Admiral James Stavridis on innovation HERE.  He likes the Navy’s Task Force Innovation.

Photo Special to the News Journal

From staff reports, Pensacola News Journal 11:29 a.m. CST March 3, 2015

The University of West Florida has named retired Navy Captain Susan K. Cerovsky as director of the Center for Cybersecurity, effective March 16, 2015. Cerovsky joins UWF after nearly 30 years as an officer in the U.S. Navy. As director of the UWF Center for Cybersecurity, Cerovsky will develop and enhance multi-disciplinary undergraduate and graduate programs, research activities and regional and national industry partnerships. She will ensure that UWF is a preferred partner in Cybersecurity research, workforce education and professional training across Northwest Florida and the Central Gulf Coast region. She most recently held the title of commanding officer of the Center for Information Dominance (CID) at Corry Station in Pensacola.

Cerovsky served as the president and CEO for Intelligence, cyber, cryptology, information warfare and information technology technical training for the U.S. Navy Information Dominance Corps and associated communities.

 She has collaborated with agencies such as the National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to create cybersecurity and cyberwarfare solutions. For additional information about the Center for Cybersecurity, visit http://www.uwf.edu/cybersecurity.

More detailed report from UWF NEWS:

The University of West Florida announces retired Navy Capt. Susan K. Cerovsky as Director of the Center for Cybersecurity, effective March 16, 2015. Cerovsky joins UWF after nearly 30 years as an officer in the United States Navy, and most recently held the title of commanding officer of the Center for Information Dominance (CID) at Corry Station in Pensacola, Florida.

As director of the UWF Center for Cybersecurity, Cerovsky will develop and enhance multi-disciplinary undergraduate and graduate programs, research activities and regional and national industry partnerships. She will ensure that UWF is a preferred partner in Cybersecurity research, workforce education and professional training across Northwest Florida and the Central Gulf Coast region.

“I am honored to join UWF and to have this opportunity to help prepare the next generation of leaders who will protect the U.S. against cyber attacks,” Cerovsky said. “Defending the United States against such attacks requires highly trained specialists who can design secure computing systems, wire secure computer code and create new tools to protect, detect and recover from malicious acts. The need is now, and the stakes are high.”

As commanding officer for the CID, Cerovsky served as the President and Chief Executive Officer for Intelligence, cyber, cryptology, information warfare and information technology technical training for the U.S. Navy Information Dominance Corps and associated communities. She commanded a multi-million dollar global enterprise with more than 1,300 worldwide assigned personnel directly supporting 25,000 students annually across 22 geographically dispersed training sites and more than 232 cumulative courses. Under Cerovsky’s leadership, CID was awarded the training excellence and retention awards for operation excellence, readiness and efficiency for maintaining superior mission levels across the board.

Cerovsky has collaborated with agencies such as the National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to create cybersecurity and cyberwarfare solutions. These efforts sustained and improved relationships between the agencies and Department of Navy staff. Additionally, she developed strategic communication programs to increase transparency by offering interviews to technical magazines and newspapers, and being the keynote speaker at many events. Cerovsky has earned numerous military awards and decorations and is published in a variety of publications and professional papers concerning cybersecurity and cyberwarfare.

Cerovsky earned a bachelor’s degree in geology from the University of South Alabama and a master’s degree in information technology management with a concentration on innovation, artificial intelligence, integrated databases, cyber defensive and offensive operations from Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, California.

“I am delighted to have filled an important position with an important individual,” said Dr. Martha Saunders, UWF provost and executive vice president. “Sue Cerovsky brings experience and connections to our Center for Cybersecurity. I’m expecting big things from her.”

The UWF Center for Cybersecurity provides a hub for research on Cybersecurity and opportunities for students to move into high-demand career fields through collaborative partnerships. The Center was funded and made possible by an IT Performance Grant provided through the Florida Legislature. For additional information about the Center for Cybersecurity, visit http://www.uwf.edu/cybersecurity.

Maritime cryptology stands at a crossroads, and for it to succeed in the Indo-Pacific region, it will have to adapt and change. The Navy is making investments in new technology and systems, but will also need to reinvigorate its training and development of sailors and officers. The Navy’s unique access to the littoral provides the intelligence community and warfighters with capabilities that may not be available from other national systems during times of crisis. The Navy has recognized some of the shortfalls and critical needs facing the cryptologic/information-operations community, but more must be done.

You can read the article HERE. For the full article, you may need to join the United States Naval Institute and support the professional journal of the United States Navy.

If that is entirely too much to ask, you cheapskates can read it here for free on FACEBOOK but keep in mind that Zuckerburg is collecting all your info.

In conclusion today, I leave you with the knowledge that the pursuit of professional writing and personal professional study has a long history in the maritime service. It is true, there appear to be very few members of the Flag Ranks who published in the pages of Proceedings before they became important enough to have a staff to help them write.

Read it all over at CIMSEC HERE.

What are you engaged in?

Washington DC – In a move aimed at regaining funding lost through sequestration, the newly confirmed Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter, has banned PowerPoint presentations within the Department of Defense.

RADM John Kirby was asked for comment but could only reply, “It’s not my job (anymore), man.”

Various budget groups within DoD have estimated that nearly all funds lost to sequestration will be recovered through the time saved by over 4,000 action officers no longer working on ‘point’-less PowerPoint presentations.

All action officers will be required to complete the Admiral James Stavridis “CONCISE WRITING” “Gobbledygook Has Gotta Go” course.

As organizations grow, the demands on leadership change. The same old moves won’t cut it any more. In Chess Not Checkers, Miller tells the story of Blake Brown, newly appointed CEO of a company troubled by poor performance and low morale. Nothing Blake learned from his previous job seems to help him deal with the issues he now faces. The problem, his new mentor points out, is Blake is playing checkers—he needs to play chess or he’s going to lose.

The early days of an organization are like checkers: a quick game with mostly interchangeable pieces. Everybody does a little bit of everything, the leader included, and things are so frantic you just have to react as fast as you can. But as the organization expands, you can’t just keep jumping from activity to activity. You have to think strategically, look ahead, leverage every employee’s specific talents. That’s chess. And this approach creates unprecedented levels of performance.

Adapting four strategies from the game of chess, Miller reveals four moves high-performance organizations make. 

They (1) bet on leadership, (2) act as one, (3) win the heart, and (4) excel at execution. 

Chess Not Checkers is an accessible and easily applied guide to help leaders elevate their own leadership and the performance of their entire team.

You can pre-order your copy HERE.  

Mark Miller is pretty awesome.  You can follow his blog HERE.  And on Twitter HERE.