Diversity In Action

The U.S. Coast Guard's Navigation Center has exciting work for techies

Many top posts at NAVCEN are held by women and minorities. "We manage diversity through open communications," says the planning officer

Lt Comdr Bruce Walker is NAVCEN's strategic planning officer.

The U.S. Coast Guard was originally established to facilitate commerce, help the public and promote safe travel on navigable waters in and around the U.S.

These are still important Coast Guard responsibilities. But since 9/11, more duties have been added. Once involved primarily in saving stranded boaters, policing fisheries, cleaning up oil spills and intercepting maritime contraband, the Coast Guard is now heavily involved in homeland security. Awareness of threats to U.S. maritime security, prevention and protection against those threats and response to possible attacks have been added to the Coast Guard's mission.

The U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center (NAVCEN) is an HQ unit that provides navigation and information services 24/7 from locations in Virginia and California.

The Alexandria, VA office is NAVCEN HQ, and responsible for ops east of the Continental Divide. Western ops are run from an office in Petaluma, CA.

Lieutenant Commander Bruce Walker, NAVCEN's strategic planning officer, appreciates the talents and skills offered by the center's diverse group of workers. "When I recruited for officers at MIT, a large percentage of the students were minorities or women," he notes. "Any group that doesn't recognize that the workforce is becoming more diverse is going to miss a lot of talent.

"Diversity doesn't mean just color, race and gender anymore," he adds. "It also means a variety of different degrees and backgrounds."

Walker emphasizes communication along with plans and programs. "We want to understand our differences and focus on our similarities," he explains. That means a variety of seminars, talks by the commanding officer and group discussions. "At least every three years the whole unit goes through human relations and other seminars, talking about any issues they have and getting them out in the open.

"Any problems we've had usually stemmed from lack of knowledge or understanding. We manage diversity through open communications."

NAVCEN folks, joined by colleagues from the Telecommunications and Information Systems Command, work the latest telecom systems at Alexandria, VA HQ.

NAVCEN positions are filled with a combination of military, civil service and contract personnel. Women hold several high management positions: the assistant division chief for ops, who is a lieutenant commander, and the branch chief for navigation information service, a lieutenant, are both African American women. The branch chief for project management, a civilian GS-13, is also a woman. Minority men hold positions like executive officer and branch chief.

Most NAVCEN folks have degrees in EE, computer engineering, computer analysis or IT. Others have picked up skills on their own through courses and seminars.

Technical backgrounds are essential because of the highly technical nature of NAVCEN's work. Navigational skills are also important.

The center operates, manages and controls the national Long Range Aids to Navigation (LORAN) system and Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS). Radio-based LORAN gives better than 0.25 nautical mile accuracy in its coverage areas; DGPS can fix an object's location within a few meters. NAVCEN is working with other federal agencies to increase DGPS accuracy to within ten centimeters, Walker notes.

"When GPS signals are received from space, inaccuracies are introduced from sources like imperfect orbits or satellite clocks, and of course the atmosphere," Walker explains.

"When we capture the signal at our sites we know what the data is supposed to be. We determine the error in the signal and send out correctional data."

This work is not just for military, shipping and boating interests. "A lot of people like to use GPS, including railroads, farmers and the aviation community," Walker says. "Trucking and transportation companies use the system to determine exactly where their vehicles are at all times."

Currently, DGPS signals from U.S. satellites are supplied free. The planned Galileo program, a total of thirty satellites owned by the European Commission and the European Space Agency, will provide even better accuracy for which customers will pay.

NAVCEN coordinates and manages the Civil GPS Service Interface Committee (CGSIC), a Department of Transportation program to integrate GPS into civil sector applications. NAVCEN also operates the nationwide automatic identification system (NAIS), the inland river vessel movement center (IRVMC) and the navigation information service (NIS).

NAIS uses navigational positioning systems, shipboard sensors and digital VHF radio communication equipment to track movements of all vessels in U.S. waters. IRVMC tracks the movement of barges known to be carrying potentially dangerous cargo. The NIS disseminates navigation and maritime safety information to the public. Both NAIS and NIS are operated by contractors from General Dynamics.

Walker encourages interested techies to visit www.gocoastguard.com to check out civilian positions at NAVCEN, and military Coast Guard career paths that could lead there.

D/C