Vice Adm. Thomas Moore, commander, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), continued his campaign to expand the advantage during a visit to Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division (NSWC PHD), March 5.
The west coast division is the ninth of ten warfare center visits for Moore who is making the rounds to ensure enterprise-wide alignment with not only NAVSEA mission priorities, but also those established by Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. John Richardson.
The nearly day-long event began with a command update followed by an All-Hands call with the workforce, where Moore presented two citations―Federal Engineer of the Year Award Agency Winner Lyle Warnagieris and Claud A. Jones Award recipient Joe Peterson. He then identified key areas for advancement to aid development of a rapidly growing Navy, and acknowledged the significance of collaboration across all warfare centers.
“I wanted to tell you how important the warfare centers are to the entire NAVSEA campaign plan, and by connection, to what the Navy is trying to accomplish,” he said. “This thought of working very collaboratively is critically important to our success going forward.”
Moore also emphasized a need to think critically and be agile when it comes to spending money, especially with the expected increased budget―a unique and challenging opportunity given the expectations from congress.
“I need you to think as a team to identify what needs to get funded,” he said. “Think about what you do today and what needs to change in order for us to get to a 355-ship Navy. I’m excited for the future because we play a major part in ensuring we get there, but we need to do it right.”
Following the All-Hands, Moore received tours of all four NSWC PHD line departments, where he met with individual subject matter experts on a variety of innovative fleet support efforts, including upcoming technology, combat and weapon system modernizations, and future fleet capabilities. In addition to visiting with department representatives, the admiral learned more about NSWC PHD’s Surface Warfare Engineering Facility, Tomahawk laboratory, and the Self Defense Test Ship.
Concluding his visit, Moore expressed gratitude for the hard work accomplished by the people of Port Hueneme.
“It is a truly humbling experience to get out here and see the work you are doing,” he said. “I’m honored to be your commander. You are doing fantastic work and I thank you for what you do each and every day to expand the advantage and keep us as the force behind the fleet.”
NAVSEA―the largest of the Navy's five systems commands―comprises command staff, headquarters directorates, affiliated Program Executive Offices, and numerous field activities. NAVSEA engineers, builds, buys, and maintains ships, submarines, and combat systems that meet the Fleet's current and future operational requirements. The command is also responsible for establishing and enforcing technical authority and standards in combat system design and operation to ensure systems are engineered effectively and operate safely and reliably.
NSWC PHD is a field activity of NAVSEA and provides the global United States Navy fleet with integration, test and evaluation, lifecycle logistics, and in-service engineering for today’s and future warfare systems. Located at Naval Base Ventura County, Calif., NSWC PHD employs more than 2,500 personnel.