Developing Senior Navy Leaders

The array of expertise required to be a successful leader in the U.S. Navy has become more complex. To be a successful Navy leader, it is no longer sufficient to be skilled only at surface, submarine, or air warfare. Additional kinds of expertise are needed to lead and manage the Navy of today and the Navy of the future. Furthermore, like its sister services, the Navy also has a large and distinct core of senior civilian leaders that continues to provide a broad array of in-depth business skills, as well as the continuity and stability of senior leadership.

We examined the Navy’s structure, its force development, its doctrinal documents, and its technology acquisitions for the past decade and the next decade to forecast how the demand for domain-specific expertise may change in the future. The areas of domain-specific expertise with the strongest evidence of increasing future importance to the Navy are:

Information Warfare
Information Operations
Information Technology
Surface Warfare
Submarine Warfare
Special Warfare
Expeditionary Warfare
Intelligence
Logistics and Readiness
Anti-Submarine Warfare
Littoral Warfare
Sea Basing

From the RAND Sjtudy: Developing Senior Navy Leaders – Requirements for Flag Officer
Expertise Today and in the Future

Information Warfare Officers

Disable enemy threats with communications technology Information Warfare

Discover threats and use vital communications to protect your country. Provide service members, planners and policy makers with real-time warnings, offensive opportunities and ongoing operational advantages. Work side-by-side with other Officers to make certain the right information is used at the right time, ensuring the success of the Fleet.

Job Description

As an Information Warfare Officer, you will be directly involved in every aspect of Naval operations, deploying globally to support Navy and joint military requirements. You will deliver vital information to decision makers by attacking, defending and exploiting networks to capitalize on vulnerabilities in the information environment.
Specific Responsibilities

Your responsibility as a member of the information warfare community is to supply information superiority that successfully supports command objectives. This is achieved through the application of Information Operations (IO) and Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) expertise.

Other responsibilities of a Navy Information Warfare Officer typically include:

* Leading Information Operations personnel and advising Commanding Officers
* Coordinating information warfare measures in exercises and operations
* Assuming responsibility for processing real-time signal intelligence
* Conducting Computer Network Operations (CNO)
* Developing cutting-edge exploitation and defense systems

Work Environment

Your role as a Navy Information Warfare Officer will take you to sea, air and shore commands all across the globe. You may also have the chance to serve at the National Security Agency, the Pentagon or Regional Cryptologic Centers throughout the country. What’s more, you could have the opportunity to lead Cryptologic Technicians in related activities both afloat and ashore.
Training & Advancement

Prospective Navy Information Warfare Officers attend Officer Candidate School (OCS) in Newport, Rhode Island.

After completing OCS, you will attend the 11-week Navy Information Warfare Officer Basic Course in Pensacola, Florida, learning:

* Information Operations
* U.S. Cryptologic System
* Electromagnetic Theory
* RADAR
* Satellite Fundamentals
* Military Communications
* Signals Collection Operations
* Tactical Cryptology
* Collection Management
* Traffic Analysis
* Signals Intelligence Reporting
* National Security Strategy
* Computer Networks
* Introduction to Security

After graduation, your initial assignment will be at one of the four National Cryptologic Centers, where you’ll gain additional leadership and management experience:

* San Antonio, Texas
* Kunia, Hawaii
* Augusta, Georgia
* Fort Meade, Maryland

Education Opportunities

Vital communications demand highly educated Officers. These are some of your opportunities:

* Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, allows the opportunity to earn an advanced degree. The school offers advanced degrees (master’s or doctoral) in many programs.
* The Junior Officer Career Cryptologic Program is a competitive three-year program that will broaden your education and experience and includes an intensive internship at the National Security Agency.

Pay Range

You may earn better pay options for certain duties and proficiencies:

* Special sea pay
* Hazardous duty incentive pay
* Foreign language proficiency pay

Qualifications

Navy Information Warfare Officers are required to have a four-year degree from a college or university.

After the Navy

Career Officers often enjoy increased responsibility and challenges that can include command, Fleet Commander Staff duty, major staff duty and duty as Information Warfare Commander. The specialized knowledge and expertise you gain as an Information Warfare Officer, coupled with your security clearance, may prepare you for future employment with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or National Security Agency (NSA) if you decide to return to the civilian sector when your service is finished.

FY10 Information Warfare Officer Captains

CONGRATULATIONS TO THESE FINE OFFICERS

Mickey Batson – NIOC Suitland
Joe Boogren – Commander, 6th Fleet
David Carson – Commanding Officer – NIOC Menwith Hill Station
Susan Cerovsky – Information Warfare Commander – CCSG 12
Stone Davis – Commanding Officer – NIOC Texas
Eric Dietz – Commander, 3rd Fleet
Justin Kershaw – Commanding Officer – NIOC Yokosuka
Tim Rohrer – Commander, 2nd Fleet
Frank Shaul – Commanding Officer – NIOC Pensacola

Our Information Warfare vision is…

“… to capitalize on our dual asymmetric advantages; our talented and highly motivated people and our cutting edge technology to deliver overwhelming information superiority to naval and Joint commanders. Achieving this vision requires the continued development of our people and the creation and sustainment of robust programs that deliver Information Warfare capabilities, including new strategic concepts, tactics, techniques, procedures, training, and new acquisition programs of record. As we continue our evolution as Information Warriors, we must maintain our unparalleled expertise and relevance as the premier military Signals Intelligence and Cryptologic force.”

RADM Edward H. Deets, Vice Commander, Naval Network Warfare Command in September 2007 letter to Information Warfare Officers

Extraordinary levels of effectiveness

“Network Centric Warfare (NCW) enhances the U.S. Armed Forces’ ability to combine into a seamless, joint, coalition warfighting force. When implemented, it takes full advantage of the trust we place in our junior and noncommissioned officers. As information moves down echelon, so does decision making. Thus, smaller joint force packages can possess more flexibility and agility and are able to wield greater combat power than before.

NCW generates new and extraordinary levels of operational effectiveness. It enables and leverages new military capabilities while allowing the United States and our multinational partners to use traditional capabilities with more speed and precision.”

Vice Admiral Arthur K. Cebrowski
Director – Office of Force Transformation
Office of the Secretary of Defense

In my recollections of Admiral Cebrowski from the 1994-1995 timeframe, he was helping Rear Admiral Thomas F. Stevens, Commander Naval Security Group Command, socialize “Information Warfare” across the OPNAV Staff. Admiral Cebrowski was a futurist and really believed in the power of IW. He helped COMNAVSECGRU become the Navy’s executive agent for IW implementation.

Key to victory…Navy Information Warfare

“The key to victory has not been merely having new technology available, but how a warrior has been innovative and used that technology to his advantage in combat. Navy Information Warfare is no different – we need to approach every system, newly installed or already in place, with a long-term view of how to exploit the rapid development of information systems.”

Admiral Robert Natter, former Commander, Fleet Forces Command

Information Warfare Officer Leadership

“The demand for our skill sets in Fleet, Joint, and National billets rings loud and clear. Our 1610 ACDU billet base has grown by 181 billets since 2000 – that is approx 25% growth in operational billets over the last 8 years. There is simply not that kind of growth in many other Officer Communities.

Obviously, the future brings great challenges and opportunities, and any reflection of our immediate history leads me to only one conclusion – as a community, we are well postured to accept those challenges and expand on those opportunities.

Positive self-talk is a good thing and creates lots of momentum, and I ask that each of you take this letter and use it to guide an IW Wardroom discussion about who we are, the myriad roles we play in support of the GWOT, and the incredible opportunity we all have as individuals and a community to lead the CNO’s concept of Decision Superiority.”

Rear Admiral Edward H. Deets III, Vice Commander, Naval Network Warfare Command in his 25 March 2008 letter to Information Warfare Officers