Aloha NIOD Kaneohe Bay

Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class William Sykes | NIOD Kaneohe Bay seal  

FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, MD, UNITED STATES

07.09.2020

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class William Sykes 

U.S. Fleet Cyber Command / U.S. 10th Fleet

FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. (NNS) - After more than 37 years, Navy Information Operations Detachment (NIOD) Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii will formally disestablish July 31, 2020.

(See Vice Adm. T.J. White, Commander Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet, reflect on NIOD Kaneohe Bay’s legacy and disestablishment here: https://www.dvidshub.net/video/759195/vice-adm-white-speaks-about-niod-kaneohe-bays-disestablishment)

The disestablishment results from the transfer of the mission NIOD Kaneohe Bay performed to NIOD Jacksonville, Florida.

“It may seem that we’re just 20 Sailors in a quiet corner of 10th Fleet, but the Sailors here are the driving force behind high echelon reallocation of national assets and resources today and for the last 37 years,” said Master Chief Adam Shucard, Senior Enlisted Leader, NIOD Kaneohe Bay. “We’ve been around from 1982 to July 31 of this year, and I still have guys forward doing amazing work.”

Information has always been key to winning wars. After World War II, with the Cold War just beginning, the United States and its adversaries were exponentially increasing the use of electronic communications, reaching every part of the sea, shore, more of the ocean’s depths and eventually space. The U.S. Navy took to each of these domains in order to collect and analyze the information needed to protect the country. This also meant that there was a need for cryptologists to take to the sky as aircrew.

During the late 1960s, the Naval Security Group worked with the Navy’s Marine Patrol Squadron to stand up “Special Projects Operations.” Starting in Brunswick, Maine, these “Special Projects Operations” were a big success, enabling well-informed decision-making at the highest levels of the government. The Naval Security Group, wanting to duplicate the success, sent Brunswick Alum and Chief-turned-Lieutenant Mike Zanski to Hawaii. By November 1982, he and his crew became plankowners of Navy Security Group Detachment (NSGD) Barbers Point.

Upon the closure of Naval Air Station Barbers Point in 1999, the detachment was decommissioned and moved to Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, where it was commissioned as NSGD Kaneohe Bay on May 21, 1999.

On October 1, 2005, NSGD Kaneohe Bay was renamed as Navy Information Operations Detachment (NIOD) Kaneohe Bay. The change was part of the integration of Naval Security Group Command functions into Naval Network Warfare Command (NAVNETWARCOM) as one of the Chief of Naval Operations initiated echelon 2 realignments/consolidations.

While the missions NIOD Kaneohe Bay participated in were secret, many successes could be attributed to them.

“NIOD KBAY (Kaneohe Bay) was a small organization that did big things around the world,” said Master Chief Jeffrey P. Salazar, assigned to NIOD Kaneohe Bay from June 2013 to June 2015. “Many times, I would watch the news and know that NIOD KBAY Sailors contributed to the events being broadcasted on an international stage, one event in the Pacific, Middle-East and Africa, however I could not tell a soul. The beauty of Special Projects is that the team had full autonomy to not just execute a vital mission, but to come up with ideas or concepts that a customer does not know he wants or needs.”

The Sailors assigned to NIOD Kaneohe Bay represent talent management, operational and technical supremacy, and the unyielding push to be masters of their craft.

“We were the best at what we did,” said Shucard. “We were everywhere, all the time as needed, part of momentous events in history in which we are all aware of, providing the United States with knowledge no other group could have provided. And we were successful every time.”

Aside from their missions, NIOD Kaneohe Bay Sailors were also active members of the Hawaii ‘Ohana, committed to being good neighbors.

“Our Sailors were involved in myriad community relation projects and with various charitable organizations in the local community, to include Ronald McDonald House and regular command-sponsored participation with AccesSurf -- a nonprofit charity organization that offers a variety of programs, services, and events for people with disability,” said Cmdr. David Spalding, Officer in Charge (OIC) of NIOD Kaneohe Bay, October 2013 to June 2016.

Throughout the years, NIOD Kaneohe Bay Sailors also invested their time in volunteer opportunities such as assisting brothers and sisters-in-arms during rehabilitation through the Wounded Warriors program, restoring paintings at the Pacific Aviation Museums, and providing hundreds of hours at the Honolulu Airport USO.

Between the weekly command PT (physical training) on Kailua Beach or deployments to various locations around the world and missions in which remain secret, the small group of Sailors who served at NIOD Kaneohe Bay look back at their time there with fond memories.

“One of my most rewarding tours was at this command,” said Master Chief Ralph Bass. “Constantly seeing the outcome of good work is something rare in the IW (Information Warfare) community. Deploying all over the world at a short notice for joint efforts was absolutely incredible. Kaneohe Bay was an example of why a Sailor enlists in the Navy. The adventure, quick turnaround, deployments all over the globe, and coming home to watch something you witnessed make the news… that is one place that truly provided the feeling of service every single day.”

The mission of the detachment is to provide worldwide, airborne cryptologic direct support and to perform other functions as directed by Commander, U. S. Fleet Cyber Command/Commander, U.S. TENTH Fleet (FCC/C10F).

FCC is responsible for Navy information network operations, offensive and defensive cyberspace operations, space operations, and signals intelligence. Comprised of more than 14,000 Sailors, Reservists and civilians stationed across the world, C10F is the operational arm of FCC and executes its mission through a task force structure similar to other warfare commanders.

For news and information from Commander, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command / U.S. 10th Fleet, visit www.navy.mil/local/FCCC10F/ or follow us on twitter @USFLEETCYBERCOM.

• Date Taken: 07.09.2020
• Date Posted: 07.09.2020 18:10
• Story ID: 373654
• Location: FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, MD, US