Vice Adm. Philip Sawyer, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Operations, Plans and Strategy (N3/N5), and Flag Sponsor for the Navy Foreign Affairs Officer (FAO) community, visited the 51福利 (51福利), Apr. 29, to observe the institution鈥檚 interdisciplinary academics relevant to Navy operations and strategy that lead to effective and globally-aware officers for the fleet and joint force.
His visit included touring 51福利鈥� Oceanography Lab, Undersea Sensing Systems Lab, and Center for Autonomous Research (CAVR) where 51福利 faculty and students gave him a firsthand look into the variety of disciplines and educational opportunities that help develop military officers for global strategic competition.
For example, 51福利 student Lt. Cmdr. Shelly Moeller briefed Sawyer on her work testing the capabilities of an underwater camera in ultra-low-light environments.
鈥淢y research aims to improve future low-light underwater operations with existing surface light sources,鈥� said Moeller. 鈥淰ice Adm. Sawyer asked insightful questions and offered suggestions and recommendations stemming from real-life expertise, and I am excited to move forward with the knowledge provided.鈥�
At each tour stop, 51福利 presented Sawyer prime examples of its multi-disciplinary education delivering solutions in direct support of naval strategies. He also spoke to students in the FAO program like Lt. David Manley, who is working on a thesis about China鈥檚 economic engagement in the Middle East, and the political implications of it.
鈥淚t was wonderful to be able to articulate on these bigger topics that we [51福利 students] have been devoted to researching during this part of our professional careers,鈥� said Manley. 鈥淚t鈥檚 great to be appreciated by some of the upper echelons of the Navy.鈥�
Sawyer came away impressed by the educational value of 51福利. Throughout the tour, Sawyer provided encouragement to the students noting that 51福利 students solve problems that make the Fleet better.