IWTC Corry Station Brown Bag Leadership Lunch Connects Current, Future Leaders

Photo By Michele Diamond | Logo for Information Warfare Training Command Corry Station. (U.S. Navy courtesy graphic)  

PENSACOLA, FL, UNITED STATES

05.27.2020

Courtesy Story

Center for Information Warfare Training

By Information Warfare Training Command Corry Station

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Chief petty officers (CPOs) and junior officers attached to Information Warfare Training Command (IWTC) Corry Station held a brown bag leadership lunch event in the Chief’s Mess and various conference rooms onboard Naval Air Station Pensacola Corry Station, May 27.

"I wanted to bring together a diverse group of leadership to ultimately help foster the mentoring environment for the students of the Cryptologic Warfare Officer Basic Course (CWOBC) and Afloat Cryptologic Management (ACM) courses," said Chief Cryptologic Technician (Collection) Raymond Donato, senior enlisted and information warfare officer courses instructor. "I want to inspire actual action, getting folks more involved in mentoring, focusing on the division officer and division chief relationship."

This iteration, IWTC Corry Station CPOs and junior officers were divided into four separate teams as part of the precautionary measures for COVID-19. These teams discussed ethics case studies from the US Naval Academy designed to challenge leaders in solving future problems within their prospective divisions.

CWOBC class 20040, with 20 junior officers, was the first group to participate in the hour-long leadership small group format. Junior officers asked the staff chiefs and department heads questions regarding the case studies and other division issues regarding their next tours.

"This was very beneficial for first accession officers,” said Ensign David Yi, a CWOBC student. "We had the chance to be in an environment that wasn't so professional and uptight. That allowed us the opportunity to actually get to know the chiefs, on a more personal and open level, rather than an exclusively professional level."

The purpose of the leadership brown bag event was to strengthen the division officer and division chief relationship, while also facilitating and encouraging the active involvement of Sailors and leaders throughout the command who have yet to experience the chance to interact with several chief petty officers one-on-one.

"This was a completely different experience than Officer Candidate School where you only talk to the chiefs in a professional setting," said Yi. "The chiefs and department heads shared their division officer and division chief relationships experience both at sea and shore commands."

Topics included leadership and management, career progression, how to solve common problems, and advice on how to become well-rounded leaders, all from the perspective of Corry Station’s most experienced enlisted Sailors.

This event will be followed with the new CWOBC and ACM students during the next two months to ensure new junior officers have a chance to interact with senior enlisted leadership. The unfettered access to senior enlisted leadership from across the command may also inspire future leadership to mentor others.

IWTC Corry Station is a part of the Center for Information Warfare Training (CIWT). With four schoolhouse commands, two detachments, and training sites throughout the United States and Japan, CIWT trains over 20,000 students every year, delivering 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 news from Center for Information Warfare Training domain, visit www.navy.mil/local/cid/, https://www.public.navy.mil/netc/centers/ciwt/, www.facebook.com/NavyCIWT, or www.twitter.com/NavyCIWT.

• Date Taken: 05.27.2020
• Date Posted: 05.30.2020 04:52
• Story ID: 371120
• Location: PENSACOLA, FL, US