Author: captain1610

Coming soon !

Establishing a Navy Information Dominance Type Command 

By: Captain Joe Gradisher, OPNAV N2/N6 PAO

WASHINGTON (NNS) — Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert has directed Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command (CUSFFC) to establish an Information Dominance Type Command (TYCOM).

In his March 4, 2014 memorandum to CUSFFC, Greenert wrote, “I approve the establishment of Navy Information Dominance Forces as an echelon III command under your administrative control. As the immediate superior in command, oversee the command’s implementation…with an initial operating capability of 1 October 2014.”

The TYCOM will report directly to CUSFFC and have supporting relationships with the rest of the Navy, focusing primarily on the Navy’s information environment. Commander, Navy Cyber Forces, Rear Adm. Diane Webber will have her command re-designated as Commander, Navy Information Dominance Forces (NAVIDFOR) and will provide the initial infrastructure, resources and assets for the TYCOM.

Webber noted that the new TYCOM’s mission will be to “support Combatant Commanders and Navy Commanders ashore and afloat by providing forward deployable, sustainable, combat-ready Information Dominance forces.”

Full operational capability for NAVIDFOR is expected by the end of the calendar year. A Navy Type Command or TYCOM, coordinates the Man, Train and Equip (MT&E) functions for specific communities within the Navy. For example, Commander, Naval Air Forces exercises administrative control over aviation forces and Commander, Navy Surface Forces does the same for the surface warfare community.The IDC was formed in 2009 and built on the deep expertise and strengths of the officers/enlisted, active/reserve, and civilian workforce from the oceanography/meteorology, information professional, information warfare, naval intelligence and space cadre.

The IDC is an inter-disciplinary corps that possesses a deep understanding of potential adversaries and the battlespace, is able to accurately identify targets and brings an array of non-kinetic, offensive and defensive capabilities to the fight in the Information Age.

According to Vice Adm. Ted N. “Twig” Branch, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Dominance (N2/N6) and the lead for the Navy’s IDC, “The continuing evolution of Information Dominance as a Navy warfighting discipline demands a single, integrated TYCOM to provide relevant and effective capabilities, including a highly trained and motivated workforce. I’m confident the new NAVIDFOR will provide the Fleet and the entire Navy the ID capabilities needed to deter, fight and win within this information domain.”

Previously, those MT&E functions for the various communities within the IDC were executed by OPNAV N2/N6, Fleet Cyber Command/Commander Tenth Fleet, Navy Cyber Forces, the Office of Naval Intelligence, and the Navy Meteorology and Oceanography Command.

Commander, Navy Information Dominance Forces will be based in Suffolk, Va.

Advice for the Commanding Officer

Here is some advice that will help you avoid a few other mistakes that new Commanding Officers are often prone to make due to inexperience.
• Do not pretend to know everything. If you think you know all the answers—you simply haven’t heard (or asked) all the questions yet.
• Do not make new policy statements arbitrarily to assert your authority. Do not do anything arbitrarily; think about how your people will perceive the new policy.
• Do not alienate everyone with such statements as “I’m going to make this a first-class command.” It might already be.
• Do not make snap decisions. Ask your staff for their advice and involve them in the decision-making process whenever possible. This is an especially useful technique for dealing with disciplinary problems; have the supervisor recommend what to do about a troublesome Sailor or civilian. In any case, if you really involve your people and listen to them, it’s almost guaranteed that you will learn more from them than they will learn from you.

• Use all available talent to help you. Recognize expertise where you find it. The “expert” at fixing some specific problem may be the lowest ranking Sailor in the command. Remember, you cannot possibly accomplish the mission alone!

On the horizon for later this month

NIOC HAWAII
 Mission Statement
                    1. Provide qualified personnel to work the NSA Hawaii national mission.
                    2. Provide quality Information Warfare support to the fleet.
                    3. Develop and train all personnel to be the best Sailors in the Fleet.
Captain James Mills, an Information Professional (IP) Officer, is the prospective commanding officer of NIOC Hawaii (CTF 1070). He will be relieving Captain Justin F. Kershaw, an Information Warfare (IW) officer. Captain Mills’ IP background, however, is ideally suited to the command’s operations relative to the development of DoD’s Cyber Mission Force, the Navy’s pivot to the Pacific theater, and the rapid advances in information technology that are changing the dynamics of Naval warfare. His unique operational and technical experience includes several tours in the Pacific Fleet and extensive education in electrical engineering and computer science. He was one of CNO’s first Cyber Fellows, with significant experience in cyber defense and operations dating back to 1997’s Eligible Receiver – DoD’s first large scale evaluation of the impacts of cyber warfare on DoD and national infrastructure. Given the Information Dominance Corps’ cross-detailing approach, NIOC Hawaii stands to benefit heavily from his professional experience and knowledge.
Captain Mills points out, “Cross-detailing allows us to tackle the complex problems faced by IDC commands from a multi-discipline approach. Through cross-detailing, the IDC will create a cadre of leaders able to build strategies and plans with the benefit of the ‘whole of the IDC’ as opposed to just relying on a single specialty.”
 
Commander Rob Damsky (an Information Warfare officer) is the command’s Executive Officer. 

Got a nice notecard from the new CO of NIOC Pensacola

I appreciate that CDR Sears only has so much time. Commanding Officers are busy people. I appreciate that he took the time to send me a personal note.  I really like that kind of courtesy and commitment to Navy tradition and custom.
It brings to mind this quote from Denis Waitley (Thanks LCDR Andy Reeves for bringing him to my attention.) “Simply put, time usage is about personal choices, daily choices of how to expend 86,400 seconds, 1,440 minutes or 24 hours. The choices, I believe, come from our attitudes about time and our willingness to set goals that take us to our desired destinations. I believe ultimately, daily time usage rests firmly on one’s personal mission statement; the written principle about what matters in the world.”
So, CDR Sears, Thank you again for your time.

NAVY TIMES reporting on this unusual story from June 2014

This is how the Navy reported this in JUNE:
USS Cowpens Commanding Officer, Command Master Chief Relieved 
SAN DIEGO (NNS) — The commanding officer of USS Cowpens (CG 63), Capt. Gregory W. Gombert, and the ship’s command master chief, Master Chief Petty Officer Gabriel J. Keeton, were relieved by Rear Adm. Michael Smith, Commander, Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 3, on June 10, due to loss of confidence in Gombert’s and Keeton’s ability to effectively lead and carry out their assigned duties. 
The loss of confidence stems from the results of a series of inspections following the ship’s return from deployment. An investigation is underway. Gombert and Keeton have been temporarily re-assigned to CSG 3 and Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet staffs, respectively. 
Capt. Robert B. Chadwick II will assume temporary duties as CO, and Master Chief Petty Officer Richard J. Putnam will temporarily assume duties as CMC. Cowpens is a Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser homeported in San Diego, and recently returned from a Western Pacific deployment. NAVY TIMES expands on the story considerably HERE.

So many mistakes were made by the TRIAD.  Yet, the COWPENS’ Sailors (officers, white hats and CPOs) brought her home safely despite all of the challenges.