Acting SECNAV experiences innovation first-hand at NavalX

Photo By Julie Lemmon | ALEXANDRIA, Va. (May 21, 2021) The Honorable Thomas W. Harker, right, Acting Secretary of the Navy, speaks alongside the Honorable James F. Guerts, performing the duties of Under Secretary of the Navy, while in The Garden of NavalX. Photo by Olivia Anderson  

ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES

05.26.2021

Story by Julie Lemmon 

NavalX

Starting with a program overview, then a signature “Quick Chat” with Mohawk Matt and finishing with a welding session, NavalX hosted several distinguished visitors at “The Garden,” their Alexandria, Virginia, office, Friday, highlighting a number of their many positive outcomes since the agility cell was stood up in 2019.

Guests included the Honorable Thomas W. Harker, Acting Secretary of the Navy; The Honorable James F. Geurts, performing the duties of Under Secretary of the Navy; Ms. Joan Johnson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (ASN) for Research, Development, Test and Evaluation; and Rear Adm. Lorin Selby, Chief of Naval Research.

“The Department of the Navy is committed to investing in the concepts and people working to enhance our joint-warfighting capabilities,” said Harker. “At the core of innovation and modernization is a workforce dedicated to maintaining and enhancing readiness, and developing capabilities for our warfighters today and well into the future. The NavalX approach, to train the workforce and facilitate the rapid adoption of innovative products, allows us to not only better deliver solutions for a dynamic threat landscape, but also to invest in a more technologically diverse force.”

“NavalX trains the fleet to better define problems, think differently and align solutions to these challenges,” said NavalX Director Capt. Ben Van Buskirk, in his brief to the senior leaders. He also spoke about the lean organizational structure of NavalX and having a “bottoms-up” approach with their rotational workforce.

This rotational workforce consists of employees from several Navy and Marine Corps commands. Upon return to their home commands, the employees now have contacts across the entire Navy, in addition to renewed energy stemming from their time at NavalX, according to Brad Goodrich, Deputy Director.

Each NavalX “line of effort” or LOE gave an overview of their programs, highlighting what has been accomplished in the last two years and focusing on the way ahead to keep the positive momentum going.

Tech Bridge Director, Whitney Tallarico, emphasized the vast array of networks and partnerships formed at each of the 15 tech bridges and the synergistic efforts to assist industry in collaboration and solution sharing within the Navy. In the next few months, at least two more tech bridges will be stood up – one at Fleet Readiness Center East in Cherry Point, N.C., and the other in Japan.

The Digital Agility team showcased their recently launched Digital Engagement Platform; the Connecx team and Mohawk Matt (Denny) interviewed Harker on the spot, where he shared important messaging about mental health and taking care of ourselves and our teammates. Another LOE, Workforce Agility, briefed the leaders on techniques and methods on changing the naval culture to enable better problem solving.

Finally, the Centers for Adaptive Warfighting (CAW) empowers leaders and warfighters by delivering industry best practices for complex problem solving, and provides training for every service, having trained more than 5,000 people in hundreds of classes. Currently there are CAW locations in four locations, including Japan and Hawaii, with the intent to “franchise” the centers for maximum reach. “We focus on the shift in mindset, really trying to change the culture in how the workforce approaches problems,” CAW Director Mike Lavery said.

Geurts is proud of how NavalX has progressed and how the organization continues to adapt in order to be as effective as possible. “In the two years since NavalX was founded, we’ve empowered and equipped the naval workforce, established a vast network and launched partnerships with non-traditional partners and increased the velocity of learning, which is the foundation needed to reach our ultimate goal – to deliver better capabilities to the warfighter faster,” he said.

“We focus on scaling non-traditional agility methods, to include alternative contracting strategies, across the DON workforce. Our culture of ‘how can we help’ and ‘how do we get to yes’ leads to an innovation mindset,” added Van Buskirk.

The tour ended in the machine shop of The Garden, where NavalX is located, and when asked if he’d like to try his hand at welding, Harker said, “yes!” He, Johnson and Selby donned welding masks and went “hands on” in true NavalX fashion!

Established under Geurts, while he was the ASN for Research, Development and Acquisition, the NavalX mission is to serve as the platform to connect Navy and Marine Corps challenges with solutions from industry and academia, as well as find existing solutions within the Navy.

• Date Taken: 05.26.2021
• Date Posted: 05.27.2021 12:50
• Story ID: 397589
• Location: ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, US