When I took the position, I had no idea what a tremendous opportunity, or how satisfying it would be, says Andres Padilla, the Regional Director for International Programs and Foreign Military Sales at Naval Sea Systems Command's Program Executive Office for Integrated Warfare Systems. Andres has been with NAVSEA for his entire civil service career, beginning in October 1982.

When he joined the Department of the Navy, he worked at Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme as a computer specialist. After eight years working on weapon systems computer program maintenance, he transferred to NAVSEA headquarters in Washington, DC.

Over the course of his career, Andres has worked with gun weapon systems in a number of different roles, demonstrating the variety of experience and opportunity offered by the Department of the Navy. "In acquisition program management," he says, "I was responsible for defining requirements, and budgeting for procurement of integrated tactical hardware and software-intensive systems." Now, he is in a supervisory position, "which is completely different," he explains.

Today, he leads a division of eight people within PEO Integrated Warfare Systems. They are responsible for all foreign military sales agreements with allies in Europe, the Western Hemisphere and the Middle East. He says, "having worked with NAVSEA for nearly thirty years now, I've been able to witness the contribution the U.S. Navy has toward national security and our country’s defense. It was something I didn't fully appreciate when I first started my career. But over the years, I've seen what NAVSEA brings to the table and I'm truly proud to be a part of it."