The participants experience different environments within the command while learning directly from one of their leaders. David Macht, Director, Mission Support at SSP, is holding a number of these leadership shadowing opportunities. In his role, Macht is responsible for all of the mission support functions of the Navy’s Strategic Weapons System and Conventional Prompt Strike program.
“He does a great job of balancing having to run through all of these high-stakes executive meetings and taking a beat to explain everything,” said Courtney Ryan, Strategic Weapons Systems Director of Acquisition and the first participant in the program. “I think a program like this is great, especially for people that may not understand at all what executives go through on a day-by-day.”
According to Ryan, she learned much more from the discussions and workshops she participated in than even she expected to.
“The broadened horizons job shadowing program has been a great experience for me. I’ve really enjoyed spending time with other members of the command and hearing about what is on their mind and talking about their career goals,” Macht said.
“David’s in my division and I learned so much from him, imagine if I was someone from a completely separate part of the command,” Ryan said. “I don’t think there’s a right or wrong candidate. Anyone can benefit from understanding how all the parts of our command work.”
This opportunity is for anyone at SSP, regardless of their experience or what they do. As the program emphasizes, there is always room for employee growth.
“It’s open to everyone at SSP. We’re looking for someone who’s open to learn, who’s curious, and who wants to take control of their own development,” said Chloe Mancle, Human Resources Specialist and Program Manager for BHP 2.0.
“This program is catered to the growth of the individual. This is an opportunity to give employees hands-on experience beyond what they might normally get from training,” Mancle continued. “This is essentially a developmental program that involves all SSP employees. It’s meant to allow employees to gain new skills.”
Ryan highlights the fact that the leader’s schedule stays the same while you’re working with them. “While you’re around, [David’s] still doing his everyday things. I got to be in a meeting with all of his branch heads, it was time I wouldn’t have ordinarily got and it was a great experience. Getting to listen to the challenges they have by week, by month, by year, helps get you out of your little bubble,” Ryan said.
Supervisors of employees that participate in the program can expect the participant to return not just with the program experience under their belt, but a more open mind, a benefit that the leaders holding these leadership shadowing opportunities experience as well.
“I’ve had multiple occasions during the program where a participant has asked me a question, or offered an idea, that really made me stop and think or change the way I was approaching a challenging issue,” said Macht. “I’ve been really impressed with their ideas and insights.”
For those who have not yet had the opportunity to participate in the program, Mancle says, “We’re continuously working to create more opportunities. We’re planning to partner with other senior leaders and field activities, and we’d definitely like to encourage more people to sign up.”
For future participants in the program, Ryan says to focus on getting everything you can out of the experience.
“Be committed to it, listen to what you’re hearing, and take advantage of the conversations you’ll get to be a part of. This is your opportunity to see what other branches and other colleagues do,” said Ryan. “Come in very open and very curious to maximize your exposure, and leave with an understanding of what people outside of your branch or division are doing.”
Workforce training is integral to SSP’s training and succession planning to ensure long-term mission accomplishment. SSP is responsible for sustaining strategic weapon system (SWS) on the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) and supporting the integration of the D5LE weapon system on the new Columbia-class SSBNs. Looking to the future, SSP is integral to nuclear triad modernization with development of the D5LE2 SWS and creating the regional strike capabilities with the development of the nuclear sea launched cruise missile (SLCM-N) and the non-nuclear hypersonic conventional prompt strike system (CPS).
| Date Taken: | 04.03.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.07.2025 06:53 |
| Story ID: | 494708 |
| Location: | WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, US |
| Web Views: | 14 |
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This work, SSP Promotes Employee Development, Organizational Agility through Leadership Shadowing, by Thomas Jones, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
