By Gary Nichols, CID Public Affairs
PENSACOLA, Fla. – Rear Adm. Michael S. White, commander, Naval Education and Training Command (NETC), made his first official visit to the Center for Information Dominance (CID) on April 9.
White, who recently assumed command of NETC, is traveling to Navy Learning Centers throughout the NETC domain to learn first-hand about the training being delivered to the fleet.
Conveniently located only two miles from Naval Air Station Pensacola, where NETC is based, CID is one of the earlier learning centers White visited.
Based at Corry Station, CID is the Navy’s learning center that leads, manages and delivers Navy and joint forces training in information operations, information warfare, information technology, cryptology and intelligence.
With nearly 1,300 military, civilian and contracted staff members, CID oversees the development and administration of 202 courses at four commands, two detachments and 14 learning sites throughout the United States and Japan. CID provides training for approximately 24,000 members of the U.S. Armed Services and allied forces each year.
Following a short presentation from CID Commanding Officer Capt. Susan K. Cerovsky on the overall mission and scope of CID, White visited two classrooms and a lab at CID Unit Corry Station.
While there he received briefs from several instructors, including: Ship’s Signal Exploitation Equipment Increment “F” Maintenance Course Supervisor and retired Master Chief Petty Officer and CID Civilian of the Year Tom Priest; Joint Cyber Analysis Course Manager Cryptologic Technician Networks 1st Class Jason Taylor; and A+ Instructor Information Systems Technician1st Class Ryan Butler.
CID Unit Corry Station instructors teach 38 courses of instruction within the Cryptologic and Information Systems Technician ratings, with about 12,500 students graduating from various schools annually, making this the largest command within the CID domain.
“Our CID instructors are the reason why CID continues to produce the world’s finest information dominance warriors,” Cerovsky said. “When our graduates leave here, they are fully prepared to join the fleet and to perform their mission, thanks to the hard work by these first-rate instructors.”
At the end of his tour, White had an opportunity to chat with IT “A” school students who were in a computer lab. The students were practicing building and repairing Ethernet or CAT 5 cables. Similar to over-sized telephone lines, these cables are used to connect computers to networks.
White also received a quick tutorial from Seaman Recruit Vincent Owens, 19, of Frenchville, Pa., on assembling new Ethernet cables.
Owens showed White how to make a new cable by deciphering the wiring scheme and attaching an RJ-45 connector to each end of the cable.
Owens said he was honored to meet White, and that he never expected to meet an admiral, let alone have a one-on-one conversation with one.
Owens said he was pleasantly surprised that White was genuinely interested in the work he and his classmates were doing in the IT lab, and to have the opportunity to show off some of his newly-acquired technical skills.
“It was a really cool experience to be able to show Rear Adm. White how to make a cable,” Owens said. “It was neat to be able to show someone besides an instructor or fellow student what I’ve been learning in IT “A” school.”
Most of the students White spoke with at the IT lab were new accessions, or Sailors who only a few weeks earlier were attending boot camp at Recruit Training Command Great Lakes, Ill.
White said he was impressed by the quality and speed of these students as they make the transformation from recruits to full-fledged Information Systems Technicians, and he gave the credit for that transformation to the dedicated and talented CID instructors.
“The quality of the instructors just amazes me,” White said. “That they are able to mold these young men and women into productive IDC Sailors in such a short time speaks volumes to their quality.”
After five months of intense training at CID this class of IT “A” school students will join the fleet later this summer as the newest crop of cyber warriors within the Information Dominance Corps (IDC).
“Their motivation energizes me every day,” White said. “CID is clearly an incredibly professional organization that’s building the future of our fleet. The Information Dominance Corps have a growing role and the important training being conducted by CID can’t be under stressed here.”
For more information about CID, please visit http://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/ceninfodom/.