Photo By Edvin Hernandez | John Moyer Jr. Shakes Hands with Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe Jr., Director for Strategic...... read more read more
Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe Jr., the Director for Strategic Systems Programs (SSP), awarded John Moyer Jr. the 2025 SSP Influencer Award on June 4, 2025, for his role in promoting STEM engagement opportunities in his local community.
The Influencer Award is designed to recognize employees who are a positive influence on the SSP workforce in recruitment, development, retention, and sustainment. Moyer, a STEM engagement team lead, was nominated in the ambassador category, which is reserved for individuals who increase awareness of SSP through outreach efforts, including branding SSP as a top career choice. The STEM engagement role is a volunteer collateral duty, responsible for creating an interface between SSP and local communities to promote STEM learning and increase interest in STEM fields.
Moyer, whose primary job is as an information technology lead at SSP’s Program Management Office (PMO), Shipboard Systems (SPS), in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, is a passionate champion of STEM initiatives at the PMO and has devoted almost 10 years to promoting STEM outreach.
“We started out just doing things that were good for the community, as far back as eleven years ago,” he said. “It began with short 30-minute meetings with 8th graders, trying to convince them to learn computer science, and it’s been expanding ever since. I’ve been working with the SSP’s official STEM Outreach Program for about nine years – this year will be my tenth.”
One of his first STEM initiatives included establishing a robotics team for Mount Greylock Regional School in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Moyer’s support enabled students to not only practice assembly, but also allowed them to critically think about the design and execution of an autonomous system. He admits, however, that it wasn’t as easy as it seemed.
“I remember receiving the first shipment of parts, and I was completely clueless,” he said. “I had no idea how anything went together, and I was just thinking, ‘I’m in way over my head,’ but the kids didn’t look that way. They looked excited, they looked like they wanted to figure it out and put it all together.”
For SSP, providing early STEM exposure to students is a top priority. According to Dr. Greg Bouton, SSP’s STEM Outreach Program Manager, students who interact with STEM activities are introduced to educational frameworks that will help them understand how basic STEM principles are applied in real-world careers – careers that one day might support the Navy and the modernization of strategic deterrence capabilities.
SSP, which is the Navy command responsible for sustaining and developing the Trident D5LE II Strategic Weapon System on the current Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), engages with local school systems – from PMOs to Field Activities across the U.S. – to demonstrate how the STEM principles they are learning in the classroom are applied to the development of Navy equipment and flight tests.
One of the things Moyer finds most rewarding about volunteering is seeing the passion kids develop for STEM-based activities.
“I once had an opportunity to take on one of the kids as an intern,” Moyer said. “Now, he works with a contracting company supporting SSP. Even though he’s five years out of high school, he’s still showing up and contributing to team meetings – he’s giving back. That’s just a wonderful feeling. The best thing about this, which I didn’t realize immediately, is that students are practicing a real engineering design process. From requirements gathering to prototyping, designing, building, programming, and actually using it in real operations, that’s exactly what we do.”
The impact Moyer has made in his community and with the SPS STEM Program led Bouton to nominate him for the 2025 SSP Influencer Award.
“I nominated John for the Influencer Award because I believe he has been one of the central influences in promoting the value of STEM outreach to the SPS team, as well as across other SSP organizations,” Bouton said. “On top of his own demanding responsibilities, for almost ten years now, he has taken on the primary responsibility of keeping STEM alive at SPS. John’s efforts support not only local efforts for SPS, but also enables and encourages SPS satellite facilities and other SSP organizations to coordinate their own STEM efforts.”
SPS Operations Manager Benny Chavez – Moyer’s supervisor - says he’s always known Moyer to be a very dedicated person.
“John is the one who would go to all of the robotics events, secure funds, and do whatever needed to be done.” Chavez said. “He was committing his own time to go to these events, both local and nonlocal.”
One of Moyer’s most significant inspirations for promoting STEM engagement is his father.
“My father worked for SSP for more than 30 years,” Moyer said. “He was always my role model, and he encouraged me to learn about engineering, computer programming, and all the other good things that we do on a day-by-day basis. He gave me that path to go down, and I’m trying to provide the students I work with the same kind of resources that my father gave me.”
Moyer said he is committed to growing SSP’s STEM Program and reaffirmed his passion toward making a difference in his local community.
“I go out of my way because I’m interested in making SSP better,” he said. “I want to help get qualified engineers in positions that will help us achieve our Sea-Based Strategic Deterrence 2084 goals. That starts with inspiring the next-generation of STEM professionals to eventually continue the work that we’ve started here at SSP, our Field Activities, and PMOs.”
SSP is the Navy command responsible for sustaining strategic weapon system (SWS) on the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) and supporting the integration of the D5LE weapon system on the new Columbia-class SSBNs. Looking to the future, SSP is integral to nuclear triad modernization with the development of the D5LE2 SWS and creating regional strike capabilities with the development of the nuclear sea launched cruise missile (SLCM-N) and the non-nuclear hypersonic conventional prompt strike system (CPS).
| Date Taken: | 06.24.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.24.2025 07:25 |
| Story ID: | 501297 |
| Location: | WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, US |
| Web Views: | 37 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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