NAVAL AIR WARFARE CENTER WEAPONS DIVISION, CHINA LAKE, Calif. - The Engineer and Scientist Development Program at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division celebrated 51 new graduates during ceremonies May 9 and 10 in Point Mugu and China Lake, California.

Since its inception in 2003, more than 700 employees have completed the program, which provides entry-level engineers and scientists with a strong understanding of the Naval Air Systems Command through three to five years of rotational tours, mentoring and a minimum of 300 hours of training in addition to training toward receiving their Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act level 2 certification.

Joan Johnson, NAWCWD’s executive director, presided over both ceremonies.

“We’re here to celebrate your accomplishments,” she said. “There is such a breadth of knowledge and background in this group, and we need you to help us get to resilient and creative outcomes for the warfighter.”

Johnson urged graduates to stay technical for as long as they can and to spend time building networks and relationships.

“And don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone,” she said. “Have fun and enjoy the journey.”

Johnson also spent time putting the current state of global competition into context, reading from the National Defense Strategy and challenging graduates to act decisively as outcome-oriented problem solvers.

“We don’t have time to sit around and admire problems,” she said. “We need to act upon and fix problems. The surest way to prevent a war is to be prepared to win one. We have to out-think, out-maneuver, out-partner and out-innovate our adversaries. I would ask all of us to test assumptions. Don’t accept the status quo.”

“Be bold.”

The spring 2018 ESDP graduates are: Shrooq Abu-Issa, Raymond Aguirre, Megan Albrightson, Jacob Alder, Abigail Atkinson, Sherra Avila, Nathan Blinn, Gregory Carter, Cheryl Chambellan, William Chase, Richard Darter, Rahel Eyassu, Paul Hammes, Brian Harmer, Thomas Haugh, Daniel Klein, Benjamin Kromphardt, Thomas Lawrence, Alex Lipp, Ryan Martin, Stephen McIver, Walter Merriman, Jeffrey Moffitt, Hannah Moody, Robert Newcomb, Darrell Newman, Alvin Okwuego, Heang Ou, Bryce Perry, Vincent Phan, Irwin Purifoy, Joshua Quinn, Roberto Ramos, Michael Reindl, Cody Robinson, Linnette Rodriguez, Steven Schwerin, Edgard Serrano, Alexandra Shearer, Dayla Sherrell, George Sopp, Jason Starnes, Hoang Tran, Jazmine Travis, Christopher Van Hoosear, Sonja van Soelen, Varun Varahamurthy, Carl Weinstein, Troy Winkstern, Maurice Wragg, and Chase York.