USS Germantown certifies intelligence warfare mission area with flying colors

SASEBO, JAPAN

02.06.2015

Courtesy Story

USS Germantown (LSD 42)

By Lt. Jesse Rond

SASEBO, Japan – The USS Germantown (LSD 42) underwent a complete Intelligence Warfare (IW) Certification from Jan. 21 to Feb. 6. The ship’s intelligence team, led by Cryptologic Technician (Technical) 1st Class (CTT1) Bruce Weaver, prepared for the certification months in advance.

“I started contacting the inspector as early as six months before the certification,” said CTT1 Weaver. “I emailed him all of my questions and even met up with him for a meeting at the food court prior to commencing the certification.”

All of his hard work to identify mission requirements at an early stage really paid off.

The certification ended with a 100 percent score in the areas of Intelligence Administration, Watchstander Briefs, and Anti-Terrorism Briefs. Drills were conducted on the Ship’s Nautical or Otherwise Photographic Interpretation and Examination (SNOOPIE) Team with a final score of 99 percent. The Maritime Interdiction and Operations (MIO) brief was the lowest scoring evolution, which was assessed at 95 percent.

“This ship’s intelligence team was the most motivated and professional team I have evaluated in a long time,” said Senior Chief Intelligence Specialist (ISCS) Lott, Afloat Training Group WESTPAC lead inspector for the IW certification. “It was obvious that they did all of their homework before I even stepped onto the ship. It is incredible when a team has all of the administration and drill preparation ready because it enables me to be more of teacher and less of a disciplinarian.”

The certification progressed from Spell out acronym READ-E3 to 2.0/2.1 so well from the beginning that the inspector waived the 2.2 training, which is one of the four inspection sections. This meant the entire certification process was shortened by a week.

“It isn’t too often I can do that,” said Lott. “They were feeding me everything I needed to see exactly how I needed to see it. To have completed the 2.2 would have simply been redundant.”

The commanding officer, Cmdr. Gary Harrington, of the USS Germantown couldn’t have been more pleased with the results of the certification.

“I challenged the team to prepare early for this event and all those early preparations really paid off. Saving a week of training time to focus on other tasking is huge in the FDNF,” said Cmdr. Harrington. “I am really proud of the team and all the hard work they put into earning this certification.”

The IW team on USS Germantown made an incredible mark on the waterfront by demonstrating how to complete a certification with preparation and professionalism. They proved that it really does pay off to do a job right the first time.

• Date Taken: 02.06.2015
• Date Posted: 02.18.2015 03:58
• Story ID: 154704
• Location: SASEBO, JP