Source: United States Navy
Rear Adm. John Okon, director, Warfare Integration Directorate, N2N6I, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, opened the IW speaker’s pavilion April 4.
“First, Vice Adm. Trussler is firmly focused on delivering the most consequential capability for the high-end fight to the fleet,” said Okon. “Information is the most consequential capability in the high-end fight, from the bottom of the ocean to the stars.”
Okon emphasized that Vice Adm. Kelly Aeschbach’s number one priority as the IW community lead is Live-Virtual-Constructive training. “We need to have instantiations of training on the underclass to the most classified networks so we can do reps and sets with our Sailors and civilians,” said Okon. “And we have to get there fast.”
Capt. Nicole Nigro, commander, Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic followed up the IW pavilion with a discussion of NIWC Atlantic mission and priorities.
“We are bringing that new capability out to the warfighter,” said Nigro. “We bridge the gap between industry and program offices to get those new capabilities, new technologies out to the Fleet.”
Ms. Tami North, director, NAVIFOR West, spoke on the second day of SAS, leading a discussion at the IW pavilion on defining information warfare capabilities, including the systems, hardware, software and Sailors.
“Information warfare is the key to all other warfare areas,” said North. “It is absolutely essential to the kill chains of every single warfare area, and it is essential at all levels of war.”
North emphasized that Navy IW is focused on countering adversaries while at the same time enhancing the Navy’s effectiveness. The Navy IW community does this through the integrated employment of the Navy’s information capabilities, intended to degrade, deny, deceive or destroy an adversary’s information environment and enhance the friendly operations in the Fleet.
The Navy Information Warfare pavilion also had Sailors from the several IW community career fields on hand to speak to attendees at SAS.
SAS provides a platform for the professional development of Department of the Navy personnel on the latest developments in naval warfare and an opportunity for Navy engagement with representatives from a broad cross-section of government, industry, academia, and the international community.
The SAS schedule was designed to focus on readiness and innovation, with panels covering topics such as acquisition, cyber, strategic sealift, leadership, shipbuilding, and manpower. SAS showcased leaders from across the United States Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, other governmental agencies and industry.
NAVIFOR’s mission is to generate, directly and through our leadership of the IW Enterprise, agile and technically superior manned, trained, equipped, and certified combat-ready IW forces to ensure our Navy will decisively DETER, COMPETE, and WIN.
For more information on NAVIFOR, visit the command Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/NavalInformationForces/ or the public web page at https://www.navifor.usff.navy.mil.