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US 10th Fleet Commanders' Conference Emphasizes Readiness

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS121119-05
11/19/2012

From Commander, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet Public Affairs

FORT MEADE, Md. (NNS) -- Commander, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet (FCC/C10F) hosted 10th Fleet leaders from around the world, Nov. 7 - 9 at the 2012 commanders' conference held at Fort Meade.

U.S. 10th Fleet Task Force commanders and commanding officers took advantage of being together in person to work on the shared challenges that all leaders face and to synchronize efforts for continued success well into the future.

"We are looking not just at technical or operational issues or the cyber workforce alone," said Vice Adm. Michael S. Rogers, commander, FCC/C10F, during his opening remarks. "With cyber, it is the whole service we must think about - every person is an operator [on Navy networks] and this is a vulnerability unless we continue to push change."

Cyber readiness now and for the future was the focus, as Rogers went on to prioritize challenges for 10th Fleet, including (1) implementing training methodologies on cyber preparedness for the entire Navy, (2) continuing to improve situational awareness, (3) assuring command and control, (4) optimizing the workforce, and (5) fully integrating cyber into traditional Navy and military operations.

Underpinning all of these efforts is the imperative to transform the Navy's culture with respect to the role of cyber in joint warfare.

"Cyber readiness, like readiness in all warfighting areas, is a team effort - it takes all of our teammates across the Navy," Rogers said.

To this end, the FCC/C10F team is currently working on standardized cyber training for the Navy, with three tiers based on usage: one for standard users, another for leadership, and the third for cyber experts.

"The network must be treated as a weapons system as we continue the fight to maintain our advantage in cyberspace and thus across the other four warfighting domains [sea, air, land, and space]," said Rogers.

The goal is to have all users on the Navy's networks understand the vital importance of assuring access to cyberspace and confident command and control that prevents strategic surprise in cyberspace while allowing delivery of decisive cyber effects.

Over the three days, the conference covered various topics, including a look at the global trends with Dr. Matthew Burrows, National Intelligence Council (NIC) counselor, and an update from Army Gen. Keith B. Alexander, commander, U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) and director, National Security Agency/Chief, Central Security Service (NSA/CSS).

FCC, an echelon 2 command, serves as the Navy Component Command to USCYBERCOM and the Navy's Service Cryptologic Component commander to NSA/CSS and C10F controls operations supporting FCC.

"The FCC/C10F team executes its mission set using the same traditional maritime warfighting organizations and mechanisms that the Navy uses in every other warfighting domain," Rogers said at the conference.

"That is, [C10F is] a three-star numbered fleet that has operational oversight and uses its Maritime Operations Center to execute command and control over its assigned forces," Rogers said. "Subordinate task forces [under C10F] are organized to execute the actions necessary to achieve the mission within their assigned mission sets and an extremely motivated work force of uniformed and civilian teammates stand as the cornerstone of our efforts in the cyber domain."