DENISE BROWN has been selected as the head of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport’s Undersea Warfare Mission Engineering and Analysis Department. Brown, who began her career at Division Newport in 1984 as a submarine combat system programmer, will lead efforts toward assessing, informing, developing, influencing and shaping U.S. Navy investment in undersea warfare, conducting continuous strategic assessment through full spectrum undersea-warfare community engagement, awareness and influence.
What was your reaction to being selected head of Naval Undersea Warfare Center’s Engineering and Analysis Department, and how did you learn of the promotion? It is a tremendous honor to lead the Undersea Warfare Mission Engineering and Analysis Department. The department has such a legacy of impactful analyses supporting the Navy, built on visionary work in undersea warfare simulation. The NUWC technical director, Mr. Ron Vien, called me at home just before New Year’s Eve, which I will always remember fondly as a milestone to start the new year and the next phase of my career life.
You began your career at the center in 1984. What made you want to invest the majority of your career there? When the NUWC recruiter described the breadth of engineering opportunities, which included research, design, development and testing, I knew it was the best choice for my first job. The world of simulation and analysis appeals to the problem-solver in me and continually provides rewarding challenges.
What have you been most proud of accomplishing during your tenure? I have devoted most of my career toward conducting performance studies to support our Navy and serve our nation’s defense. I feel very good about that. My goal now is to grow our knowledge, and ready the next generation of analysts.
What do you hope to achieve as head of your department? Expanding our expertise in the disciplines of mission engineering and applying this knowledge in support of Navy program decisions is a very high priority for me. I have great respect for our legacy modeling and simulation tools, but I will continually look to modernize and advance our capabilities.
What advice would you give the next generation of engineers, analysts and technicians? Learn as much as you can from every assignment and set high performance standards for yourself. Cultivate positive working relationships. … Develop a strong speaking voice, as it will be a valuable asset to conveying complex information effectively.
What does it mean to you as a woman to have achieved such great success working for the Navy? Certainly, submarine-related work may not seem a traditional career choice for women, but that has been changing, as evidenced by the inclusion of women officers on submarines in 2012, and female enlisted sailors have been serving onboard submarines since 2015.
I’ve been inspired by the work of women trailblazers who showed that having an analytic mind and supporting our nation’s defense was independent of gender.