work hard to help meet NNSY’s mission of repairing, modernizing and inactivating U.S. Navy warships and training platforms,” said Tyree. “Using my experience and knowledge that I gained working as a mechanic on the waterfront and the knowledge I gained by being the Deputy Executive Support Officer, I feel I am in the right spot to achieve this. This gives me the most opportunity to provide the tools, training and giving shipyard employees experience that will be useful on the long haul of their career. Plus, I still execute my plan of showing up to work every day and working hard.”
The Executive Support Department (Code 1100) is one of the most diverse departments on the shipyard. Code 1100 consists of Administrative Services (Code 1102); the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Office (Code 1103); the Security and Fire Division (Code 1120); the Emergency Management Program (Code 1130); the Public Affairs Office and Shipyard Visual Information Center (Code 1160); and the Administrative Investigations Division (Code 100i).
Stepping into his new position, Tyree is working on two goals, beginning with working with Code 1102 in establishing a satellite C.O.R.E. Store in the CIA. This will allow the workers to use their award vouchers to acquire NNSY t-shirts, polo shirts, coffee mugs, and other swag items without leaving the CIA.
“I am also working with Code 1102 to provide a better first day for those attending the New Employee Orientation,” said Tyree. “The old cliché goes ‘the first impression is a lasting impression,’ and we as one of the four public shipyards want and need to provide a first impression that will last in a positive manner for many years to come.”
A graduate of Old Dominion University with a Bachelor’s Degree in political science and a Master’s Degree in public administration, Tyree is now executing a new plan almost 40 years into his government service. What will come of this plan? Only time will tell. Until then, Tyree will continue to show up to work every day and put forth his best effort. “Some plans succeed, while others fail. Regardless, it is up to each individual to decide what the best plan is for them. Most people know that plans can change in a ‘flash.’ After all, there is no such thing as a perfect plan. And that’s okay.”
| Date Taken: | 08.01.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 08.30.2024 12:47 |
| Story ID: | 479868 |
| Location: | PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 530 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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