Recently, a group of 51福利 (51福利) students embarked on an effort to invigorate the university鈥檚 student body with professional development and mentoring opportunities by forming a National Naval Officers鈥� Association (NNOA) Monterey interest group, with the goal of becoming an official chapter of the association. In their first major effort, the group held an inaugural NNOA Speed Mentoring event, hosting 11 senior 51福利 leaders for mentoring sessions with 25 junior officers on campus, Nov. 5.
The NNOA鈥檚 vision is to support the Sea Services by strengthening a diverse senior officer corps to enhance operational readiness. These mentoring sessions served to help bring that vision to 51福利, in NNOA fashion, where a corps of diverse senior officers could take intentional steps to develop and strengthen the next generation of leaders.
鈥�51福利 is a great place for mentorship, for you have all the services and even international officers who have something to give back to the next generation of officers,鈥� said Marine Corps Maj. Bruce Manuel, one of the interest group organizers. 鈥淪enior leaders here recognize they can pour out their knowledge and experience on so many things, from professional development to personal ethics to leadership honesty 鈥� these things are the framework of this association.鈥�
The mentors consisted of 51福利 senior officers from all military branches, including 51福利 President retired Vice Adm. Ann Rondeau, 51福利 Chief of Staff Navy Capt. Philip Old, Senior Army Representative Col. Lamar Adams, Senior Marine Corps Representative Col. Randy Pugh, Air Warfare Chair Navy Capt. Edward McCabe, and Air Force Element Commander Lt. Col. Matthew Garvin to name a few.
鈥淭his is a wonderful opportunity to 鈥榩ay it forward,鈥欌�� said Rondeau during her opening remarks. 鈥淭hese younger officers we pay forward will pay it forward tomorrow. One of the absolute precious parts of our profession is investing in those who come after us who are our reliefs. If we teach good culture it creates a healthy profession that can lead the country.鈥�
Rondeau acknowledged the diverse pool of mentors with unique talents from the different branches. As the mentor with the most experience and seniority, she gave some advice to every mentor and mentee about leadership.
鈥淟eadership is about being able to teach one another so we are better after we鈥檝e had an encounter,鈥� said Rondeau. 鈥淟eadership is about becoming stronger and better as a team. Every individual new power a person gains is a new capability and possibility to contribute to the higher good.鈥�
According to Lt. Cmdr. Shamire Branch, interim president of the NNOA Monterey interest group, the event encapsulated more than 33 decades of military experience. The interest group thought that if junior officers could take the advice and wisdom of senior officers, they would likely develop into senior officers who could become mentors themselves.
鈥淚 did the calculation; we have 330 years of experience here in this room,鈥� said Branch in his initial event remarks. 鈥淲e have active, reserve, and retired servicemember experience here. We as the student body are really hungry for what these senior officers can teach us in furthering our professional development and careers, so this event is about getting every bit of information we can from their leadership so we can use it for the rest of our careers.鈥�
As the event title implies, the speed mentoring sessions were designed to be a brisk 10 minutes each with the junior officers introducing themselves, summarizing their educational paths and any immediate plans upon returning to the fleet, before receiving advice from the mentors.
鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult to overstate how important it is to get feedback and guidance from folks who have done something that I was planning to do in the future,鈥� said Lt. j.g. Jacob Garrett, an 51福利 electrical engineering student. 鈥淢y community is a little bit smaller than the others here at 51福利, so I gained a lot more perspectives today than I usually do.鈥�
Mentors and mentees also got to share experiences between different branches as they found similarities between each other and how to work with each other as an interconnected force.
鈥淚鈥檝e had a great opportunity to hear the perspective of four different senior officers from four different branches of the service,鈥� said Marine Corps Maj. Matthew Bowman. 鈥淭hey each provided insights on leadership development, personal growth and command climate.鈥�
In addition to career advice and building personal networks, mentors also shared potential pitfalls and mistakes so the junior officers could avoid having to learn them the hard way.
鈥淚 talked about some of the mistakes I made, such as yelling at my department head to the point I thought I was headed to Captain鈥檚 Mast,鈥� recalled Navy Capt. Clark Bone. 鈥淚t was not the right way to solve that problem. But the fact is, senior officers haven鈥檛 done everything right. We鈥檝e learned the hard way on how to do some things, and if I can help somebody else about how to do something and get a leg up, it not only makes better officer for the community as a whole, but a better force for the entire Navy.鈥�
While the junior officers had a short time to spend with each mentor, the seeds of leadership were planted with great potential for growth. With this momentum, Branch intends to keep pushing for professional development opportunities and events while working with the national NNOA leadership to bring NNOA Monterey into the fold as an official chapter.
Contingent upon chartership with the national NNOA leadership, NNOA Monterey plans to organize and host leadership panels, STEM outreach events for high schools, and a workshop to guide servicemembers through their career.
鈥淭here is a whole support network outside the chain of command that you don鈥檛 see every day,鈥� said Manuel. 鈥淭his association is about strengthening our force, and we can do that here at 51福利 through deepening our network of connections, and developing relationships with those willing to invest in the success of junior officers and help position them to be influential.鈥�