A diverse group of 26 men and women graduated from the Navy Acquisition Development Program (NADP) Sept. 25 at the University System of Maryland at Southern Maryland campus in California, Maryland.

The NADP is a three-year internship that provides participants with an introduction to, training and advancement in finance, acquisition, contracting, logistics, science and engineering careers, including programs within NAVAIR, Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers (COMFRC) and Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft and Weapons Divisions.

Roy Harris, director of the NAVAIR Sustainment Group, greeted the audience by sharing how he began his career in NAVAIR through a similar internship program, noting the internship introduced him to a world he knew nothing about at the time.

“When I came on board right out of college a long, long time ago, I didn’t know much about the command, about the business, about the work itself,” he said. “In having an internship program to come into and learn the ropes and learn about the NAVAIR organization and learn about what logistics and sustainment and sustainment engineering is was just invaluable.

“I worked through the organization, especially on the logistics side, and to become a supervisor for the interns that have come into the program and show them through it, see them graduate and see the overall benefits of it, to me, is a tremendous opportunity. It’s a great way to introduce new talent into the command.”

Harris asked all of the graduates to “pay it forward” and become mentors to the future batches of NADP participants.

After a couple of graduates shared some experiences they had during their past three years in the program, the interns were conferred certificates.

Two members of NADP program in attendance were Kristopher J. Bond and Madison Morgan. Bond said he and Morgan worked closely together to reform the NADP Council.

“Back in October, we had a conversation to stand up the NADP Council,” Bond said. “[With Madison as the president], we have worked really hard to stand up the council, host monthly meetings, collaborate with other people, to host breakout sessions, tours, provide different opportunities and, to me, we completely turned the NADP around under Madison’s leadership.”

Bond said the council went away shortly before COVID-19 hit. He said after standing the council back up, they are now meeting monthly with the logistics community, which in turn helps provide networking opportunities and strengthens the program as well as helping to retain NADP participants.

“The next step is to get more people involved and expand our council nationwide,” said Morgan, who graduated the program this week. “We want to have representation from all the NAVAIR sites.

“I think the major benefit of the NADP is the opportunity and the freedom to pursue your interests within NAVAIR. It allows you to go on rotations, be able to network and cross different functional areas and even different [integrated product support] elements that creates workers who are passionate about their jobs and helps people find their niche,” she said.

Sara Pelkey, a deputy assistant program manager for logistics with the H-60 Multi-Mission Helicopter Program (PMA-299), said the NADP program helped her come out of her shell and take a step into the unknown.

“[My current position] has forced me to jump into great responsibility quickly, forcing me to be more independent. It has also provided me the opportunity to get onto H-60 helicopters multiple times, which is always a great experience and serves as a reminder as to why and how we are supporting the fleet,” she said. “The communication skills and knowledge that I’ve gathered from each of my assignments has given me the basic framework to understand the types of questions I need to be asking for future assignments and how to learn a new role.”

‘[The NADP] provided opportunities for me to rotate around the [Naval Aviation Enterprise] and gain different perspective on how each organization supports the fleet,” said Alexia DeHetre, logistics management specialist with the Multi-Mission Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems (PMA-266). “It helped empower me to advocate for myself and what I want for my career.”