Welcome
Welcome to my ePortfolio. I am a U.S. Navy Sailor with over 44 months of submarine experience, currently serving as a Leading Petty Officer (LPO) and recently selected for advancement to Leading Chief Petty Officer (LCPO). My naval career has been defined by mission-focused leadership, technical precision, and a strong commitment to developing the Sailors around me. Serving aboard submarines has provided me with a unique perspective on operational readiness, teamwork under pressure, and the importance of information security in high-stakes environments. These experiences have fueled my passion for cybersecurity and inspired me to pursue a degree in the field. I am currently majoring in Cybersecurity, combining my hands-on military expertise with academic knowledge to better understand and combat the evolving threats in the digital domain. This ePortfolio highlights the leadership, qualifications, and experiences that have prepared me for the responsibilities of an LCPO and the challenges of today’s cyber landscape. It serves as a bridge between my military service and my academic and professional growth in cybersecurity. As I step into this next phase of my career, I remain committed to excellence—both in the Navy and in the cybersecurity field—protecting not only the mission at sea, but also the networks and systems that keep our operations secure.
Personal Narrative
I was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, but relocated my life to Hampton, Virginia, on military orders under the United States Navy. I am a submariner in the Navy, and I have the job of Electronics Technician, Navigation (ETV). As an ETV the scope of my job is working on wiring schematics and maintaining all non-nuclear electronics on board submarines, as well as ensuring safe navigation of submarines while underway. I have worked on submarines and served two deployments in my first enlistment. My primary duty was to be the Leading Petty Officer (LPO) from 2019-2022. This means that I supervised sailors’ maintenance, qualifications, and overall well-being during those three years. From 2022 to the date of this essay, I am the LPO for Commander, Submarine Forces Atlantic, where I supervise strategic navigation and safety for every submarine on the Atlantic Fleet. I enrolled in Old Dominion University in 2022, at the end of my first enlistment of my submarine, to work towards a bachelor of science in Cybersecurity.
Plans moving forward
I have been working full-time since then and intend on having my degree conferred in August of 2025. I picked cybersecurity because I have been passionate about computers and ethical hacking since I was a young child. During this time enrolled into ODU, I have worked very closely with the N6 department, which their department deals with intelligence, command, control, computers, and communication (C41), at Commander, Submarine Forces to ensure safe navigation directives were given to the fleet. Working with N6 has been crucial to my development as I continue majoring in Cybersecurity at ODU because I can apply my on-the-job training and knowledge to my academic studies. My job is very important to me because I love leadership and inspiring sailors to be the best they can be professionally and personally. With my degree conferred at the anticipated date, I intend to submit an Officer Candidate (OCS) package to be commissioned as an Information Personal in the United States Navy. According to my NavyHR, a Human Resource page for the Navy, the following can be understood about what an IP is:
Information Professionals (IPs) are the Navy’s Cyberspace Defensive Operations and Communications Officers with expertise in networks, computer systems, satellite communications, cyber defense, information & knowledge management, and Command and Control. IPs are expected to apply their expertise in support of maritime operations ranging from coordination with Allies, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, defense of the Nation against terrorism, and combat operations. IP officers help translate the requirements of combat forces into capabilities that effectively employ command and control at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels of war under all conditions. The community is responsible for the maintenance, operation, and development of cutting-edge cyberspace systems and global telecommunications and space systems designed to operate under the most adverse conditions, from the deep ocean environment to outer space. (MyNavyHR, n.d.)
Academic and Professional Accolades
In this endeavor, I have pursued other extracurriculars to make myself more desirable to the Navy and the civilian workforce when I eventually retire. Along with pursuing my Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity, I have been pursuing a CompTIA Network+ and Security+ to add to my resume. I have also qualified for Information Warfare within the Navy. The Navy Information Warfare (IW) pin is an insignia that shows a sailor’s proficiency in information dominance and cyber security. I have also gone to Naval School to certify as a Command Fitness Leader, where I supervise over 500 sailors’ fitness and health by the Navy’s physical readiness standards. In addition to all of this, I have achieved many awards and advancements while on my time at Commander, Submarine Forces Atlantic, to the degree that I have been promoted from an E5 to an E6 in just one year, a feat that would take on average 4 years to do. Academically, I have attended ODU altogether asynchronously due to my full-time commitments to the Navy and my family. However, I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to conduct research on various operating systems, such as Linux and Windows, and conduct interdisciplinary research on security vulnerabilities working with AI-generated networks. Being in the Navy opened my eyes to the importance of multidisciplinary fields working together to solve problems, but researching specific academic fields further opened my eyes because the realization of teams working with each other goes beyond the workforce and extends into academia. On the technical side of things, I have researched the Linux Operating system on the best open-source (free) tools that anyone can use to prevent vulnerabilities. I have extensively studied how to educate individuals who are Limited English Proficient (LEP) on how to convey the best practical cybersecurity practices; since most of the training is in English, so some people who are LEP may not be exposed to the same amount of Cybersecurity education as those who are English proficient are. Finally, I have conducted research on the Department of Defense (DoD) Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program, which can be understood as “aligning with the DoD’s existing information security requirements for the Defense Industrial Base (DIB). It is designed to enforce the protection of sensitive unclassified information shared by the Department with its contractors and subcontractors.”
My “Why”
Everything mentioned shapes my professional “why” decision to be commissioned as an IP officer, and it is significant in cybersecurity. It is of the utmost importance to keep the cyberinfrastructure as secure as possible from our adversaries, and I would love to build my skills within the United States Navy in cyber defense. I have a sense of pride, as my allegiance in my professional job is to the Constitution of the United States of America and its citizens. I love to inspire and lead others around me. I encourage everyone who ever served with me to push themselves professionally and personally with empathy. Additionally, I can take a unit into danger to accomplish a mission and return them home safely to their families. Once my time is up in the Navy and I go out into the civilian workforce I intend on keeping the same spirit. Personally, I did not have your standard childhood. My house growing up was filled with a lot of arguments and because of this I missed out on a lot of opportunities and struggled with depression most of my teenage life. I have since gotten out of that situation growing up and joining the military. I know a lot of teenagers and young children struggle with those type of things, so I intend on inspiring them to change their situation once they are able to and not succumb to being a product of their environment. I have had bad leaders and well, and I would always think to myself , “When I am in that position, things will be different.” I have encouraged numerous people with my quote “Don’t complain about how things are going, be the change that you want to see in the world.”
Conclusion
Throughout my professional, personally, and academic life I have undergone a great deal of self-growth. There are a lot of things that are important to me in all these senses. Professionally, I believe in transparent, efficient leadership under the premise of empathy. I have come to adopt this leadership method professionally, because I believe a leader should inspire their team to come up with solutions to accomplish the task and mission at hand. This method will inevitably yield better results for the task and quality of life for everyone who is working as a team. Opposed to the alternative where most leaders would just try to get the job done with disregard of how their team is feeling. Personally, I have developed mentally due to me achieving standards that I have placed on myself. I am far from the brightest person in the world, but I am a hard worker, and I strive everyone who I meet to overcome challenges that they face whether it is mental, physical, or academic. Academically, I have been presented with numerous opportunities to grow in the field of Cybersecurity due to the fact of hands-on trainings in labs and interdisciplinary research, which allowed me to hone my skills and analyze a problem from many academic perspectives. I look forward to continuing my professional career and inspiring friends, family, and co-workers to be the best they can be!