Fourteen new information professional (IP) officers graduated from the 20-week IP Basic Course (IPBC) pilot class at Information Warfare Training Command (IWTC) Virginia Beach, Jan. 27.

The revised course provides new IP officers with a fundamental knowledge of the IP community and the IP's role within the information warfare (IW) mission. While introducing the values which guide the IP community, the course gives students a foundation of skills which will enable them to develop, communicate, and promote innovative solutions.

"We're very excited about the success of this pilot and what it means to not just the IP community, but the overall IW community as well," said Cmdr. Andrew Boyden, IWTC Virginia Beach commanding officer, who gave much of the credit to the students for their role in developing the course.

"I appreciate you making it through the pilot and helping to provide us with feedback in order to continue to improve the course," Boyden told the students.

The graduation ceremony's guest speaker, Capt. Matthew Lear, Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Atlantic (NCTAMS LANT) commanding officer, stressed the important role of an IP.

"We connect things," said Lear. "Whatever the IW community wants to accomplish, the IPs connect them to make it happen."

He urged the IP officers to further push themselves and their enlisted counterparts by continuing to study and advance their profession.

During the pilot, a working group which leveraged IWTC Virginia Beach staff and IP officers from Center for Information Warfare Training (CIWT) and Naval Information Forces collaborated to ensure the course was meeting training objectives. The working group focused on organizing the course into a logical flow and identifying learning and training gaps.

"These young, brand new IP officers are the Navy's future communications officers and network managers," said Capt. Edward Kruk, an IP officer and CIWT's executive officer. "They will grow to become information warfare commanders. This course lays the solid foundation upon which they can build their skills to manage C4I (command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence) for the Navy of today and tomorrow."

The class evolved from an eight-week course taught at Corry Station in Pensacola, Florida, to a much more substantial course, similar in scope to the Naval Intelligence Officer Basic Course which has been taught at Virginia Beach for 30 years.

"Hampton Roads provides a great training environment due to the close proximity of IP and IW community operational commands, such as NCTAMS LANT," said Lt. Jordan Adler, an instructor. "IPBC students can apply their classroom knowledge to the operational environment and observe what IW community officers and enlisted do on a day-to-day basis."

The IWTC Virginia Beach staff also relocated a couple of information systems technician courses to classrooms near the IPBC classrooms in Raborn Hall at Naval Air Station Oceana-Dam Neck Annex to have IP officers near the Sailors they will be partnering with and leading in the fleet.

Staff will continue to evaluate the course going forward to ensure it consistently matches the evolving demands of communications and network technologies.

When the next 20-week IPBC convenes Feb. 13, the updated curriculum will consist of three phases:

* Phase 1: Introduction to IP Fundamentals (networks, cyber security, communications, Electronic Key Management System [EKMS]/Key Management Infrastructure [KMI])

* Phase 2: C5I (command, control, communications, computers, combat systems and intelligence) Applications (Cyber Security Inspection and Certification Program [CSICP] elements, spectrum management, expeditionary operations, messaging systems, combat systems, Indications & Warning [I&W], Automated Digital Network System [ADNS], Video Teleconferencing [VTC], Defense Red Switch Network [DRSN])

* Phase 3: Operational Applications within the Optimized Fleet Response Plan (OFRP) Framework

The pilot concluded with a culminating capstone exercise which tied all of the course topics together. The scenario mimicked the type of job and duties a junior IP officer is likely to hold, and was designed to prepare the graduates for success in their assignments.

"I am really looking forward to the leadership challenges and putting all of this to use in the fleet," said Lt. Kevin Richardson, the pilot course's honor graduate, who reports next to a Defense Intelligence Agency detachment in Seoul, Republic of Korea.

While the class refreshed some topics he learned as a surface warfare officer and in his civilian academic pursuits, he said it also introduced him to new equipment and procedures.

IPBC will continue to be offered throughout 2017 and is already scheduled through fiscal year 2018 at IWTC Virginia Beach.

IWTC Virginia Beach currently offers 68 courses of instruction in information technology, cryptology, and intelligence with an instructor and support staff of 239 military, civilian, and contract members who train over 5,200 students every year at five training sites in the Hampton Roads area. It is one of four school houses for CIWT, a learning center for Naval Education and Training Command, and also oversees four learning sites at Jacksonville and Mayport, Florida; Kings Bay, Georgia; and Groton, Connecticut to continue aligning IW community training.

Information Warfare Training Command Virginia Beach provides a continuum of training to Navy and joint service personnel that prepares them to conduct information warfare across the full spectrum of military operations.

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from the Center for Information Warfare Training, visit http://www.navy.mil/, http://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/CIWT/, http://www.facebook.com/NavyCIWT, or http://www.twitter.com/NavyCIWT.