CIWT’s Training Department Forges Navy’s Information Warriors

Photo By Michele Diamond | Logo for Center for Information Warfare Training. (U.S. Navy graphic by Michele Diamond)  

PENSACOLA, FL, UNITED STATES

04.03.2018

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Taylor Jackson 

Center for Information Warfare Training

PENSACOLA, Fla. — Every day, more than 3,600 students across 18 separate locations make their way to one of more than 200 courses taught at the Center for Information Warfare Training (CIWT) domain’s sites and detachments.

Enlisted and officers alike come to CIWT to make their initial entry into the information warfare (IW) community. Training delivery is in the hands of each course’s instructors, but behind the scenes, the training managers assigned to CIWT’s training directorate (N7) are working to ensure these students are getting the most relevant and up-to-date course material.

Tucked away in one of the many sensitive compartmented information facilities, or SCIFs, at CIWT’s headquarters onboard Naval Air Station Pensacola Corry Station, the N7 staff is busy building new courses, revising old ones and exploring new methods of training delivery.

“N7, with a huge team effort coordinated with other CIWT directorates, manages many aspects of training from student throughput as well as future planning,” said Cmdr. James Dudley, CIWT’s deputy director of training. “We’re ultimately responsible for course management, but it is truly a team effort across the domain to ensure each course meets the objectives of learning that have been identified for the Sailors.”

That team effort requires coordination between the course curriculum model managers (CCMM) assigned to each learning center, CIWT directorates, course instructors and N7’s training managers. Training managers are responsible for developing and maintaining individual course content. The curricula they design are based on the needs of the fleet and rely on feedback from each command’s CCMMs and course instructors to determine their effectiveness.

As the executive agent for training development, N7 relies on job duty task analysis provided by the fleet to determine the level of knowledge needed to perform each job. After the training requirement has been validated through Naval Information Forces, training managers begin developing the curriculum.

The training manager role is typically filled by CIWT’s military staff. Training management is broken down into cryptology, information systems, intelligence, and cyber mission force departments. Developing and managing curriculum is a unique challenge for those assigned as training managers.

“Coming here is like learning a whole new career field, and it can be difficult to jump in and learn it quickly,” said Dudley. “It takes resilience and the ability to learn and adapt, and you can’t fully appreciate the scope of this position until you’re in it.”

Cryptologic Technician (Technical) 1st Class Brendan Nobles currently manages seven courses in his rating. During his time at CIWT, he has learned a great deal about the work that goes into the training mission and the impact his work has on the Navy.

“I originally thought I was going to be an instructor. I was shocked when I found out exactly what I would be doing because I had no idea how huge this process is,” said Nobles. “It’s something you don’t think about when you’re out in the fleet. Being a training manager is definitely a challenge, but it’s a rewarding feeling to know that you own the knowledge that future Sailors will have and you have the ability to make sure they’re getting the best training possible.”

The N7 staff is constantly working on new improvements to training. Whether it be updating curriculum and classroom equipment, or implementing entirely new training tactics using the latest available technology, the N7 team ensures that all of our training is keeping pace with today’s IW environment.

Center for Information Warfare Training delivers trained information warfare professionals to the Navy and joint services, enabling optimal performance of information warfare across the full spectrum of military operations.

For more news from Center for Information Warfare Training enterprise, visit http://www.navy.mil/local/cid/, http://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/ciwt/, http://www.facebook.com/NavyCIWT, or http://www.twitter.com/NavyCIWT.

• Date Taken: 04.03.2018
• Date Posted: 04.03.2018 10:13
• Story ID: 271606
• Location: PENSACOLA, FL, US