Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard officers expanded mentoring and leadership skills during a three-day professional development and training conference, held by the National Naval Officers Association (NNOA), on board Naval Base Point Loma, July 28-30.

The NNOA is a non-profit organization composed of active duty, reserve and retired officers, as well as midshipmen, cadets, and interested civilians. According to Cmdr. Will Watson, the NNOA president, the organization serves as an outreach program, as well as a professional development platform.

"Our main goal is to support the sea services in finding talent, developing talent and retaining talent in our respective officer corps," said Watson. "This conference offers access to senior leaders in a way that is not available anywhere else."

Junior officers had the opportunity to hear presentations from senior leaders about current issues in their respective services and ask questions about leadership styles and methods.

Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michelle Howard, a guest of honor at the conference, presented awards, gave a presentation highlighting the changing climate in the Navy and the importance of communication between generations of leaders, and stressed the importance of the symposium.

"It's a discussion. It helps expose a discussion about who we are as a Navy, as a sea service, and what's important to us as leaders," she said. "Understanding how we see ourselves, and understanding how you see yourself, is so important to leadership. Ships may be the heart of the Navy, but the people are its lifeblood. I have to understand the lifeblood too."

Howard also answered questions from attendees in a frank, conversational atmosphere, and addressed topics ranging from leadership style to advice on work-life balance.

"It's a great opportunity to pick people's brains," said Capt. Robert Dews, director of operations, Navy Recruiting Command. "When you're a junior officer underway, you don't always have the time or the comfort level to ask the kinds of questions we can ask here. This conference is a great way for maritime officers to get in sync with each other and learn about each other's communities."

Dews said that he is an example of how the NNOA's investment in community outreach efforts has returned results. He was approached in high school by naval officers in the NNOA, and said that because of the positive impression and the help of an NNOA scholarship he went on to graduate from Washington University. Dews earned an officer commission in the Navy through the Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps program offered at the university, but said he never would have considered a career in the sea services without having been approached by the NNOA. The captain has now served in the Navy for more than two decades.

"The experience for me at the NNOA conference is rejuvenating because it's an opportunity to give back and mentor others and get mentored," Dews added. "I've been in the Navy 27 years and I always pick up a couple things I can take back and share at my command."

Ensign Michelle Zablan, a nurse at Walter Reed National Medical Center, said she learned about NNOA through a friend who is a retired naval officer. Zablan said that she has benefited most from learning leadership techniques and what to look for in her mentors.

"I feel like... I'm going to walk away from this with mentors and relationships... and I'm going to take those and really build on what I can do better as a nurse and a sister in arms in our Navy," said Zablan. "It's so important for personal growth for the community and for the Navy."

For more information on the NNOA, visit http://nnoa.org/ .