The Center for Information Warfare Training's (CIWT) command climate assessment is currently underway.

The command climate assessment allows service members and civilians the chance to voice their opinions on the command, and allows leadership the opportunity to address any the staff's concerns. The assessments are completed annually and also within three months of a change of command.

The Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI) creates the anonymous survey that is distributed to service members and civilian employees throughout the Department of Defense. CIWT's command assessment is led by the command's resiliency team, which includes the command managed equal opportunity (CMEO) program manager and command climate specialist.

"I have been approached by numerous command members asking questions about the survey, which tells me that CIWT members are committed to having their voices heard," said Chief Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) Benjamin Midkiff, CIWT's CMEO program manager. "If you have yet to take your survey, please take the 25 minutes or so to fill it out. It is a fantastic opportunity for you to tell us what we're doing right and what we need to improve."

The climate survey anonymously assesses perceptions of organizational effectiveness, equal opportunity, equal employment opportunity, fair treatment, sexual assault prevention and response and other critical elements of a positive work environment. To protect anonymity, results for each response are separated into multiple demographic groups.

"DEOMI uses multiple avenues to ensure anonymity," said Chief Operations Specialist Kimberly Meeks, CIWT's command climate specialist. "If there are less than five people in a particular demographic for one question, that demographic input will not be displayed for that question."

Once the survey timeframe ends, the team analyzes the results and begins creating focus groups to get a better idea of the overall climate within specified groups. The entire process takes several months of planning, and the resiliency team encourages every staff member to make his or her voice heard with the survey.

"At the end of the day, if there's something you like at this command, you should take the survey. If there's something you don't like, you should take the survey," offered Meeks. "It gives you an option to have a voice within the command, and the commanding officer reads every survey, so your input could shape the future of our command climate."

The Center for Information Warfare Training delivers trained information warfare professionals to the Navy and joint services, enabling optimal performance of information warfare across the full spectrum of military operations.

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