IWTC Monterey’s Junior Enlisted: Taking Care of Sailors

Courtesy Photo | 200226-N-XX082-0003 MONTEREY, Calif. (February 26, 2020) Leaders of the Junior Enlisted Association (JEA) at Information Warfare Command (IWTC) Monterey pose for a photo. Today, the JEA is more active than ever and is doing great work in the command. IWTC Monterey, as part of the Center for Information Warfare Training (CIWT), provides a continuum of foreign language training to Navy personnel, which prepares them to conduct information warfare across the full spectrum of military operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) 3rd Class Shelby Sims /Released)  

MONTEREY, CA, UNITED STATES

02.27.2020

Courtesy Story

Center for Information Warfare Training

By Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) 3rd Class Shelby Sims, Information Warfare Command Monterey

MONTEREY, Calif. – In 2018, junior Sailors attached to Information Warfare Command (IWTC) Monterey formed an organization called the Junior Enlisted Association (JEA). Today, the JEA is more active than ever and is doing great work in the command.

IWTC Monterey’s JEA was formerly the local chapter of the Coalition of Sailors Against Destructive Decisions (CSADD). CSADD focused largely on peer mentorship and resilience. They made the change to the JEA in 2018. They wanted to keep those aspects of CSADD while adding greater focus on service to the command and the local community. The JEA has taken on a mission to provide IWTC Monterey’s students with a platform to share ideas, build friendships, advocate for improvements to the command and community, and encourage academic excellence.

“These sailors have good ideas,” said Seaman Samuel Bush, president of the IWTC Monterey JEA. “The association helps them organize their ideas and put them on paper so they can be submitted and eventually realized.”

As a training command, IWTC Monterey is home to around 500 initial-entry students at any given time. The JEA welcomes each new group of students and provides them with information on life at the Defense Language Institute, life in the Navy, and life in Monterey. They also host small social events which can be beneficial for young Sailors away from home for the first time. For many students, joining the military was a way of contributing to the community. JEA leaders recognize this and are working toward connecting members with a wide variety of volunteer opportunities, on-base events, and other community service activities.

“There are a lot of good people in JEA,” added Bush. “They want to give back to the community and I get to hear their ideas and help make it happen!”

Capt. Michael Salehi, IWTC Monterey’s commanding officer, recognized the talent and drive present in the JEA membership and began including them in various command projects. Some projects include divisional morale shirts and the design of a command patch, an eagerly awaited addition to the Navy Working Uniform (NWU) Type III. For the patch, they have taken inspiration from Senior Chief Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) Shannon Kent, a former IWTC Monterey Sailor who was killed in action in Syria on Jan. 26, 2019. The proposed patch design will include the command crest with the addition of the words “Send me.” It was Kent’s simple response to a question regarding a particularly dangerous mission, illustrating her devotion to duty and to her team.

The JEA has established itself within IWTC Monterey, which is just one of several commands in the joint-service world of the Presidio of Monterey. However, they have their sights set on opportunities for greater impact. They are rewriting their constitution and bylaws with the intent to be a base-wide organization, potentially allowing for participation of junior enlisted members of other military services.

“The initiatives the JEA have implemented within the command are remarkable,” said Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Michalowicz, IWTC Monterey’s executive officer. “Unprompted, they identified the importance of peer-to-peer interaction at check-in, hosting pizza socials and guided tours of DLIFLC [Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center], to our newly arriving initial-entry trainee Sailors. That said, the JEA is more than a welcoming committee, they are an organization of motivated junior Sailors who personify ‘Ship, Shipmate, Self.’”

IWTC Monterey, as part of the Center for Information Warfare Training (CIWT), provides a continuum of foreign language training to Navy personnel, which prepares them to conduct information warfare across the full spectrum of military operations.

With four schoolhouse commands, two detachments, and training sites throughout the United States and Japan, CIWT is recognized as Naval Education and Training Command’s top learning center for the past three years. Training over 20,000 students every year, CIWT delivers trained information warfare professionals to the Navy and joint services. CIWT also offers more than 200 courses for cryptologic technicians, intelligence specialists, information systems technicians, electronics technicians, and officers in the information warfare community.

For more on Information Warfare Training Command Monterey, visit http://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/ciwt/IWTCmonterey/ and http://www.monterey.army.mil/Service_Units/IWTC_Monterey.html, or find them on Facebook.

For more news from the Center for Information Warfare Training, visit 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: 02.27.2020
• Date Posted: 02.27.2020 07:44
• Story ID: 363997
• Location: MONTEREY, CA, US