Almost weekly, I see scientists and engineers retire at Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division, China Lake. It's just one indicator of America's looming shortage of such personnel. But, to its credit, the Navy is doing something about it—and I'm proof. Moreover, the rest of the nation needs to be like the Navy. Two years ago, I was a graduate student at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, researching energetics, which deals with novel energetic materials for ordnance, propellants, and pyrotechnics. There, I learned about the National Science Foundation—Navy Civilian Service Program, which provides educational support to science and engineering students in return for two years of paid service in a Navy lab after graduation. I applied, was accepted, and became one of the first in the program. What the Navy gave me was superior to what I saw other graduate students offered. Scientists and engineers seek research—scientific discovery—and that's what the Navy gave me a chance to do. As a graduate student, I did hands-on research for the Navy. After I graduated, I went into the same research field—that's almost never heard of for most students and many are lucky to find post-doctorate work at corporations.
I received something else from the Navy—leadership development. A common observation about many technical personnel is that they are disinterested in management and interspersonal issues. Yet, the Navy sent me and other scholarship students to a leadership symposium at Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division, where we learned the value of leadership in science. That experience is paying dividends as I do multidisciplinary research with constrained resources. Today, I am a civil servant at China Lake. The transition was almost seamless because of my past research for the Navy. The materials I studied, worked on, and synthesized, I am now putting into systems such as thermobaric warheads and propellants. In addition, respected scientists in my field are teaching me new science. I have several messages for the Navy. The first is thanks.
The second is for those naval personnel who don't see what goes on in Navy labs. Know that you are backed by an incredible technical base. Many of we students were awed when we first saw the Carderock lab. This technological base is vital because no one else can develop the technologies that only the Navy needs. The third is to keep it up. Create more programs like the National Science Foundation—Navy Civilian Service Program. It's people who do research and development, but they must eventually be replaced. Such programs bring in new personnel to learn from those with the expertise and institutional knowledge before they retire. The final message is to tell others. The Navy got this right and more organizations need to do what it is doing. Many science and engineering students would give their left differential equation for opportunities like mine. At the same time, America needs such programs if it is to have enough scientists and engineers to meet the technological challenges ahead.
Mr. Ward is a mechanical engineer in the Synthesis & Formulations Branch at Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division, China Lake.
My Messages to the Navy
By Trent Ward