NUWC Division, Keyport welcomes CDR Jesse Martinez as new executive officer
Photo By Darcy Jenne |
Cmdr. Jesse Martinez, the new executive officer for Naval Undersea Warfare Center......read moreread more
Photo By Darcy Jenne | Cmdr. Jesse Martinez, the new executive officer for Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport, introduces himself to the command's newest employees during the May New Employee Orientation. (U.S. Navy Photo by Darcy Jenne/Released) see less
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NUWC Division, Keyport welcomes CDR Jesse Martinez as new executive officer
Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport recently welcomed CDR Jesse Martinez as the command's new executive officer.
The son of immigrant parents, Martinez grew up on the south side of Chicago. He credits his upbringing in a tough neighborhood with giving him a strong work ethic that has carried him through his naval career.
“I knew that staying there was not in the future for me,” Martinez said. “My entire grammar school and high school plan was to study and work hard to get out of there. That work ethictranslated very well into college and also into the Navy.”
Martinez was initially inspired to join the Navy after visiting a frigate that pulled into Chicago when he was a teenager. That desire to serve was solidified during his high school years by the events of Sept. 11, 2001, which he watched unfold on a television rolled into his classroom.
“That’s around the time I felt the push to want to serve,” he said. “To be part of something other than just myself.”
While he initially planned to enlist out of high school, a recruiter encouraged Martinez to apply for a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps scholarship. He went on to graduate from Purdue University with a bachelor’s degree in history in 2008 and commissioned as a surface warfare officer.
Martinez’s early sea assignments included division officer tours as the force protection and electronics material officer aboard USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) and fire control officer aboard USS Normandy (CG 60). He later served as weapons officer aboard USS Lassen (DDG 82) and combat systems officer aboard USS Gettysburg (CG 64).
On Gettysburg, he played a key role in making it the first cruiser to successfully complete the Ship Life Extension Program/Cruiser Modernization Period, a monumental effort that required the ship's crew to take hands-on ownership of complex shipyard work.
According to Capt. Megan Thomas, who was Martinez’s commanding officer on Gettysburg, he provided crucial leadership during a challenging time.
“He brought a lot of energy and even though he had been on board the ship for quite an extended period by that time, he wasn’t seen as the person who was tired or run down,” said Thomas. “He had come with new ideas; he had come with energy in order for us to be able to find new ways to get to yes.”
Ashore, Martinez served as assistant operations officer at Navy Recruiting District Michigan and then as surface operations officer for Carrier Strike Group Three, deploying aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in 2022.
One of Martinez's colleagues aboard Abraham Lincoln was impressed by the way he included junior personnel early in the planning process. “He was very diligent about making sure we had a lot of special operations specialists at work and always including them, having them take over certain elements of planning,” said the colleague.
Most recently, Martinez completed a 2025 deployment as auxiliaries officer aboard USS Nimitz (CVN 68).
Martinez’ leadership motto is, “Success is never owned, it is rented, and that rent is due every day.” This philosophy, he said, reminds him to put in his best effort every day. But he also believes in trusting that others are doing their best. “Nobody wakes up and plans to fail,” he said. “So I wake up every day and I say, ‘what can I do today to succeed?’”
Outside of work, Martinez enjoys snowboarding, amateur woodworking and spending time with his family. He plans to build a teardrop trailer this summer to go camping with his wife.
-KPT-
Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport is headquartered in the state of Washington on the Puget Sound, about 10 miles west of Seattle. To provide ready support to Fleet operational forces at all major Navy homeports in the Pacific, NUWC Division, Keyport maintains detachments in San Diego, California and Honolulu, Hawaii, and remote operating sites in Guam; Japan; Hawthorne, Nevada; and Portsmouth, Virginia. At NUWC Division, Keyport, our diverse and highly skilled team of engineers, scientists, technicians, administrative professionals and industrial craftsmen work tirelessly to develop, maintain and sustain undersea warfare superiority for the United States.
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