PENSACOLA, Fla. (NNS) -- The Center for Information Dominance (CID) Unit Corry Station held a change of command ceremony, Sept. 25 at the National Naval Aviation Museum aboard Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola.
Members of the unit and guests celebrated the 26-month command tour of Cmdr. Christopher Bryant and welcomed new Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Christopher Eng.
"Anyone who knows (Bryant) knows he was always focused on producing the best Sailor possible, which meant holding the standard high and ensuring each Sailor who graduated from Corry Station bore his personal stamp of excellence," said guest speaker Capt. Maureen Fox, CID headquarters commanding officer. "During his time in command, Chris ushered over 27,000 Sailors through his schoolhouse and into the fleet all around the world."
Fox praised Bryant for his exceptional performance while leading the largest command in the CID domain, where he was responsible for 39 courses of instruction and a staff of 15 officers, 258 enlisted members and 58 civilians.
Bryant, an information warfare officer and native of Pace, Florida, said he is proud of having the opportunity to command CID Unit Corry Station and to prepare new members of the armed services for careers in cyber, cryptology, information technology, and information warfare.
"It didn't take me long to realize the unique challenges associated with that of a training command. How much you rely on (junior) Sailors, chiefs and officers to prepare these new accessions in their technical field that they will be required to perform, as well as continuing their transition from a civilian to a Sailor," said Bryant. "These military professionals accomplish their mission with a schedule reminiscent of sea duty."
Under Bryant's leadership, the command undertook major curriculum upgrades to every aspect of the information systems technician initial skills training and advanced training schools. This included the implementation of the Digital Tutor course based on an artificial intelligence-based training method and standing-up two new collection systems in the advanced training schools for operators and maintainers. He was also integral to the initial Information Dominance Corps (IDC) officer's basic course and afloat cryptologic manager's curriculum development.
"Our military staff are not the only ones who contribute to our successes," said Bryant. "The civilian instructors we have on board are second to none. These civilians provide the continuity and expertise to help their military counterparts quickly learn how to present complex material to our new accession service members."
As Eng assumed command of CID Unit Corry Station, he thanked Bryant for his thorough turnover and took the opportunity to discuss his commitment to the unit's mission and its people.
"To the CID unit staff, we are charged with a great task, to truly develop the future technical cadre of the Navy's Information Dominance Corps," said Eng. "With continual changes in technology, the ongoing developments by nation states and people who mean to do this country and our allies and partners harm, and the never ending throughput of students, we can never rest on our achievements. It is a tremendous challenge to ensure our warfighting readiness but one that I am excited and eager to tackle with you."
Eng, a cryptology and information warfare officer, takes command after 17 years of naval service. During his most recent assignment at the U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM) Joint Intelligence Operations Center (JIOC), Eng was chief of the Cyber Analysis Group with additional duty as the intelligence lead for the USPACOM Joint Cyber Center from 2012 to 2014 and then as deputy chief of China division. He also held the collateral duty of USPACOM JIOC Navy element commander from 2013 to 2014.
During the ceremony, Bryant received the Meritorious Service Medal for his performance as commanding officer of CID Unit Corry Station from July 2013 to September 2015. His next tour will be as deputy information operations warfare commander with Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 12, which includes USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71).
Located aboard NAS Pensacola Corry Station, CID Unit Corry Station delivers Navy and joint forces training in information operations, information warfare, information technology and cryptology for approximately 12,000 service members each year.
For more information on CID headquarters and CID Unit Corry Station, visit their websites at http://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/ceninfodom.
For more news from Center for Information Dominance, visit www.navy.mil/local/cid/
.