By Vicky Falcón
NAVAIR Public Affairs Office

“An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by an external force.”

So says Newton’s first law of motion. For non-engineers, that means an object which is not moving won’t move unless something else makes it move.

A NAVAIR mentor was the force that prodded James Gonzalez, from Lakehurst, N.J., out of the familiarity of his old job and in a new direction.

“My mentor (who is now retired) took me out of my comfort zone,” said Gonzalez. “He pushed me down the path to where I am today.” Gonzalez started his career in a co-op program at Lakehurst in 1982, graduated in 1989 and worked as an in-service engineer supporting Visual and Optical Landing Aids. Today he is the branch manager for Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment & Support Equipment Aircraft/Ship Integration (AIR-4.8.1.5).

“I was a hands-on engineer and I enjoyed my job,” he said. “I had no experience in money management or program management, and no plans to go that direction.”

“Instead,” he continued, “he nudged me from what I was doing into a rotation as a program manager. I tried it and I liked it. At the end of that rotation, he again challenged me to apply for a competency management position. That rotation as a branch manager turned into a full-time job. Since then, I’ve rotated into yet another position.”

Gonzalez was mentored as part of the two-year Senior Executive Management Development Program. During that time he had to find his own mentor within his department. Now, a new database is making the process of looking for a mentor much easier.

Donna Salmons is the program manager for NAVAIR’s new mentoring program, which features a unique database that is open to all NAVAIR military and civilian personnel.

“The database features a matching component which allows users to ‘browse’ through the potential mentor registry and look at the experience, history and other inputs from potential mentors,” she said.

According to Salmons, protégés (those looking for mentors) can also search the database using their unique set of preferences.

“It gives you a place to start the search,” she said of the database’s matching feature.

Salmons also explained how the new tool benefits the entire organization.

“Managers can use (the database) for good succession planning – addressing the ‘transfer of knowledge’ issue that is so critical in an aging workforce,” she said. “The tool is also beneficial to employees for career development. Employees who receive ‘outside’ input for career development in turn help the command by increasing their knowledge and understanding of the organization.”

Mentoring and the transfer of knowledge that occurs within a mentor/protégé relationship is one of the organization’s top priorities, showing up in the “People Goals” section of the Command Guidance, as well as in Chief of Naval Operations’ Strategic Goals.

“Being mentored is a great opportunity to work with someone who makes you think in ways you don’t normally think,” said Gonzalez, who is presently an unofficial mentor to five new hires at Lakehurst.

“It’s an opportunity to provide them with lessons learned,” he said, adding that he shares with his protégés things as simple as recognizing rank on a ship and bestowing respect. “I also share the technical skills to do the job and challenge them to think about what they want to take on next.”

For more information on being a mentor or finding a mentor, or to use the new mentoring database, go to the mentoring community of interest on MyNAVAIR (https://MyNAVAIR.navair.navy.mil/mentoring).