You will be looked at for leadership among the people that you lead — your division, your platoon, your squadron. They don’t want to really be your friend, but it would be nice if you were friendly.

They expect a human being, not a machine. But they also expect a leader. They want somebody to stand up and show them the way. That’s what we’ve trained you to do. You need to reach within.

You need to guard your integrity. No one can take your integrity from you. People can take a lot of things from you, but nobody can take your integrity away. That is uniquely yours. Only you maintain and guard that. I assure you that will be challenged. But I also assure you that your integrity, the ability to always tell and insist on [the truth, to always come forward and deal with the facts, is the foundation of what we do out there. We must believe what everybody tells us. Our lives depend on it.

Your allegiance, when you take the oath momentarily, your allegiance is to the institution. It’s not to your buddy, it’s not necessarily to your shipmate or your wingman. That’s all very important. But the absolute allegiance of what you’re about is to the institution. Remember that when you take your oath 

Be kind to everybody. Treat everyone with dignity and respect, because no one in this institution you are about to join is unimportant. We can’t afford to have folks who are unimportant. If you go to sea, if you fly in a jet, a helo, if you’re out among SEALs, if you’re with an explosive ordnance detachment, each member of the team has a critical part. We need to treat everybody with that dignity and respect and that understanding that your life — your life — depends on it, and their lives depend on you.

With that, you have to learn to trust shipmates. I will tell you that will be unique. You have never had to trust anybody as much as you’re going to have to trust people out there that you’re working with. Your life will depend on it. That’s one of the unique parts of our business.

Learn your Navy heritage. Everything that you have on today, your hat, your shoes, the rank that you have on the insignia, is all built on a heritage and a legacy and it has a reason, believe it or not. But it’s true. Learn it and you’ll understand it. It defines who you are and who you will be.

You need to wear sunscreen, it will take 20 years for sun cancer to emerge, but it will emerge. If you are on the bridge or on the flight deck, If you go out and about in the sun, it’s probably the thing that will be the biggest threat throughout your life; more than anything else. Wear sunscreen.

Lastly, this is the only directive I’m going to give to you. You’ll get enough direction out there, but this is from me. I want you to call or write your mother once a week. No one has the unconditional love for you than that person and that’s why you’re here today, because of that.

Great news for the team at Navy Cyber Warfare Development Group – their former Commanding Officer, Captain Diane K. Gronewold has returned in a senior civilian capacity.  Ms. Gronewold was CO from 2008-2011.  She relieved Captain Bob Zellman as CO in 2008 and was relieved by Captain Steve Parode concurrent with the name change from NIOC Suitland to NCWDG in 2011.  Captain Andy Stewart is the current Commanding Officer.

Welcome back Diane!!

‘I’ll try it, Sir; I’ll do my best.’

Lieutenant William Barker Cushing’s words to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox before his successful sinking of the CSS Albemarle.

All through the civil war William B. Cushing distinguished himself by signal acts of perilous adventure. He combined coolness and sound judgment with a courage unsurpassed, and on all occasions proved himself a valuable officer. (From his obituary in the New York Times).

Though SEALs did not exist during the Civil War, Cushing has often been called ‘the first Navy SEAL.

Information Dominance Leaders,

On Wednesday, June 4, the U.S. Navy will once again pause to commemorate the Battle of Midway, which occurred June 4-7, 1942.

In official ceremonies at the U.S. Navy Memorial here in the Washington, D.C., at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, in Hawaii and other Navy stations around the world, we will take the time to honor those who triumphed over the Imperial Japanese Navy in this historic encounter.

Midway was the turning point in the Pacific theater of operations in World War II.  During that battle, U.S. Navy carrier strike forces, augmented by shore-based bombers and torpedo planes decisively defeated an Imperial Japanese navy carrier task force.  These actions prevented the Japanese from capturing Midway Island and the success marked the dawn of the U.S. Navy’s global prominence.

The Battle of Midway also looms large in the history of what we now call the Information Dominance Corps (IDC).  As detailed in the Navy’s “Course to Midway” webpages (http://www.navy.mil/midway/midway.html) and in the attached IDEA No. 26 from May of 2013, key to Admiral Chester Nimitz’s decision to engage the Japanese at Midway were the seminal efforts of the U.S. Navy’s code breakers.

Led by Admiral Nimitz’s Fleet Intelligence Officer, Captain Edwin Layton, and his Fleet Cryptologist, Commander Joe Rochefort, these unknown and unheralded specialists enabled an enhanced awareness of the Midway battlespace that culminated in Nimitz’s superior decisions. They not only provided insight into Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto’s intentions, but revealed where and when his carriers would focus their attack. This highly skilled and knowledgeable group decrypted the Japanese Navy’s operational code and delivered timely, actionable information that allowed Nimitz to ambush Yamamoto’s force.

In doing so, they pioneered the concepts of Information Dominance that we maintain today.

As we approach this year’s commemoration, I urge you to share the IDEA and link with your respective staffs and crews, and take the time to discuss what this battle represents – the emergence of the U.S. Navy as a global power and the foreshadowing of the IDC as warfighters bringing the power of information dominance to the fight.

Twig//

Ted “Twig” Branch
VADM              USN

“Have an exhalted pride in the uniform you wear and all that it represents. Wear it correctly; wear it proudly. Salute it with respect when you meet it; behave in it in a seemly manner when you wear it; protect it when it is offended or in danger. It represents the fleet, the nation, your home, and your family. It is a symbol of all that is dear to you and all that men are willing to die for.”

NAVAL ORIENTATION
NAVPERS 16138-A (Restricted)
December 1948

 In alphabetical order.  The number to the right is the order in which they will be promoted.

BEJAR ADRIAN Z               0013
BERRIOS JOSE ENRIQUE         0004
BIGGS CHRISTOPHER M          0007
BROWN SCOTT TOURAY           0015
COWAN FRANK RAYMOND IV       0016
DAVIS DEMARIUS               0003
DUNN ROBERT THOMAS           0028
FINK KALLIE DAWN             0006
ISHIKAWA JOHN M              0017
KEMPISTA LAWRENCE W          0027
KRIPPENDORF TIMOTHY FE       0001
LAMBETH IRA DENARD III       0020
LASSEK KENNETH WELLING       0019
MCDEVITT DAVID LAWRENC       0008
MELICHAR BRAD DEWAYNE        0018
MILNER SCOTT D               0010
NOBLES CALVIN                0025
ONEILL BERNARD THOMAS III    0022
PINDER SHARON DENISE         0009
REEVES ANDREW THOMAS         0005
SALAZAR EDUARDO EUGENE       0023
SALEHI MICHAEL S             0011
SANDERS JOSHUA J             0024
SMITH CHAD MCLAIN            0014
SMITH IRVIN DUVAL JR         0002
WOODRUFF ROBERT A III        0021
YUSKO DEBORAH BECK           0012

You can read the entire strategy HERE.