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As one of the most prolific letter writers in Virginia, I was authorized to extend National Handwriting Day into a National Handwriting Month celebration from 23 January to 23 February

The lost art of handwriting is one of the few ways we can uniquely express ourselves. There’s something poetic about grasping a writing instrument and feeling it hit the paper as your thoughts flow through your fingers and pour into words. So, letter writers around the world suggest you take advantage of National Handwriting Month from January 23 to February 23 and use a pen or a pencil to rekindle that creative feeling through a handwritten note, poem, letter or journal entry.
Handwriting allows us to be artists and individuals during a time when we often use computers, faxes and e-mail to communicate. Fonts are the same no matter what computer you use or how you use it. Fonts lack a personal touch. Handwriting can add intimacy to a letter and reveal details about the writer’s personality. Throughout history, handwritten documents have sparked love affairs, started wars, established peace, freed slaves, created movements and declared independence.
“Though computers and e-mail play an important role in our lives, nothing will ever replace the sincerity and individualism expressed through the handwritten word – and if you can write in Kanji or Katakana, or Hiragana even better,” said Commander Andy Reeves, the Executive Officer of U.S. Navy Information Operations Command Yokosuka Japan.
The purpose of National Handwriting Month is to alert the public to the importance of handwriting (after all, isn’t that what hands are for?). According to people who really matter, National Handwriting Month is a chance for all of us to re-explore the purity and power of handwriting. 

Month-long celebration continues – U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. TENTH Fleet – Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class David Finley


FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. – U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet continued a monthlong celebration of its fifth year of operations during a ceremony at Fort George G. Meade, Md., Feb. 2.


The event included a cake cutting and remarks from Vice Adm. Jan E. Tighe, commander, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet.

“It has been five years of operational excellence from this staff and the entire community,” said Tighe during a worldwide video teleconference with leaders from the entire Fleet Cyber Command operational domain. “Thank you for helping drive that culture and never forget that we are the fleet.” 

Fleet Cyber Command was established and 10th Fleet recommissioned Jan. 29, 2010. U.S. Fleet Cyber Command reports directly to the Chief of Naval Operations as an Echelon II command and is responsible for Navy networks, cryptology, signals intelligence, information operations, electronic warfare, cyber and space. 

Tighe reviewed the command’s accomplishments over the past five years of operations, which included highlights such as, most recently, the launch and operation of the third Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite; NC3 upgrades; expanding and maturing distributed Signal Intelligence operations; fighting and maneuvering the network during Operation Rolling Tide.

Tighe also recalled the storied history that stretches back decades in making Fleet Cyber Command. 

“We have built this on the rich heritage that came before … the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Command, Naval Security Group, and Navy Space Command collapsing into NETWARCOM and now becoming exclusively operational at Fleet Cyber Command,” Tighe said. 

“I think the heritage and commitment to excellence of all those organizations played into who we are today. We are going to continue to make them proud,” she went on to say.

Tighe also emphasized the growth the Navy has seen in recent years in Information Dominance and cyber warfare capabilities.

“Our evolution as part of the overall Information Dominance Corps and warfighting area is significant,” said Tighe. “The establishment of N2N6 in 2009, Fleet Cyber Command in 2010 and now Information Dominance Forces in 2015 is a maturation process that codifies us as a warfighting domain and I think we are going to continue to build on this foundation.”

The Navy Information Dominance Forces Type Command was established on Jan. 28, 2015 and is responsible for the man, train, equip and readiness mission for all Navy Information Dominance capabilities afloat and ashore.

Tighe briefly previewed the updated Command Strategy for U.S. Fleet Cyber Command, focused on five high level goals:


1. Operate the Navy network as a warfighting platform

2. Conduct tailored signals intelligence (SIGINT)

3. Deliver warfighting effects

4. Create shared cyber situational awareness

5. Establish and mature Navy’s Cyber Mission Forces.

She stated that these goals will drive toward achieving the command’s vision, which is “…to conduct operations in and through cyberspace, the electromagnetic spectrum, and space to ensure Navy and Joint/Coalition freedom of action and decision superiority while denying the same to our adversaries.”

She went on to say that this will be accomplished, “…through our collective commitment to excellence and by strengthening our alliances with entities across the U.S. government, [Department of Defense], academia, industry and our foreign partners.” 

The final strategy document will be available at the end of February.

Tighe closed by wishing the command a happy fifth birthday and thanking the world-wide team again.

U.S. Fleet Cyber Command serves as the Navy Component Command to U.S. Strategic Command and U.S. Cyber Command, and the Navy’s Service Cryptologic Component Commander under the National Security Agency/Central Security Service, exercising operational control of Fleet Cyber Command mission forces through 10th Fleet (C10F). 

C10F is the operational arm of Fleet Cyber Command and executes its mission through a task force structure similar to other warfare commanders.




FIREPROOF COMMANDING OFFICERS

“Officers complete nearly 20 years of professional development in most communities before assuming command, but most unrestricted-line communities do not even mention ethics in a classroom environment until prospective XO/CO courses. To rise to the moral and ethical challenges of command, an officer must impose upon himself a similarly systematic curriculum of character development. Only by admitting it could happen to each of us, recognizing situations where moral failure could occur, and subsequently developing strong ethical habits throughout a career can an officer safeguard against a relief in command due to personal misconduct.”

From a very good article in January 2014 issue of PROCEEDINGS magazine by LT Lawrence Heyworth IV

Note: In the past year, the Navy has moved its mandatory online ethics training behind an NMCI firewall making it even more difficult for Sailors to complete required training.  That doesn’t make too much sense.

Rules and Tools for Leaders – From my mentor Maj Gen Perry M. Smith, PhD



Chapter 3 – Setting Standards

Personal and Institutional Integrity

Integrity is not something that can be put on and taken off as we go to and from work.  People whose character is weak while outside of the job do not have the character required to be leaders.  For instance, an individual who engages in … adultery…, cheats on tax forms or even cheats at golf is also likely to violate standards of institutional integrity at work.  When such a person is placed in a leadership position, the final result is often either short-term or long-term failure; when at the top, he or she will do serious damage to the organization or institution.

Admiral James S. McFarland – Gone 12 Years – NOT FORGOTTEN

LCDR James McFarland – Bronze Star Winner for combat action in Vietnam.
A native of Portland, Oregon, Rear Admiral McFarland graduated from Lewis and Clark College. His Naval career began in 1953 when he enlisted in the Naval Reserve. As a Third Class Petty Officer (YN), he was commissioned in 1957. After Communications School in Newport, Rhode Island, he spent four years in Hawaii working in Signals Security and making training and communications readiness visits to over 200 U.S. Navy ships. Staff duty in Washington, D.C. with Commander Naval Security Group followed from 1961-1963. This was followed by operational assignments at Karamursel, Turkey, and on USS Belmont (AGTR-4) as the Special Operations Officer. 

In 1967, he left the Staff, U.S. Atlantic Fleet for Vietnam, where he served primarily in support of U.S. Marine Corp Forces in  tactical ground operations. The Armed Forces Staff College was next, followed by a tour as Middle East Operations Officer. In 1971, he became the first Office-In-Charge of the Navy’s Current Support Group (CSG) in Rota, Spain where the unit earned the Navy Unit Citation for its support of the U.S. SIXTH Fleet during the Yom Kippur War and the 1974 Cyprus crisis. He returned to the Staff, U.S. Atlantic Fleet from 1975 to 1979. His next assignment was as the Commanding Officer of the Naval Security Group Activity (NSGA) Misawa, Japan where he assumed command on 5 March 1979. 

In 1981, Rear Admiral McFarland assumed duty as Chief, Naval Forces Division, at the National Security Agency (NSA); and in 1983, was assigned as the Assistant Chief of Staff for Cryptology, Commander U.S. Pacific Fleet; Director, Naval Security Group Pacific (DIRNSGPAC). Early in 1985, he was selected for Flag Rank. His last assignment was as Commander, Naval Security Group Command (CNSG) from August 1986 to July 1990. Rear Admiral McFarland was also assigned as the Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence (DNI) for the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO). 

Some of his personal decorations include the Bronze Star with Combat distinguishing device (for his time in Vietnam), Meritorious Service Medals and the Joint Service Commendation Medal.
RADM James S. McFarland passed away on Saturday, 1 February 2003, at 8:00 p.m. At the Admiral’s request, there was no funeral service. His ashes were scattered on the beach, near his Annapolis home.
RADM McFarland was married to the former Paula Ann Wiise of Macon, Georgia for twenty-five years. He has six children, Scott, Brett, Suzanne, Jeffrey, Matthew, and Kelly.

Letter Writing

His courtesy was somewhat extravagant. When he encountered anyone as punctilious as himself their correspondence ended only with death.

I would have answered your letter sooner, but you didn’t send one.

Or don’t you like to write letters? I do because it’s such a swell way to keep from working and yet feel you’ve done something.
 ~Ernest Hemingway
Letters are among the most significant memorial a person can leave behind them.
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

MONTH LONG CELEBRATION OF FCC/C10F HERITAGE AND INNOVATIVE FUTURE

FROM DVIDS NEWS:

U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. TENTH Fleet

US Fleet Cyber Command celebrating 5 years of operationsPetty Officer 2nd Class David Finley

U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet (FCC/C10F), which is headquartered in the Frank B. Rowlett Building located at Fort George G. Meade, Md., celebrates its fifth year of operations since being established on Jan. 29, 2010. Its vision: “Fleet Cyber Command’s vision is to conduct operations in and through cyberspace, the electromagnetic spectrum, and space to ensure Navy and Joint/Coalition freedom of action and decision superiority while denying the same to our adversaries. We will win in these domains through our collective commitment to excellence and by strengthening our alliances with entities across the U.S. government, Department of Defense, academia, industry, and our foreign partners.”
FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. – U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet (FCC/C10F) is marking its fifth year of operations at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, from Jan. 29 to Feb. 28, during a month long celebration of both its heritage and innovative future.

Since its establishment on Jan. 29, 2010, FCC/C10F has carried on the legacy of the former Naval Security Group and Navy Network Warfare Command in unifying warfighting capabilities — cryptologic/signals intelligence, information operations, electronic warfare, network operations and space capabilities — and converging them with the cyber domain.  

The commissioning of U.S. Fleet Cyber Command and reestablishment of C10F on January 29, 2010 closely followed the Navy’s 2009 acknowledgement of information’s centrality to maritime warfighting, known as Information Dominance. Information Dominance is defined as the operational advantage gained from fully integrating the Navy’s information functions, capabilities, and resources to optimize decision making and maximize warfighting effects. The three pillars of Information Dominance are assured command and control (C2), battlespace awareness, and integrated fires. Fleet Cyber Command is a key warfighting element in delivering on missions across those three pillars. 

FCC/C10F was created in 2010 as part of the Chief of Naval Operations’ vision to achieve the integration and innovation necessary for warfighting superiority across the full spectrum of military operations in the maritime, cyberspace, and information domains.

U.S. Fleet Cyber Command reports directly to the Chief of Naval Operations as an Echelon II command and is responsible for Navy Networks, Cryptology, Signals Intelligence, Information Operations, Electronic Warfare, Cyber, and Space. As such, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command serves as the Navy Component Command to U.S. Strategic Command and U.S. Cyber Command, and the Navy’s Service Cryptologic Component Commander under the National Security Agency/Central Security Service, exercising operational control of Fleet Cyber Command mission forces through TENTH Fleet (C10F). 

C10F is the operational arm of Fleet Cyber Command and executes its mission through a task force structure similar to other warfare commanders. In this role, C10F provides operational direction through its Maritime Operations Center located at Fort Meade, executing command and control over assigned forces in support of Navy or joint missions in cyber/networks, information operations, electronic warfare, cryptologic/signals intelligence and space.

Looking ahead, FCC/C10F’s vision is “…to conduct operations in and through cyberspace, the electromagnetic spectrum, and space to ensure Navy and Joint/Coalition freedom of action and decision superiority while denying the same to our adversaries. We will win in these domains through our collective commitment to excellence and by strengthening our alliances with entities across the US government, Department of Defense, academia, industry, and our foreign partners.”

The updated strategic plan to achieve this vision will be released at the end of February 2015.