CNO Attends BEYA

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Petty Officer Stephen Watterworth

Chief of Naval Operations Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) attended the Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) Stars and Stripes dinner, Feb. 18 in Washington, D.C.

CNO, Adm. Gary Roughead honored John H. James, Jr., Rear Adm. Arthur J. Johnson, and many others as recipients of the 2011 Stars and Stripes Award during the 2011 BEYA Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Global Competitiveness Conference.

While speaking at the dinner, CNO expressed the importance of STEM in the Navy and how organizations like BEYA contribute to the success of the Navy.

"Navy participates with BEYA and other activities that stress STEM and diversity because we really believe that as a Navy, we will be a better Navy if we represent all of America," he said.

Roughead said it's key for the Navy to team up with BEYA and to look for opportunities to reach out and mentor the young men and women throughout the country and inform them of the benefits of the Navy.

"We are a technological Navy," he said. "We operate at the very high end of technology. We operate in every domain of the planet whether its under the sea, on the sea or above the sea, and now more than ever in cyberspace and the sailors and the young men and women who come into our Navy if they have that STEM background, they are going to be much more natural fits for who we are and the world in which we are going to operate."

"There are just a variety of activities that we participate in and we are always looking for new opportunities to be able to present what the Navy does to the young men and women of America," Roughead continued. "We have programs, for example, StarBase Atlantis and we have a STEM academy at the Naval Academy."

The BEYA conference and award program recognized young men and women from around the country who demonstrate outstanding performance in a technical field and show great potential for shaping the future course of engineering, science, math and technology.