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Harriette Tullos-Banks: groundbreaker at NSWCDD
She heads Dahlgren Division’s system test and evaluation branch, which tests and assesses performance and readiness of combat systems on Navy ships
 Harriette Tullos-Banks is the first African American female branch head at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NS-WCDD), headquartered in Dahlgren, VA. Her team in the system test and evaluation branch is responsible for testing and assessing the performance and readiness of combat systems on ships in the Navy fleet.
“I’m glad to be the first black woman branch head, but I’m sorry it took so long,” Tullos-Banks says. She adds that since she received her promotion two years ago, two other African American women have moved into similar positions.
“We have our own struggles with diversity here at Dahlgren, but the commanding officer made it a priority, and even the admiral is making diversity one of his top priorities and focus areas. That’s not only with African Americans but diversity across the spectrum.”
Largest system command
Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) is the parent organization for NSWCDD and nine additional Warfare Center Divisions. NAVSEA is the largest of the Navy’s five system commands. Its force of 53,000 civilian, military and contract support personnel engineers builds, buys and maintains the Navy’s ships and submarines and their combat systems.
Tullos-Banks is glad she’s doing work that directly affects the safety of the U.S. Since 9/11,
her team has had to think outside the box in how it approaches defense, she says.
“Terrorists don’t think in terms of the conventional warfare that our military is trained for,” Tullos-Banks reflects. “At Pearl Harbor, Kamikazes attacked our fleet with unconventional warfare. And now enemies are willing to act as if they were in the heat of battle. So we have to think in terms of employing the cutting edge of technology in our own defense. There are a lot of ‘What ifs?’”
The advanced Aegis system
One main project for Tullos-Banks’ branch is test and evaluation of the Aegis weapon system and the Aegis combat system. The “aegis” of Greek mythology was the impenetrable shield of the great god Zeus. NAVSEA’s Aegis system goes onto cruisers and destroyers so they can better shield and protect Navy carriers, Tullos-Banks explains. Aegis software baselines are always being updated, so her team has to continuously test the Aegis system.
“It’s the most advanced system ever,” she says. “We go through and make sure it is properly tested so it can be certified and deployed to the fleet. We testify at certification panels to make sure it meets requirements.”
Working under pressure
Tullos-Banks manages thirty-five government workers and thirty-five contractors who work in Dahlgren, plus three government staffers at Wallops Island where tests are also conducted. The engineers work under a lot of pressure to meet deadlines and, if needed, conduct tests on board ships. Tullos-Banks, however, has been on a ship just once in her life.
“Usually my work requires me to stay at Dahlgren,” she says. “But our labs here are set up like the ships, and the staff goes out on a regular basis. Another branch delivers and installs the software, but my guys brief the crews and provide the documentation on the ship’s capability.”
Aiming to succeed
“As the first African American female in this position, I feel a huge responsibility for my branch to succeed,” Tullos-Banks confides.
Each summer she brings in high school and college students to work with her team, and she takes opportunities to speak to area teenagers about careers in math and science. Her own daughter will be a freshman at Pennsylvania State University this fall, where she will major in chemical and biomedical engineering, Tullos-Banks says proudly.
Starting in physics
Tullos-Banks grew up in Warrensville, OH. Her dad was a CPA and owned two service stations, and her mom was a factory foreman for many years. Her brother has degrees in finance and psychology and is lead IT engineer for an insurance company.
Tullos-Banks originally thought she’d like to be a dentist, but she changed her mind after she started at Howard University (Washington, DC). Her advisor, Dr Anna Cobel, was the third black woman in the U.S. to earn a doctorate in biophysics, and Tullos-Banks came to share
her interest.
She got a BS in physics from Howard in 1981, then took grad courses in nuclear physics at Georgetown University (Washington, DC) and grad courses in physical mechanics at the University of California-Irvine. This May she completed an MS in strategic studies at the Naval War College.
Years in military intel
Tullos-Banks has been in the military and intelligence arena since the 1980s. From 1983 to 1985 she was a physicist/engineer at the Naval Intelligence Support Center (Washington, DC). She assessed laser capabilities of non-free-world countries.
She went on to be a radar engineer at Martin Marietta (now merged into Lockheed Martin). At its Colorado facility, she designed computer programs to analyze simulation-generated data for a major defense project. Then the company transferred her to California, where she worked as a senior systems engineer until 1991.
From 1991 to 1994, Tullos-Banks was a member of the space systems integration tech staff at Mitre Corp (McLean, VA). She developed an efficient way for NASA to prepare battery cells for space shuttle flights. Then she worked on the advanced Tomahawk missile for Southeastern Computer Consultants Corp (Fredericksburg, VA).
Fulfillment at NAVSEA
In 1997 she joined NAVSEA, where she greatly enjoys the working environment. “This organization cares about its people,” she says. “Our department head has two main focuses: making sure the fleet is safe and his people are safe.
“A lot of companies forget they have humans working for them and look at employees as ‘resources.’ Here, it’s family first, and that means a lot to me,” Tullos-Banks says.
After hours
Outside of work, Tullos-Banks is a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, a community service organization and the oldest African American sorority. AKA sponsors a number of events, including a debutante ball for young African American women, a 5K run to raise awareness about teen violence, youth scholarship programs and more.
“You cannot get too much education,” she says. “I tell kids still in school to continue to study science and math. They’ll definitely use it.
“I tell young engineers to continue to look forward. And I always tell my daughter that excellence is the standard, not a goal. As long as you’re doing something excellently, you’re doing the best you can do.”
D/C
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