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Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) Emergency Planning Advisor, Divisional Training Coordinator, and Command Emergency Planning Advisor Madison Leon has worked at Norfolk Naval Shipyard for more than eight years. She primarily provides guidance to the Command Branch within the shipyard’s Radiological Emergency Response Organization (RERO).
As part of Leon’s emergency response responsibilities, she is also the divisional training coordinator for the Radiological Emergency Response Division.
“I facilitate training for not only my coworkers, but also any Sailors that may come through and help coordinate different briefs, whether it be classified or unclassified briefs,” said Leon. “I think the most rewarding part of my job is getting to work with all my coworkers ensuring that I am facilitating their personal and professional development and that continuous learning.”
Leon has had several training opportunities via NAVSEA providing her with valuable leadership skills, including participating in the Journey Level Leadership (JLL) Program.
“I graduated from the JLL Program in early October, and it’s an interesting program,” said Leon. “They open a lot of doors and provide opportunities to gain new skills personally, but they also provide you with numerous opportunities to really learn and dive deep into leadership styles.”
Leon continued, “Everybody’s path is different and so are the needs that they may require to reach success.”
NAVSEA’s JLL program provides many opportunities for mentorship outside of the classroom. The mentorship aspect of the program provides participants real world experience that fosters well rounded leaders.
“The most important part of JLL compared to the other programs that NAVSEA offers is that they allow you to do a 90-day rotation anywhere within the NAVSEA enterprise,” said Leon.
Leon did her 90-day rotation at Submarine Industrial Base (SIB) which falls under the Submarine Program Executive Office at NAVSEA Headquarters, Washington Navy Yard. Rear Adm. Matthew Zirkle was her supervisor during her time at SIB.
Leon said, “The projects that they assigned me were very rewarding, and they had me working on all kinds of things, meeting vendors, and working with Sailors who are about to get out of the Navy and transitioning into the civilian world.”
The JLL program gave Leon the opportunity to mentor other NAVSEA leadership students.
“They assigned me participants that are going to be in the Next Generational Leaders (NextGen) Program and that was very rewarding to have the opportunity to work with people who have not been with NAVSEA for very long,” said Leon. “I enjoyed helping them, providing guidance, encouraging them to try new things and think outside the box.”
“I had a great time working with them and coaching them as they went through their NextGen program while they worked on their projects,” said Leon. “Also, the opportunity to work with them on a personal level and help them reach their levels of success.”
One phrase that Leon heard throughout her training is that “you’re going to become comfortable being uncomfortable.” What that meant is that in any leadership position you are going to face challenges and need to foster relationships with different team members to tackle tough issues and resolve them together.
“I have taken that to heart and through these leadership programs I really have become that way,” said Leon. “This training really provided me a level of confidence and skill to be able to successfully work with people of all different levels and experiences.”
Through that development opportunity, Leon’s experience and leadership skills provide her the means to successfully develop and guide team members through the emergency planning process.
“The best part of my job as being the Divisional Training Coordinator for my code, I facilitate a quarterly bootcamp course which is a requirement for all newly qualifying radiological emergency responders at NNSY no matter what branch they are going to or their day job,” said Leon. “So, every year I get the opportunity to work with 150-200 attendees that come to this class, and I get to work with my branch subject matter experts who represent the different areas of RERO as well as Naval Reactors, and we all come together and introduce responders to basically the who, what, when, where and why we have the Radiological Emergency Response Organization at NNSY.”
Leon is passionate about her career and the opportunity to work with both Sailors and civilians at Norfolk Naval Shipyard and other Navy commands.
“I get to work with not only civilians, but Sailors, mechanics, engineers and people that are going over to public affairs, so literally anybody that is going into RERO, I get the opportunity to work with,” said Leon. “I love having the opportunity to get to know everyone on a personal level, meeting the workforce behind America’s Shipyard and learning their stories.”
Leon continued, “It’s very rewarding to me that I have my own little place within their RERO journey.”
| Date Taken: | 10.08.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.11.2024 12:23 |
| Story ID: | 487193 |
| Location: | PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 390 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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