Navy Talent Pipeline Program Celebrates Progress and Launches National Rollout at Washington, DC Event
WASHINGTON, DC — On June 27, 2025, representatives of the Talent Pipeline Program Team from across the country gathered at the National Press Club to celebrate the success and expansion of the U.S. Navy’s Talent Pipeline Program (TPP). This event at the National Press Club marked a major milestone in the Navy’s ongoing effort to support employers in meeting growing demands for submarines, aircraft carriers, ships, and other fleet assets by improving the performance of their Talent Acquisition and Retention process.
Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) delivered the keynote address, praising the TPP and commending the program’s 493 participating employers for their innovation and commitment to building and retaining a skilled workforce. Highlighting the TPP’s core philosophy — “1 Relationship, 1 Employer, 1 Job, and 1 Productive and Engaged Teammate at a Time” — Senator Kaine emphasized the program’s transformative impact and congratulated the employers for “making manufacturing cool again.”
Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA)
Admiral Daryl Caudle, Commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command and nominee for Chief of Naval Operations, lauded TPP participants as essential teammates to our national defense. “Our mission is never to put our warfighters in a fair fight,” he said. “The Defense Industrial Base ensures they have the very best equipment to deter conflict — and to fight and win when deterrence fails.”
Representing industry, Fairlead President Fred Pasquine and Chief Growth Officer Nate Aiken spoke on behalf of the 493 employer partners. Since joining TPP in 2021, their leadership has helped redefine conventional workforce strategies — focusing on hiring for fit, training for skill, and prioritizing long-term retention. As a result, employers have seen measurable improvements in cost, schedule, quality, safety, and business growth contributing to the resurgence of the defense industrial base.
One of the event’s most powerful moments came from Ms. Boots Olson, a newly hired welder at Rhoads Industries in Philadelphia, who shared her personal journey. Her story reflects the strength of the TPP model, built on trust and mutual respect. To date, 8,018 of 11,294 new hires since 2021 have remained in their roles for at least one year — a remarkable retention rate when employers “own” the talent acquisition and retention challenge and know they cannot “out-hire and bad retention systems”.
Matt Sermon, Program Manager for the Maritime Industrial Base Program, reflected on the TPP’s growth from a pilot program in Philadelphia to a national rollout. “What began as a good idea in Philly is now being embraced across our government and across the country, leading the charge to improve our maritime industrial base capacity to support the Navy demand. TPP works and now is just what we do.”
Ms. Boots Olson (Rhoads Industries)
Team Submarines Command Master Chief Jeff Hiscocks called the TPP “the Secret Sauce” by building relationships across the marketplace and aligning missions and resources to support our Employers “ONE TEAM—ONE FIGHT”, while Captain Nick Levine commended the program for bringing all the key stakeholders together to support the employers creating these talent pipelines and working together as a team to accomplish so much so quickly.
TPP Program Leader Joe Barto closed the event by unveiling the national rollout plan for the next five years. He challenged the team to stay focused on solving talent acquisition and retention challenges together. “We can’t wring our hands and roll up our sleeves at the same time,” Barto declared. “TPP is an investment that trains, coaches, encourages, and recognizes Employers who get things done, improve their Talent Acquisition and Retention Systems, run a better business, and provide more manufacturing capacity to our national defense — no whining, just results.”
TPP trains, coaches, encourages, and recognizes small- and medium-sized employers in the Defense Industrial Base to build reliable year-over-year Talent Pipelines, improve the performance of their Talent Acquisition and Retention Systems, operate better businesses, and deliver greater manufacturing capacity to meet our national defense demand.
Photos from the National Signing Day Event can be found Here.
To learn more about the program and join the fight go to: