Photo By Kyler Hood | Newly promoted Yeoman 1st Class Reginald Theophilus Parker stands beside his personal...... read more read more
Alphonso Braggs, 65, retired from the U.S. Navy and from federal civil service after a combined 40 years as an active-duty Submariner and Navy civilian. His passion for public service led him to his current mission — mentoring Navy Sailors.
Before retiring as Chief Yeoman in 2004, Braggs spent much of his 26-year naval career aboard nuclear submarines, sailing the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Arctic oceans. The thrill of a lifetime was surfacing at coordinates that put him exactly on top of the world at the North Pole.
In 2007, Braggs returned to federal service and worked in a variety of roles: as an office assistant for the Internal Revenue Service, as a security assistant for Joint Base Pearl Harbor (JBPHH), and in 2023, Braggs retired from federal civilian service after working as a senior management analyst for Commander, Navy Region Hawaii (CNRH) for three years.
Braggs finds himself at the top of the world again – this time figuratively – as he continues the important work of public service by mentoring Sailors. Two of his mentees shared the positive impact that his guidance has had on their careers and relationships.
“Mentorship is important because it’s people who have been in your shoes or in places that you want to be,” said Yeoman 1st Class Reginald Theophilus Parker, who worked as an assistant lead yeoman for JBPHH from 2021 to 2024. He was recognized as the 2023 Sailor of the Year for his work in that role, an honor that he credits in part to Bragg’s ongoing mentorship.
Braggs said it’s important to develop young leaders and he’s proud of their success.
“Mentorship is important because it allows you to ensure that future generations of leaders are properly prepared with the tools and resources that they need to lead and guide subsequent generations,” he explained. “It means that I'm being a responsible citizen: that I am helping to create a successful environment, that I am doing my part to help nurture and develop leaders. And it is beyond rewarding when you get a chance to see your mentees succeed in life, when they become successful in their career fields — that they are wonderful models.”
The Spark Behind a Former Sailor of the Year
Parker joined the Navy in 2018 to explore and learn more about the world and to pay for college. He currently works for Naval Special Warfare Development Group on Dam Neck Annex near Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The mentorship sessions began as in-person conversations on JBPHH for one to hours at least once per month. After he moved, Parker and Braggs continued their mentorship sessions by phone or video conference.
Whether they meet in-person or over the phone, their mentorship conversations focus on how Parker can advance in his career and ways to improve work and professional relationships through better communication.
Parker said that receiving the Sailor of the Year Award during his time at JBPHH had a big impact on him.
“The award meant a lot in the moment because it’s a receipt of the things that year,” he said. “It just shows the things you did had great impact on the command and that your work didn’t go unnoticed.”
The award also reflected how Braggs encouraged Parker to remain focused on developing his career and to seek ways to support the community.
“There were a few impacts of Mr. Braggs. One, it allowed me to remain focused after losing [Sailor of the Year] in 2022,” Parker said. “His impact also meant building me up to be more than just a yeoman because the different community relations that I was able to do, whether that was feeding the homeless or cleaning up the community or even doing big community gatherings with the military and the Hawaii community.”
A native of Shreveport, Louisiana, Parker’s commitment to military service runs in the family. Parker’s older sister, Sgt. ReaKayiah Bailey Parker, is a Supply Sergeant stationed at Fort Sil, Oklahoma, and his younger brother, Master-at-Arms 3rd Class Robert-Louis Parker, works at the Navy Operational Center in Shreveport, Louisiana. The youngest sibling, Senior Airman Rebekah Jackson, is stationed at the Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming.
Despite moving away from Hawaii, Parker has continued his self-improvement journey including his monthly conversations with Braggs.
In July, Parker will earn an associate degree in general studies from the University of Maryland Global Campus online. He is also pursuing a Bachelor of Science in computer science from the same university and plans to earn his degree in 2027.
Parker also has long term goals for his personal and professional life. In the next four years, he plans to marry and start a family.
“My goal is to continue to progress in the military. My goals are to become an admin officer. I’ll complete my bachelor’s degree. I plan on getting married soon and starting a family within the next four years. The goal is to sustain superior performance as a yeoman and try and become an officer,” he said.
Personal and Professional Development Fuels Excitement
Yeoman 1st Class Jean Benoit Adonis Laguerre began his current three-year tour aboard the USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) at JBPHH in February after returning from a three-month deployment in Japan.
During a previous tour, Laguerre worked at the Joint Intelligence Operations Center (JIOC) for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command where Parker was his roommate. After seeing the positive results the mentorship with Braggs had on Parker, Laguerre asked Braggs to become his mentor.
“I saw the impact that having a mentor like Mr. Braggs had on his life, and I had some personal things that also happened in my own life, so I realized I need to change direction,” he explained. “So, he [Parker] set up that meeting, and the rest is history.”
In May 2022, Laguerre and Braggs met in person and agreed on topics to discuss during their monthly meetings to facilitate the Yeoman’s personal growth including financial literacy, leadership development, and emotional intelligence.
The mentorship meetings continue to have a positive impact on Laguerre, who sees Braggs as a father figure. The ongoing tutelage has encouraged Laguerre to become a better role model for his own son.
“He’s teaching me how to love, unconditionally, how to allow myself to be loved,” Laguerre said of Braggs. “He’s teaching me how to be the father that my son deserves me to be.”
Laguerre is happy to work on a destroyer, to see his 2-year-old son grow, and to advance his career by becoming a Navy officer.
“I’m excited. I’m going to destroyers. I’ve been on a couple thus far in terms of me in Japan, but this is my first real destroyer. It’s mine,” he said. “If I could sum it all up, my career and where I’m going, it’s just exciting, right? I want to do LDO, the limited duty officer program, which is a commissioning program. I want to do that. I want to do the attaché program, go overseas, work at an embassy. There’s a whole bunch of things that I want to do, and I would say Mr. Braggs has helped me open my eyes and see that the world is my oyster. Anything I want to do, I can do it. You know what I mean by the grace of God? I have a beating heart. I have a soul. I have the determination. I have devotion. Anything is possible, so I’m very optimistic and very excited.”
Paying Mentorship Forward
Linda Biggs, who retired from her role as a senior management analyst, mentored Braggs when he worked at CNRH.
“Mrs. Biggs routinely mentored junior staff throughout her time at Navy Region to help broaden our professional knowledge and experience,” he said. “She played an integral role in preparing me to transition to the management analyst job series and continued to nurture and develop me professionally. One day, she was in a staff meeting and she made the recommendation that I should be tasked with preparing and presenting our monthly command brief to the region leadership instead of the program manager. Although it was my first time presenting, she made sure I was fully prepared in content and confidence. She did the same for all the staff she mentored — always creating opportunities for us to professionally succeed while building personal confidence.”
Braggs continues to pay that legacy of mentorship forward.
| Date Taken: | 03.10.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 03.10.2025 17:00 |
| Story ID: | 492439 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 73 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, On Top of the World: Retired Navy Submariner Continues Service by Mentoring Sailors, by Kyler Hood, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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