NAVAIR Leadership Development Program participants during the global perspectives seminar Sept. 22-26 in Newport, R.I., where they learned about global trends and issues and their effect on NAVAIR’s mission. (U.S. Navy photo)

Patuxent River, Md. — For 28 up-and-coming NAVAIR leaders, the world just got a little bit smaller.

As part of the fall 2014 global perspectives seminar, held Sept. 22-26 in Newport, Rhode Island, participants in NAVAIR’s Leadership Development Program (NLDP) learned about the global marketplace, Middle Eastern relations, counterinsurgency, cyber warfare, and energy security, as well as how current events, such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria attacks, will direct the future of the Department of Defense’s and NAVAIR’s mission.

James Russell, an associate professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, explained the seminar offers NAVAIR’s future leaders perspectives from different academic disciplines on global issues that will help them connect what they do in their jobs with strategic trends around the world.

“Many of the students felt that the seminar was one of the most insightful courses they have attended during their journey through NLDP,” said James Ward, course facilitator. “They were able to hear the viewpoints of global issues from the former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Robert E. Hunter and the acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs Dr. Peter R. Lavoy. These are insights that very few people at our level will ever receive in our careers, and it will definitely change the participants’ thought processes to the future of NAVAIR and its impact on the Navy.”

Keith Jordan, an NLDP participant from Lakehurst, New Jersey, agreed the seminar gave him the opportunity to see the world through a different lens.

“It not only provides a snapshot of the politics and conflicts throughout the world, but also the history and reasoning behind it,” he said. “By enabling a view of the big picture, the seminar has helped to tie global strategy and the NAVAIR mission.”

In addition to classroom learning, NLDP participants toured the state-of-the-art Navy Supply Corps School,  which served as the host command for the seminar and is nestled amid the historical sites of Naval Air Station Newport.

While at the nearby Surface Warfare Officer School, participants learned about current and future training technologies. After learning about the conceptualized virtual trainers at the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division in Orlando, Florida, during the NLDP leadership orientation and foundational training class, participants now had the chance to see the trainers in person in a schoolhouse environment and use the littoral combat ship virtual trainer.

Participants also lunched with senior naval officers to discuss strategic and leadership issues affecting the warfighter and the future of the Navy.

Revamped in 2013, NLDP, the command’s flagship leadership program, serves to develop leadership, management and productivity improvement skills for mid- to senior-grade employees over a period of three to five years. Learn more about NLDP.