CIWT's LREC Team Helps CTIs Maintain, Improve Skills

Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Taylor Jackson | 180816-N-FI568-0003 PENSACOLA, Fla. (Aug. 16, 2018) Sailors attend a refresher course in Chinese Mandarin in the Center for Language, Regional Expertise and Culture’s language testing office onboard Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. Cryptologic technicians (interpretive), the Navy’s foreign language analysts, are required to attend annual refresher training in their assigned language. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Taylor L. Jackson/Released)  

PENSACOLA, FL, UNITED STATES

08.16.2018

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Taylor Jackson 

Center for Information Warfare Training

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Five Navy linguists are currently onboard Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida conducting their annual refresher training.

Cryptologic technicians (interpretive) (CTI), the Navy’s language professionals, are required to attend annual training sessions to maintain and improve their linguistic skills in support of mission operations. This session, which began Aug. 13 and runs through Sept. 14, supports CTIs specializing in Chinese Mandarin.

As the Navy's primary source for language and cultural training, the Language, Regional Expertise and Culture (LREC) directorate at the Center for Information Warfare Training (CIWT) scheduled the session and coordinated with the Defense Language Institute (DLI) to have a Mandarin instructor present to lead the training.

“Language proficiency is paramount to our language analysts’ mission and is a highly perishable skill,” said Shannon Hickman, CTI training lead. “Recurrent training is essential for achieving and maintaining the highest possible levels. Annual training ensures CTIs are always ready to support naval operations across the globe.”

During six hours of daily classroom lessons and two to three hours of nightly homework assignments, the intensive, month-long course is designed to expand the linguists’ vocabulary, refresh and introduce new grammar concepts and maximize use of the language in context. Danni Lu, instructor for the course, is making sure the training sessions meet the unique training requirements of each individual student.

“For a lot of us that are not stationed near a traditional learning site, having this training conducted by a DLI instructor provides us with a valuable knowledge resource that all linguists require,” said Chief Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) Michael Dennison.

Operating as a directorate of CIWT, LREC trains Navy personnel throughout the world in foreign languages and foreign cultures as they prepare for specialized, language-intensive missions, overseas assignments, deployments, and interactions with people from other cultures.

CIWT 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 www.navy.mil/local/cid/, www.netc.navy.mil/centers/ciwt/, www.facebook.com/NavyCIWT, or www.twitter.com/NavyCIWT.

• Date Taken: 08.16.2018
• Date Posted: 08.16.2018 12:43
• Story ID: 289056
• Location: PENSACOLA, FL, US