Navy Readiness: IWTC Virginia Beach Reinforces Warrior Toughness

Courtesy Photo | Information Warfare Training Command Virginia Beach Command Logo  

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA, UNITED STATES

08.28.2021

Courtesy Story

Center for Information Warfare Training

By Information Warfare Training Command Virginia Beach

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – In the last several months, Information Warfare Training Command (IWTC) Virginia Beach has made a significant push to ensure all new officer and enlisted instructors have been briefed on the Warrior Toughness program and ways to include in their respective classrooms.

When asked about his observations of the Warrior Toughness program, IWTC Virginia Beach Commanding Officer, Cmdr. James Brennan, stated, “Our Sailors and their wellbeing is the top priority regardless if they are members of the staff or students here at the school house. Because we have many new accession officers and junior enlisted come through the school house, it is vital that we implement this program to the best of our ability to ensure these Sailors have the necessary tools to embody the warrior mindset and establish a firm foundation before reporting to their first operational tours in the fleet. It is also important that we give these same tools to our more senior officers, enlisted staff, and students as this serves as another opportunity for personal and professional growth. We look forward to continue incorporating this training in our curriculums going forward.”

Starting in 2018, the Navy began implementing the Warrior Toughness program at Recruit Training Command (RTC) instill the importance of taking care of Sailors’ minds, body, and soul as an approach to accomplishing tasks at hand and managing stress.

Each Sailor has been taught the principles of taking a spiritual, character-based approach to performance by incorporating proven mental and physical techniques. Since then, commands across the fleet have made a commitment to ensuring their Sailors are given the appropriate training and resources to build upon the Warrior Mindset via tools such as mindfulness exercises, goal setting, self-talk, visualization, energy management, recalibration, and progressive muscle relaxation.

Leading the IWTC Virginia Beach implementation, Chief Intelligence Specialist Spencer Doyne explained, “The Warrior Toughness program is a great tool that is becoming even better and more robust as the program develops. As the Intelligence Specialist “A” School LCPO, I see firsthand how the principles taught work towards making our students more resilient and able to handle the challenges of the Navy. Here at IWTC Virginia Beach, we started out with providing all of our course instructors, officer and enlisted baseline training on the program as many of our instructors had not heard of the program, although a lot of their students already received training while going through their accession pipelines. Moving forward, we intend to reinforce and build upon the tools the students get to the school house with to better prepare them for the situations and challenges they will encounter in the fleet.”

IWTC Virginia Beach currently offers 59 courses of instruction in information technology, cryptology, and intelligence with an instructor and support staff of 278 military, civilian, and contract members who train over 6,600 students every year at five training sites in the Hampton Roads area. It is one of four school houses for Center for Information Warfare Training (CIWT) and also oversees learning sites at Jacksonville and Mayport, Florida; Kings Bay, Georgia; and Groton, Connecticut to continue aligning information warfare community training.

With four schoolhouse commands, a detachment, and training sites throughout the United States and Japan, CIWT trains approximately 26,000 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 the Center for Information Warfare Training domain, visit https://www.netc.navy.mil/CIWT, www.facebook.com/NavyCIWT, or www.twitter.com/NavyCIWT.

• Date Taken: 08.28.2021
• Date Posted: 08.28.2021 08:08
• Story ID: 404105
• Location: VIRGINIA BEACH, VA, US