Nineteen officers joined the cryptologic warfare officer community after completing the Cryptologic Warfare Officer Basic Course (CWOBC) at Information Warfare Training Command (IWTC) Corry Station March 29.

CWOBC, formerly known as the Information Warfare Basic Course (IWBC), is an entry-level course for all officers, regardless of commission source, who are coming into the cryptologic warfare officer (CWO) community.

The course provides officers with the basic skill sets required to perform the duties of cryptologic warfare officers in the fleet, who work together with cyber warfare engineers, cyber warrant officers, cryptologic technicians (interpretive, maintenance, networks, collection and technical) and civilians engaged in cryptologic missions. CWOBC teaches about signals intelligence, electronic warfare and cyberspace operations as well as security fundamentals and community history.

"CWOBC not only focuses on the technical foundations of the community, but develops junior officers by leveraging leaders throughout the CWO community," said Mario Vulcano, the course's instructor and manager. "These officers are the future leaders of our community and it's important they have the opportunity to learn from leaders at all levels."

To provide the students with insight from community leaders, experienced Navy cryptologists are invited to speak with each class to share leadership and career advice and discuss their vision for the community. These guest speakers serve as commanding officers, executive officers, training officers and even the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare.

"I definitely feel like I'm ready to hit the ground running after this course," said Ens. Abigail Quackenboss, who has orders to Naval Information Operations Command Fort Meade, Maryland. "This was a challenging class, but it opened my eyes to the critical role of the CWO community. I'm excited for my next command, and I know that if I have questions, I'll always be able to reach out to the mentors I've gained here."

Information Warfare Training Command Corry Station, as part of the Center for Information Warfare Training, 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.

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