YOKOSUKA -- Information Warfare Community (IWC) detailers visited the Navy’s forward-deployed aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), May 1.
Officer detailers from the information professional, cryptologic warfare, and intelligence communities as well as the information systems technician rating lead enlisted detailer visited Ronald Reagan to conduct a community overview brief with enlisted Sailors and officers aboard the ship. “Seventh Fleet asked us to bring our community detailing team to visit the forward-deployed naval force (FDNF) to meet with IWC professionals to provide community updates and one-on-one mentoring for officers and enlisted Sailors,” said Capt. Mike Vernazza, senior intelligence officer detailer.
The community overview brief given by the detailers addressed the state of the information warfare community, manpower initiatives and detailing challenges. Detailers also held one-on-one career-development sessions with enlisted Sailors in the Chief’s Mess and with officers in the executive officer’s conference room.
“Being out in the FDNF world and the time difference, there’s a lot of missed opportunities for detailers to get out to talk to Sailors,” said Information Systems Technician (IT) Master Chief (IW/EXW/SW) Jeanette Hafer, IT lead enlisted detailer. “It’s important for us to be here and able to tell the Sailors what’s going on face to face within our community.”
The visit, an addition the IWC Roadshow hosted by U.S. 7th Fleet, May 2-4, marks the first time IWC detailers have traveled to Japan and is a direct reflection of the Navy’s greater focus and importance of the FDNF. “It's a great opportunity,” said Vernazza. “It allows us to meet the Sailors in person and hear some of the challenges that our FDNF Sailors have out here. This can benefit them from a career management perspective and allows Sailors to understand the direction the community is going in.”
The IWC Roadshow’s visit to 7th Fleet is another key event that helps highlight 7th Fleet’s campaign to create awareness and interest in the operations conducted by the FDNF. USS Ronald Reagan is the Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier and is the flagship carrier of Carrier Strike Group 5, providing assistance to allies in the Indo-Asian-Pacific region.