Photo By Stacia Courtney | DAHLGREN, Va. - Dr. Jason Wong was the guest speaker at the 2020 Naval Surface Warfare...... read more read more
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DAHLGREN, Va. – Dr. Jason Wong could not write his Chinese name and never realized what it meant until he studied Japanese while on an assignment with the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global in Tokyo.
Wong, a U.S. Navy civilian cognitive scientist and a son of Chinese immigrants, told an audience of more than 200 government and military personnel celebrating the 2020 Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month that learning Japanese involves Kanji – Japanese characters borrowed from China a long time ago.
“Obviously, Japanese culture is not the same as Chinese culture,” said Wong at the first Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) virtual Equal Employment Opportunity observance, May 19. “Nonetheless, just being in the area, in Asia, I learned so much. My Chinese name went from being a piece of trivia which I thought was cool growing up to having real meaning. Hey, I could write it. Hey, I know what this means. A strange and unexpected thing, really nice.”
As an ONR Global science director based in Japan while on his ONR hitch from 2014 to 2018, Wong promoted collaboration with international scientists. Today, he is the Command and Control Science and Technology Branch supervisor at Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific where he also contributes to user-centered design efforts for several projects, including a mixed reality ship navigation aid and a multimodal interaction framework for operator-drone interaction.
“I never really identified with my Chinese heritage living in the United States,” Wong explained via the Microsoft Teams platform to his audience that included NSWCDD and NSWC Corona Division participants. “My parents never really talked much about their childhood. Really, they migrated to the U.S. and wanted to leave their past halfway around the world.”
Wong – who wrote scholarly articles with titles such as ‘Developing and Evaluating an Intelligent Tutoring System for Advanced Shiphandling’ and ‘Cognitive Dynamics of Distributed Teams Performing Dynamic, Complex Tasks’ –reflected that his learning experiences include what he learned from his parents and ONR Global colleagues who endured many hardships while migrating to the U.S. to begin new lives and careers.
The ONR Global Science Program employs technically skilled scientists and engineers to enhance the international science and technology engagement of the Navy while increasing the Navy’s awareness of global technology. The science directors—typically scientists with doctorates working across government, academia and industry—work out of offices around the world to scout technologies for ONR and the Naval Research Enterprise.
“Although my fellow science directors were Asian, that is not a requirement,” Wong emphasized. “All races and genders should apply. By no means are they selecting for Asians. It was complete happenstance that they were all Asian and immigrants. I had colleagues that were born and raised in Korea, Japan, Taiwan and China but they studied in the U.S., earning their PhDs. They naturalized and stayed to work for the government on material science, information science, marine geosystems, and more. They were an incredible bunch and as immigrant parents, many had college age kids raised in the U.S. While we talked on a day to day basis, they learned how their kids think (through Wong’s experiences) and I got to learn more of how my immigrant parents think. I learned about the sacrifices and hard choices that my colleagues had to make immigrating to the United States. They risked a lot. So did my parents.”
Wong and his colleagues traveled to international science and technology institutions to develop access and find cutting-edge developments. They assessed international innovation in areas of naval interest, provided global technical assessment, followed trends in science and technology, and tracked technological development in specific geographical areas. They also advised groundbreaking researchers to be awarded research grants.
While Wong highlighted career accomplishments in response to questions from NSWCDD AAPI Special Emphasis Program Manager Chelsey Lawson and other virtual audience members, his advice focused on the importance of listening to others and understanding their perspective.
“Through my experiences as a Navy civilian over the course of 10 years, one of the things that’s most important to me has been working on building confidence – not being afraid to speak up and not being afraid to stand out,” said Wong in response to a request for advice from an audience member. “Even after getting my PhD and starting my career as a government scientist, I felt so lost in the strange new Navy world. I got one of those green record notebooks and from the back I started listing the acronyms, compiling pages and pages of acronyms but I still had no idea what was going on. It took time and as I learned, I realized I had something to add, and started to speak up, expressing my views and proposing research. I have something to add and I have confidence in that.”
Wong also cautioned that it is important to counterbalance confidence by staying humble and grateful.
“You don’t want to be overconfident and you don’t want to be the one to take credit for everything,” Wong explained. “We all work with some incredible folks so even if you’re the one doing the briefing, accepting an award, giving the keynote speech – don’t forget the people who helped you get there. You want to acknowledge everyone who helped you along the way, and you want to be really kind and generous to them.”
“In terms of my heritage, ONR Global really did change the way I think about things,” said Wong. “Diversity is certainly related to curiosity. It’s wanting to understand other people’s experiences and perspectives. My time at ONR Global helped me to be more curious in my life and my human factors work.”
Since his return, Wong – as the Command and Control Science and Technology Branch head at NIWC Pacific – has been applying his expertise to improving decision making and ensuring that operational tools benefit the warfighter.
“We make sure systems are well designed to help the warfighter,” said Wong. “I’m also supporting ONR program managers in a few different ways, helping warfighter decision making as well as augmented reality and human-machine teaming. That’s been enjoyable, going back to what I was doing, reaching back to my ONR colleagues and connecting with them.”
Prior to Wong’s keynote speech and the question and answer session, NSWCDD Commanding Officer Capt. Casey Plew welcomed the audience with remarks focused on the 2020 AAPI Heritage Month theme – “Honoring the Past. Securing the Future.”
“We are operating in a new day,” said Plew, regarding the virtual event. “We are learning to adapt and do things in new ways. Our AAPI community is one full of honor, courage, and commitment. They uphold the traditions of the U.S. Navy. For that we thank them. We are honored and appreciative of all they have done for our community and nation.”
Plew took time to talk about military and civilian members of the AAPI community who positively impacted communities and the nation.
He spoke about retired Rear Adm. Peter Gumataotao, a native of Guam – who was a keynote speaker at the 2015 AAPI observance held at Dahlgren – as having “a special place in my heart.” Plew served with Gumataotao aboard USS Decatur (DDG 73).
Plew recounted the service of retired U.S. Army Gen. Eric Shinseki, a combat veteran who served as Secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, the first female American Samoan and Hindu to serve as a member of the U.S. Congress. She is also a combat veteran and Army major who serves in the Hawaii Army National Guard.
The NSWCDD commanding officer also spoke of Daniel Inouye who served in the U.S. Senate from 1963 until his death in 2012. Inouye was a member of the U.S. Army’s 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II. Composed of soldiers of Japanese ancestry, the 442nd became one of the most decorated military units in U.S. history. His combat heroism cost him his right arm, and Inouye was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart with Cluster.
Celebrated in May each year, AAPI Heritage Month recognizes the challenges faced by Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Native Hawaiians and their vital contributions to the American story.
The history of Asian American and Pacific Islanders’ service to the United States stretches back to the 19th century, beginning with the Navy’s presence in East Asia in the 1830s. Its mission was to protect U.S. interests during maritime trading wars. Many American ships that patrolled the region included sailors of Chinese descent who protected American vessels and diplomats in the region.
Asian American and Pacific Islander observations began as an annual week-long celebration after President Jimmy Carter signed a Joint Resolution in October 1978. Lawmakers chose May to commemorate the journey of the first Japanese immigrants to America and honor the work of thousands of Chinese immigrants who completed the transcontinental railroad in May 1869. President George H.W. Bush signed a bill into law proclaiming May as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in 1992.
More than 25 years later, the Navy continues to honor the achievements and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to the United States. Today, more than 23,000 Asian American and Pacific Islander Sailors serve our Navy team. These Sailors represent more than 56 ethnic groups, speak more than 100 languages from Asia and the Pacific Islands, and maintain a legacy of service and sacrifice.
| Date Taken: | 06.15.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 06.15.2020 16:33 |
| Story ID: | 372172 |
| Location: | DAHLGREN, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 52 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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