Source: United States Navy
Capt. Christopher Bryant, commanding officer, CIWT, provided an overview of the Information Warfare training CIWT is responsible for at its four primary training commands and distributed learning sites. Cmdr. Peter Manzoli, commanding officer, IWTC Corry Station, was also on hand and discussed his command’s mission, courses offered, and diverse Information Warfare community student population.
Throughout the discussion Hermosilla voiced keen interest in CIWT’s resource sponsorship and requirements relationships. Bryant explained the resource sponsorship role of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare (N2N6), but also the critical roles that Naval Information Forces, the National Agencies, and Information Warfare community leaders play in providing the requirements that charts the direction of training the Information Warfare community.
To describe the technical innovations CIWT training is headed, CIWT staff members, Cmdr. Josh Dennis and Cmdr. Gil Baughn discussed changes being made by CIWT to transition curriculum into virtual delivery platforms to increase reality, sophistication, and accessibility of training as well as making curriculum Ready, Relevant Learning-compliant.
Cmdr. Dennis highlighted the cloud-based Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES) program that takes place in the Training Virtual Environment (TVE), and the Multipurpose Reconfigurable Training System (MRTS) 3D® which is being used to develop training applications for the Surface Ship Radio Room that will be incorporated into IT and Information Professional (IP) officer courses.
Cmdr. Baughn explained the current and planned expansion of Cyber Mission Force (CMF) training occurring within the CIWT domain, placing emphasis of the development of the Navy’s Maritime Cyber Officer designator which will see CIWT host the Navy’s first Computer Network Operations Qualifications Course (CNOQC) in July 2023. Bryant then highlighted that CIWT had been able to develop classroom-delivered cyber training courses executed within the Persistent Cyber Training Environment (PCTE), two to three years ahead of schedule. PCTE is a cloud-based platform designed to deliver realistic cyber simulations at the individual, team, and force level, currently adopted by all four services and the U.S. Cyber Command.
Bryant also asked Hermosilla for his assistance in getting ground broken for the planned, high-end CMF training facility planned for Corry Station in 2027, saying, “it keeps being pushed to the right. We need that to stop rolling, and we need to get ground broken.”
The visit concluded with Manzoli providing a tour of IWTC Corry Station training facilities where Hermosilla was able to observe one of the MRTS 3D® labs used by cryptologic technician technical students to learn how to maintain the AN/SLQ-32(v)6, the principal Electronic Warfare system used on Navy surface ships. As Hermosilla watched Cryptologic Technician Technical 1st Class Brooks Wartgow maneuver through the touchscreen training system, he commented that the MRTS 3D® technology should be used on a wide-scale throughout the fleet to maximize training opportunities on all types of different systems.
With four schoolhouse commands, two detachments, and training sites throughout the United States and Japan, Center for Information Warfare Training trains over 26,000 students every year, delivering trained information warfare professionals to the Navy and joint services. Center for Information Warfare Training also offers more than 200 courses for cryptologic technicians, intelligence specialists, information systems technicians, electronics technicians, and officers in the information warfare community.