Photo By Christopher McGinity | SUITLAND, Md. (Jun. 4, 2025) — Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information...... read more read more
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SUITLAND, Md. — Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare (N2N6) Vice Adm. Karl Thomas visited the Office of Naval Intelligence and delivered remarks during ONI’s commemoration of the Battle of Midway at the National Maritime Intelligence Center on June 4th, 2025.
In attendance was Mr. Jon Harrison, Chief of Staff of the Department of the Navy; Ms. Sandra Brown, Assistant Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence; and Rear Adm. Mike Brookes, commander, ONI. Guest presenter Jennifer Marland from the Office of Curator of Models located at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division also delivered a presentation on the history of the Battle of Midway.
June 4th marked the 83rd anniversary of the historic battle that took place off the Midway Atoll between the Imperial Japanese navy and American forces. Nearly six months to the day following the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S. forces, outgunned and outmatched, delivered a devastating blow to the enemy, sinking four aircraft carriers, over 200 aircraft and several smaller ships. A feat made possible by Naval Intelligence.
"This crowd here, from an intelligence perspective, absolutely understands the strength of the intelligence that we had, to be able to put us in the right position so that those three carriers we had could be at the right spot to defeat a superior force,” said Thomas.
Leading up to this fateful conflict, U.S. Navy Cmdr. Joseph Rochefort, Cmdr. Edwin Layton, and the team of dedicated U.S. Navy cryptanalysts assigned to Station HYPO, located at Pearl Harbor, worked tirelessly, decoding enough of the JN-25 code to determine details of Japanese plans to attack Midway. This intelligence gave Adm. Chester Nimitz, then the Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, an advantage over the enemy and the opportunity to reposition U.S. forces allowing them to launch a preemptive strike against the encroaching navy.
Capitalizing on these advantages through intelligence will have an outsized impact on future conflicts.
"Taking advantage of those kind of asymmetric advantages that we have is critical to the future fight,” said Thomas. “I really do, in my heart of heart, believe that the intelligence that you provide is going to be critical in staying three steps ahead of the other guy.”
The American victory at Midway was not accomplished through Naval might alone. Marine and Army aviation squadrons stationed at Midway worked in cooperation with the carrier task force group to conduct additional operations against the Japanese forces, often at great cost and sacrifice.
As Nimitz put it, “I am proud to report that the cooperative devotion to duty of all those involved was so marked that, despite the necessarily decisive part played by our three carriers, this defeat of the Japanese arms and ambitions was truly a victory of the United States’ armed forces and not of the Navy alone.”
This year, our Navy and Nation celebrates 250 years of strength, prosperity, and the American way of life. Naval intelligence has been critical in forging and maintaining these ideals and will continue to provide fleet commanders and key decisionmakers the advantage in confronting the challenges of tomorrow as much as it did 83 years ago at the Battle of Midway.
Closing out the ceremony, Capt. Kevin Barnard, commanding officer of ONI’s Nimitz Warfare Analysis Center, thanked Thomas, Harrison and Brown for attending and echoed the lessons learned from our predecessors at Midway.
"When the time comes, like Midway, we need to be ready and we don’t always get to choose when that is,” said Barnard. “We need to be ready so when that battle does happen, we can provide the decisive advantage that Layton and Rochefort were able to provide.”
For 143 years, the Office of Naval Intelligence has continued to deliver war-winning maritime expertise that promotes our Nation’s prosperity and security, deters aggression, and provides options to our leaders. For more information on the Office of Naval Intelligence, visit www.oni.navy.mil.
| Date Taken: | 06.06.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.06.2025 10:13 |
| Story ID: | 499833 |
| Location: | SUITLAND, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 138 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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