Building A Foundation for the Future: Strategic Systems Programs Program Management Office Shipboard Systems Modernizes Technical Workforce Requirements

16 December 2025

From Shelby Thompson

Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) Program Management Office Shipboard Systems (PMOSPS) is reinvigorating SSP’s Technical Discipline Training and Qualification Program (TDTQP) and strengthening engineering and program management skills of SSP personnel to meet the critical needs of today’s sea-based strategic deterrent and regional strike systems.

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Following a recent revision of the TDTQP governing policy, SSP Field Activities and Program Management Offices (PMO) have the ability to tailor their TDTQP processes to meet the critical needs of their workforce. PMOSPS is the first of the field activities and PMOs to thoroughly refresh their process, and by moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach, the organization is seeing renewed enthusiasm within the technical workforce as they develop their technical and programmatic skillset.

“The requirements are significantly better than when I was going through TDTQP,” said Gabe Iya, an engineer at PMOSPS who was enrolled in TDTQP in 2017. “This new, revitalized TDTQP process will add tremendous value to PMOSPS. It’s a great and effective way to take new personnel and welcome them into the SSP family.”

TDTQP provides a fundamental understanding of the technical policies, processes, and acquisition management tools that underpin the nation’s Trident II D5 strategic weapons system (SWS), nuclear-armed sea launched cruise missile (SLCM-N), and the non-nuclear hypersonic conventional prompt strike system (CPS).  TDTQP is comprised of several orientation courses, classes, and workshops within technical disciplines including technical program management, risk management, verification and validation, and safety, with each field activity and PMO having the opportunity to add targeted areas of study for their own personnel. Each field activity and PMO serves a unique function in support of sea-based strategic deterrence, requiring specific skillsets to execute their piece of the puzzle.

Civilian personnel in selected technical positions at SSP, including at field activities and PMOs, are held to requirements defined by the TDTQP. The qualification encourages SSP engineers to obtain a deeper understanding of the “why” behind the program’s technical disciplines. Upon graduating from the program, employees are able to demonstrate a holistic understanding of command-wide technical processes.

Each of SSP’s field activities and PMOs have active TDTQP programs tailored to meet the needs of their civilian technical workforce. When Johann “Hans” Teutsch, the deputy chief engineer for PMOSPS, joined the PMO two years ago – after 15 years supporting other areas of SSP’s enterprise – he identified areas for improvement within the process that he believed could elevate the PMO’s technical workforce.

Faced with a process that was no longer meeting its original intent, Teutsch sought buy-in from senior technical leaders across the SSP enterprise, including PMOSPS’s chief engineer and SSP’s chief engineer. With their input and encouragement, Teutsch poured time and effort into shifting the way new civilians in technical roles at PMOSPS approached TDTQP. Teutsch described this shift as “putting an emphasis back on the process,” and focusing on the “why” behind it.

“[We want people] to ask, ‘but why?’,” said Teutsch. “You’re building the foundation for the house, and you don’t want to build the foundation five or six years after you build the house, right? You want to do it upfront. Get to people early and help them understand the requirements, help them learn to raise their hand and say, ‘hey, I need help, I need a better understanding.’”

PMOSPS’s refresh included, among other things, a new TDTQP checklist to guide all stakeholders through the program; TDTQP study topic forums that give those enrolled in TDTQP the opportunity to collaborate on study topics; increased access to senior leaders within the program; and group activities that support TDTQP requirements.

“When you’d talk to folks and ask them what they had done with TDTQP, they’d say, ’Well, I’m kind of working on it when my day job allows me to,’” said Teutsch.

He saw the process was in danger of becoming an administrative burden instead of the knowledge-building experience it was meant to be.

“It just seemed like it had lost its steam,” said Teutsch.

Kenneth Gilbertson, an engineer at PMOSPS, shared that feeling. As he entered the TDTQP program in 2023, he realized that he needed a better understanding of how technical processes and instructions interacted with each other, but the program was not set up to promote that broader level of education.

“My understanding of the process was oftentimes limited to what was on one page, or even within one paragraph,” said Gilbertson. “In the year and a half prior to [the improvements], I would refer to documents primarily when they became relevant to the immediate thing I was working on.”

Over the last two years, Teutsch identified several areas for improvement within the TDTQP program and set out to refresh the system while also communicating the new look of the program up and down PMOSPS’ chain of command. One of the first things Teutsch evaluated was the status of personnel already enrolled in the program.

“We got buy-in from their supervisors and department leaders,” said Teutsch, explaining that one of his priorities was to ensure that existing personnel in the program were able to reap the benefits of the refresh without dealing with too many disruptions to their progress.

“We developed milestones and action plans with the individuals that were in the program before I was here. And then, once we started revamping everything, everybody who came in from that point had the ‘new rules.’”

Another positive impact the reinvigorated TDTQP process had on PMOSPS and SSP as a whole, Teutsch said, was a uniform development process. According to him, this is key to increasing efficiency throughout the program.

“The more consistent you are throughout the enterprise of SSP, the easier [processes and documentation] are to maintain,” said Teutsch. “Everything becomes less costly, more effective and more efficient.”

The uniformity of TDTQP requirements and learning opportunities across PMOSPS was one of the early indicators that the program was turning over a new leaf.

“[Uniformity] allows for understandable communication and interchangeability,” said Gilbertson. He found that the new standards and processes created an environment where it slowly became easier to speak the same language as those around him, driving efficiency.

That shared, improved understanding of key engineering processes is designed to support SSP’s mission set through balancing acquisition management with technical disciplines and risks. It translates directly to increased efficiency, enabling SSP to execute its mission more effectively by reducing errors, streamlining processes, and promoting more informed decision-making across the organization. With a more efficient workforce, SSP is better poised to achieve the Navy’s goal of peace through strength with a sense of unity and urgency.

Ryan Brown, an engineer with PMOSPS, formally entered into the TDTQP program in May 2025 and has experienced the new process first-hand. He says the access to SSP senior leaders is one of the most valuable aspects of the program today.

“Speaking with SSP senior leaders has helped me understand what their priorities are for the organization,” said Brown. “It helps to understand the big picture and what other branches and sections are working on. I think the program has come a long way in the past 18 months.”

The benefits of PMOSPS’s push to modernize the TDTQP is not limited to current enrollees. Iya completed his TDTQP prior to the roll-out of the new process but has noticed the ripple effects that the improvements are having throughout the organization. He attributes much of the credit to Teutsch and the support he received from PMOSPS leaders, but he also believes that TDTQP’s historical and current success is a reflection of SSP’s focus on accountability and empowerment at all levels of the workforce, and the Navy’s broader Get Real Get Better initiative.

“I have never seen this kind of program or opportunity at other places I have worked at, and I’m sure this is due to SSP’s great culture,” said Iya.

Teutsch agrees, recalling an interaction with a former SSP leader earlier in his career.

“I heard him say - I don’t know how many times - that the program is a three-legged table,” said Teutsch. “You have the accountability, the responsibility, and the authority. And with those three things, a table stands. It balances. If you take one leg away, the table tips.”

Accountability, responsibility, and authority make up three of Vice Adm. Johnny R. Wolfe, Jr’s, director of SSP’s, guiding principles. These principles encourage personnel to understand their right to make decisions, to justify their actions and hold their teams accountable, and to act independently within their scope of authority. Only when SSP team members embrace these principles and take ownership of their focus areas, can each member of the team fully understand their role and advance the mission.

Teutsch hopes that this new iteration of the TDTQP plays a small role in keeping SSP's technical workforce on solid footing, providing a firm foundation for PMOSPS’ future. SPS’s success in revitalizing its TDTQP program also provides a road map for SSP’s other field activities and PMOs, proving that, by taking on the accountability, responsibility, and authority delegated down to their level by the new TDTQP governing policy, new members of their technical workforce will thrive.

Strategic Systems Programs is the Navy command that provides cradle-to-grave lifecycle support for the sea-based leg of the nation’s nuclear triad. This includes training, systems, equipment, facilities and personnel responsible for ensuring the safety, security, and effectiveness of the nation’s Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) Trident II D5LE Strategic Weapon System.   

SSP is responsible for sustaining strategic weapon system (SWS) on the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) and supporting the integration of the D5LE weapon system on the new Columbia-class SSBNs. Looking to the future, SSP is actively modernizing the sea-based leg of the nuclear triad through development of the D5LE2 SWS and creating regional strike capabilities of the future through development of the nuclear-armed sea launched cruise missile (SLCM-N) and the non-nuclear hypersonic conventional prompt strike system (CPS).   

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Building A Foundation for the Future: Strategic Systems Programs Program Management Office Shipboard Systems Modernizes Technical Workforce Requirements

From Shelby Thompson