Strategic Systems Programs Conducts Annual Risk Aware Culture Survey in Support of Navy’s Get Real, Get Better Campaign

10 June 2025

From Edvin Hernandez

For the last three years, the Department of Navy (DoN) has amplified its Get Real, Get Better (GRGB) campaign across the enterprise to empower its leaders to make positive change within their workplace.

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Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) is meeting this call to action with its own internal Risk Aware Culture Survey, soliciting feedback from its employees on how the workforce – including leadership – is doing and what challenges need to be addressed to promote a Risk Aware Culture within the organization. Director for SSP, Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe, Jr., is a strong advocate for not only acquiring the best professionals to support the command’s strategic deterrence mission, but also developing them to be world-class and retaining the command’s top talent to support continued success in providing advanced warfighting capabilities to the fleet. Wolfe’s Pillars of Excellence, which outline the key aspects for SSP’s North Star, puts risk awareness, self-assessment, and self-improvement at the heart of the command’s success.

SSP’s High Consequence Events Prevention Framework (HCEPF) was implemented more than a decade ago to promote a Risk Aware Culture centered on the day-to-day use of Risk Aware Behaviors (RABs) to make better decisions, reduce human error, and to “Get Real, Get Better.” Unlike the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey or the Defense Organizational Climate Survey, which are polled Navy-wide, SSP’s internal survey is purposefully made to support the unique SSP mission and workforce, including employees at field activities, program management offices, and the contractors who contribute to the command culture.

The work SSP supports on a daily basis is critical to national defense. The command’s leaders are committed to enhancing the Navy’s lethality, and they understand the significant role the entire civilian/military team plays in delivering unparalleled warfighting capabilities. The command’s workforce, from headquarters and field activities to program management offices across the United States, are the Navy’s experts in sustaining the Trident D5LE Strategic Weapons System (SWS) on the current Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs). Today, and with an eye on the future, the command is modernizing the Trident D5LE II SWS for transition to the new Columbia-class SSBNs.

According to Wolfe, the annual Risk Aware Culture Survey delivers results that are important in keeping SSP a top-performing organization. The responses collected are analyzed by human behavior professionals who then share the results with SSP’s senior leaders, immediate supervisors, and all hands to understand and improve the command’s workplace environment. Surveys like these align with DoN’s GRGB priorities, setting a standard of leadership for SSP that is entwined with continuous self-assessment and self-improvement.

In the past, RABs such as encouragement of ideas and criticisms; humility and leadership by example; setting realistic and resourced goals; unambiguous execution of accountability; and Human Element Weakness (HEW) behaviors have been highlighted in the survey, offering SSP’s leaders an opportunity to make meaningful change for the workforce. Some of these changes have included the implementation of employee resources, such as additional trainings and digital tools that can be used to engage in transparent discussions and decision-making support.

“This feedback allows us to take a closer look at what our workforce is telling us about the foundational behaviors that make up our culture,” Tony Hawkins said, SSP Deputy Chief Engineer, Chair of the SSP Risk Aware Council, and the SSP civilian GRGB Champion. “As Navy leaders, we hold a critical responsibility in making sure that our employees – the technical experts, administrative specialists, and really everyone who makes up SSP – have the tools they need for mission success. We want to have the best workforce and top performers here, and this survey is about helping create the environment for the organization to be successful.”

Results from the 2024 survey revealed opportunities where the command could improve RABs such as providing clearer instructions to avoid ambiguity on assignments. Another response from the 2024 results emphasized the need to improve transfer of knowledge during personnel turnover. These concerns offered SSP leadership an opportunity to better understand areas for improvement and provided corrective actions and recommendations to supervisors at all levels throughout the organization.
Additionally, there was overwhelming support for several things SSP does well. In fact, the command reported measurable improvements across several RABs from their previous results, the highest being in personal courage.

Since Rear Adm. William “Red” Raborn – the first SSP director – began leading the command toward creating the Navy’s first sea-based strategic deterrence capability in 1955, SSP has developed and maintained a standard for technical excellence. Although it may have been called different things over time, as an integral part of the culture since inception, all members feel responsible for promoting RABs and eliminating the corresponding HEWs. The Risk Aware Culture Survey focuses on the ability to learn from past mistakes, identify and understand risks to the mission, and to be empowered to act and mitigate those risks.

“The tools are there for all levels of leadership to actively improve,” Wolfe said. “It is our responsibility, as senior leaders, to enable our branch heads and first line supervisors to lead with confidence, but also to lead with grace and humility. That is what being part of the SSP family is about.”

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Strategic Systems Programs Conducts Annual Risk Aware Culture Survey in Support of Navy’s Get Real, Get Better Campaign

From Edvin Hernandez