WD employees complete NAVAIR leadership program

Date: 17-Dec-08
News Release Number: ECL200812171

NAVAIR Commander Vice Adm. David Venlet recognizes NAWCWD China Lake employee Garon Harris for his completion of the Senior Executive Management Development Program during a command-wide ceremony held Dec. 4 at Patuxent River, Md. Photo by Kelly Schindler.

Commander Vice Adm. David Venlet recognizes NAWCWD China Lake employee Joanna Wojciehowski for her completion of the NAVAIR Leadership Program during a command-wide ceremony held Dec. 4 at Patuxent River, Md. Photo by Kelly Schindler.

News Release Copy: Five NAWCWD employees graduated from the NAVAIR Senior Executive Management Development Program/NAVAIR Leadership Development Program during a command-wide ceremony Dec. 4 that was broadcast live to all sites via video teleconferencing from NAVAIR headquarters at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md.

"We usually think of graduations happening at the turn of summer when the sun's a little warmer and the grass is a little greener," said NAVAIR Commander Vice Adm. David Venlet. "But today's ceremony proves to us that we can harvest a crop of tremendous leaders even during the winter."

NAVAIR graduated 71 participants during the ceremony. There were three graduates from Point Mugu - Canh-Nhan Nguyen, Gregg Van Splinter and David Purdy. Nguyen and Van Splinter completed the Senior Executive Management Development Program (SEMDP). Purdy completed the NAVAIR Leadership Program (NLDP).

"The program provided so many networking opportunities," said Purdy, head of the Surface Targets Engineering Branch. "I met some really great people across NAVAIR."

The two China Lake employees were Garon Harris, a SEMDP graduate, and Joanna Wojciehowski, an NLDP graduate.

"This was an excellent program that gave us great exposure to high-level personnel," said Harris, of the Threat Target Systems Department. "It's a rare opportunity, and I encourage anyone who has the chance, to make the most out of it."

Wojciehowski is an information technology specialist in the Information Technology/Information Management Department working on a temporary assignment at Patuxent River. "This program has been a really good experience," she said. "It was challenging in the beginning but overall it was a very rewarding opportunity."

SEMDP was created in 1980 as a flagship leadership development program. The flexible program allows participants three to five years of part-time work to complete course requirements. Those requirements include executive leadership training and career development, contemporary leadership issues and practices and seminars on national security and congressional issues. The program also includes mentoring and a six-month rotational assignment.

NLDP was created in 2005 with the merger of SEMDP and AIRSpeed Black Belt training. NLDP retains the critical leadership learning of SEMDP, while adding the vital productivity learning of an AIRSpeed Black Belt to better prepare participants for future leadership roles.

"These days, there's a lot of talk about investments – which ones are risky and which ones will pay off," Venlet said. "But make no mistake, investments in people pay off."

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