NAVAL AIR WARFARE CENTER WEAPONS DIVISION, CHINA LAKE, Calif. - Nearly 15 years after its inception, the Engineer and Scientist Development Program at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division celebrated 12 more graduates during a ceremony Oct. 24 at China Lake; eight more employees will graduate at Point Mugu on Dec. 5.

“Be what you want to see in the world,” Mitch Markota, ESDP coordinator at China Lake, said in his opening remarks at the ceremony.

NAWCWD Executive Director Joan Johnson was the keynote speaker and reminded the graduates of the influence they have not only locally, but on the future of the nation’s defense and naval forces.

“Now, more than ever, we’ve got to step up and do what China Lake knows how to do best,” she said, “and that’s coming up with novel, cutting-edge ideas, quickly turning them into something real and putting it into the hands of the warfighter, so they can maintain a tactical advantage.”

The fall 2017 ESDP graduates from China Lake were Jason Cardin, Marcus Fore, Michael Garrison, Garrick Gregory, Ryan Hiser, Calvin Lee, Kevin Leonard, Brandon Norton, Steven Smith, Brian Symons, Jesse Tobin and James Weeks.

ESDP strives to provide 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.