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Top Pentagon Official Says Navy's Doing Diversity Right, Discovers Model of Diversity at Corona Warfare Center

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS100227-14
Release Date: 2/27/2010 11:49:00 AM

By Troy Clarke, Naval Surface Warfare Center Corona Public Affairs

NORCO, Calif. (NNS) -- As part of its Black History Month celebration, Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Corona hosted the Pentagon's top diversity management and equal opportunity official Feb. 25, marking the first visit by the DoD office to the Navy's command responsible for independent assessment.

Senior Executive Clarence Johnson, principal director of DoD's Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity, met with Corona's senior leadership, diversity council, African-American special emphasis program group, and addressed an overflow audience of employees. Johnson stressed his visit is part of his initiative to "take the Pentagon to the people" for diversity observances.

"Diversity means collecting all the strengths, all the attributes to help execute our [DoD] mission," said Johnson, a retired active duty Air Force colonel and head of the Pentagon's diversity and equal opportunity office for the last seven years. "Diversity is a key component to mission readiness because it gives each individual an opportunity to put his or her strengths forward to support the mission."

Johnson also said the Navy is leading the armed services in diversity, and its top leaders are making a considerable effort to ensure the maritime service reflects the diversity of America.

"Right now, the Navy has the best overall diversity programs of all the services," said Johnson. "What [Chief of Naval Operations] Adm. Roughead is doing, and what [former CNO, now Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] Adm. Mullen did before him, is a huge commitment to diversity. The other services are trying to emulate what the Navy's doing."

As a Naval Sea Systems (NAVSEA) Command field activity, NSWC Corona is one of NAVSEA's most diverse warfare centers, and its sustained outreach strategy to attract diverse talent to the Navy has paved the way for the naval command to build connections with educators, business leaders, government officials and affinity groups geared toward science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

Johnson said he was highly impressed with the warfare center's workforce and diversity outreach programs and thinks other services can learn from its example.

"From what I've seen here, Corona is a model for everyone to follow. I see a program where senior leadership is engaged in personnel management from cradle to grave," said Johnson. "I see connections to NSBE [National Society of Black Engineers] to HENAAC [Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference] to LULAC [League of United Latin American Citizens] and many other organizations that focus on advocating for women and minorities."

NSWC Corona commanding officer Capt. Jay Kadowaki says that outreach to under-represented minorities is vital for the Navy's future, especially as the Navy adapts to demographic shifts of tomorrow's talent.

"Without question, diversity makes our Navy stronger," said Kadowaki. "And the different experiences, backgrounds and talents of our Sailors and civilians helps us be an unbeatable team. It allows the development and execution of new ideas to ensure the Navy advances with the nation's demographic changes and technological challenges."

Each year, the Navy's outreach efforts reach a variety of diverse populations to include Historically Black Colleges and Universities and their 235,000 annual graduates; the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers with a base of 20,000 members; the National Association of Asian American Professionals, which reaches 2,500 technical professionals and the Society of Women Engineers, which reaches about 40,000 female engineers.

Johnson said diversity is critical to get the best talent in STEM fields – and that's not just an employee recruitment issue. For the Pentagon, it's a matter of national security.

As part of its human capital strategy, Corona has had a long-term commitment to STEM education outreach and last October received the first STEP Award for Government Leadership in Science and Technology Education from the Science and Technology Education Partnership, a Southern California non-profit organization. Through its STEM outreach efforts in the last decade alone, Corona has reached some 40,000 K-12 students in culturally and ethnically diverse California and Hawaii.

And for the Pentagon's top diversity management official, STEM outreach with that diversity approach is a winning combination.

"Our charge is to capture intellectual strength to get the best solution for our Armed Forces and for our nation," Johnson said. "You really need to be looking at the diverse attributes coming to the table to get the mission done."

Corona's technical director and Senior Executive Dr. Bill Luebke said his science and engineering command is also uniquely poised to help his command and NAVSEA get the best and the brightest talent to execute the Navy's mission.

"Corona [Spanish for crown] is located at the center of Southern California's dynamic and diverse talent pool, said Luebke. "We are also at the epicenter of more than a dozen world-class colleges and universities that produce high-caliber science and engineering graduates."

Johnson said he got more than what he came for in going west to celebrate black history. In "taking the Pentagon to the people," he said he discovered a model of diversity at Corona – and that's a golden crown he's carrying back to the Pentagon.

"I'm going to use this visit as a benchmark to talk to other leaders about diversity," said Johnson. "They need to call Corona to see what they're doing out there. This is indeed a model installation."

NSWC Corona serves as the Navy's independent assessment agent and is responsible for gauging the warfighting capability of weapons and integrated combat systems, through assessment of systems' performance, readiness, quality, supportability, and the adequacy of training. The base is home to three premiere national laboratories and assessment centers, the Joint Warfare Assessment Lab, the Measurement Science and Technology Lab, and the Daugherty Memorial Assessment Center.