What Would You Put on Your IDC Reading List?

This is a post from LCDR Christopher Nelson, a Navy Intelligence Officer that is an avid reader and also blogs over at Between the Boards.

There are thousands of reading lists out there. While I'm not sure that I agree with author Umberto Ecco’s belief that we "like lists because we don't want to die," I do think reading lists are essential for any serious reader. They’re also fun. Seriously.

ENLISTED CYBER MASTER'S DEGREE OPPORTUNITY AT NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL

CTNs and ITs ... What an awesome opportunity!

Below, you will find a highlighted copy of the recent NAVADMIN (057/14) advertising a 12-month Master of Science in Applied Cyber Operations to CTNs and ITs, E6 or above.

Higher education is something our Information Dominance Corps (rightfully) pushes heavily.  We work in very technical fields that demand not only the brightest individuals, but also academics.  This is a good thing.  In this push to "increase the Navy's cyber capabilities, while building a professional cyber workforce," your Navy and cyber experience mixed with focused studies in a formal masters program at a quality school has the potential for great results, for the Navy and for you both professionally and personally.

The Officer ranks have been taking advantage of graduate education for some time and I am very excited to see the emphasis pushed to Chiefs and First Classes.

I hope all qualified and interested Sailors take advantage of this opportunity!

Last years selectees were announced in NAVADMIN 186/13 which you can find here.

What's on your reading list?

What are you reading?  Need a recommendation?  Need motivation?

"The problem with being too busy to read is that you learn by experience (or by your men’s experience), i.e. the hard way. By reading, you learn through others’ experiences, generally a better way to do business, especially in our line of work where the consequences of incompetence are so final for young men." ~ Gen. James Mattis¹

In a recent CNO's Rapid Innovation Cell (CRIC) Podcast, Mario Vulcano, instructor for our Information Warfare Basic Course (IWBC) was interviewed on a few topics centering around an endeavor titled, "Investing in Tomorrow's Leaders, Today".

Listen to the full podcast at the bottom off this post.

Results: 2014 ON-THE-ROOF GANG (OTRG) ANNUAL AWARD

A huge congratulations to the individuals selected as the awardees for the 2014 On-The-Roof-Gang award:

Navy: CTTCM(IDW/SW/AW) Samuel R. Olmstead, USN from NAVIOCOM Colorado

Marine Corps: GYSGT John F. Kirk IV, USMC from Company D, MARCRYPTSPTPBN, Fort Gordon, GA

To the nominees listed in addition to those awarded, we are incredibly proud of your achievements and know that even though your experience, expertise and contributions to our Information Warfare and Cryptology community will never be fully recognized in a public fashion, this is a fantastic acknowledgement and hope your family, friends, and Shipmates appreciate all that you have given and accomplished.

Full message pasted below.

Let the coding games begin!

Happy New Year!  Resolutions?  How's your coding skills coming along?

Back in September I posted the article, "3 reasons why you need to learn to code".  It talked a little bit about why people should code, but it didn't give any direction on where to begin, practice, or play!

A while back I had a number of Sailors (CTN flavor) bring up that they didn't feel comfortable writing code, and that was a topic covered in the advancement exam.  What resulted was really quite awesome...

IWBC Course Material

Course material from Information Warfare Basic Course (IWBC) is now posted online for your reference.  A link will be kept on our Resources page (among some other amazing resources as well).

In addition to the IWBC slides, the Navy Electricity and Electronics Training Series (NEETS) modules have been posted there as well.

Link: http://www.pwlk.net/IWBC

References
Image: http://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/ceninfodom/corry/Reporting.aspx?ID=0

Results: NAVAL INTELLIGENCE JUNIOR OFFICER OF THE YEAR AWARDS-2013

Big congrats to some Junior Intelligence Officers in our Information Dominance Corps for being selected as the 2013 Rear Admiral Thomas A. Brooks Naval Intelligence Junior Officer of the Years, in the 11th iteration of this award.

Afloat: LTJG Stuart M. Vidmar, Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One

Ashore: LT Joseph M. Hatfield, Task Force Six Seven

Expeditionary: LT Willard E. Ball, Naval Special Warfare Development Group

There were 12 nominations in the afloat category, 13 nominations in the ashore category, and 4 nominations in the expeditionary category.

To acknowledge and potentially award your Intelligence Specialist Sailors in a similar manner, make sure you check out the COMMANDER DAN F. SHANOWER INTELLIGENCE SPECIALIST OF THE YEAR message.