Commander, Office of Naval Intelligence (COMONI) Rear Adm. Elizabeth L. Train hosted two of the top Naval Intelligence military and civilian leaders in a Town Hall at the National Maritime Intelligence Center (NMCI) on Oct. 23.
The Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (DCNO) for Information Dominance and Director of Naval Intelligence (DNI), Vice Adm. Ted N. Branch, and Ms. Lynn Wright, Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence (DDNI) and Head of NIA, spoke to employees about the establishment of the Naval Intelligence Activity (NIA) and Navy Information Dominance Forces (NAVIDFOR) Type Command (TYCOM) and provided an opportunity to ask questions and discuss concerns.
The ONI Enterprise aligned to operate in conjunction with both organizations on Oct. 1. Branch and Wright reached out to employees as part of an effort to help military and civilians in the Naval Intelligence Enterprise understand the rationale, roles and objectives behind the new organizations.
Vice Adm. Ted Branch began by randomly sampling the audience about career longevity, asking employees to raise their hands if they had been at ONI for 10 years, 15, 20 and then 25 years. He congratulated all for their length in service and commitment to ONI.
Referring to the establishment of NAVIDFOR, Branch acknowledged that many [civilians] are not familiar nor comfortable with the TYCOM concept. However, the operational Navy is familiar with TYCOMs and understands how they work.
“It's something the Fleet understands and knows how to plug into, and what they should expect from a type commander organization," he said.
Wright emphasized that the TYCOM’s focus is on man, train and equip (MTE) functions. “It's not about intelligence analysis. It's not about collections,” she said. “It's not about engineering related to developing models. It's man, train and equip and you've got to hold on to that mantra because that's what we are trying to fix. We're trying to fix the waterfront problems and so you need to stay focused on that."
Branch added that a longer term goal is to establish a West Coast presence that will mirror the East Coast TYCOM in Suffolk, Virginia. It’s a work in progress, and he is open to any ideas or suggestions to make the Information Dominance TYCOM more efficient and/or effective.
Among the concerns raised during the one-hour session was that ONI is getting lost in the larger Information Dominance Corps crowd. From the Echelon structure viewpoint, the boxes are pushed down and smaller.
Vice Adm. Branch explained that Naval Intelligence is an "extraordinarily important part of that larger construct."
While the new organization charts looks different, the importance of the mission and functions are not diminished.
"We're going to get increasingly better at how we define ourselves to the outside world and increasingly better at demonstrating the power of the Information Dominance Corps on Information Dominance,” he said.
The Farragut Center Director asked how a TYCOM would help his center if the TYCOM is not familiar with the center’s mission or workforce, which is primarily comprised of civilians who focus on long-term scientific and technical intelligence analyses to develop the Navy of the future.
Noting the small military footprint in that command, Branch said "An ID TYCOM won't have a lot to do with Farragut." The organization will work to improve recruitment and career development opportunities for civilian employees in conjunction with NIA.
As a member of the military, Branch said he has not always considered the role civilians play but that the government shutdown last year helped remind him of their value. onsequently, he said, efforts are underway to improve recruiting and get people into Joint Duty Assignments (JDA), which are required for the Intelligence Community’s top leadership positions.
Wright stated her concern about the next generation of intelligence workers and touted the need to exploit the full potential of the JDA program, moving beyond the current “prisoner swap” practice.
She said the best practice she has observed in her own experience is for commands and organizations to send their very best people to JDA assignments. But the reluctance of supervisors to let those people go elsewhere is a challenge to be addressed. The percentage of ONI personnel who have completed JDAs needs to increase to expand the pool of potential leaders. She is no longer able to sign waivers for JDAs, but the program has been made available to those at the GG-11 level and above.
Both leaders praised the work ONI performs. Wright said high-level threat information is just some of the critical information that ONI provides to the Intelligence Community.
"That's what makes you best in the community among all the Service Intel Centers," she said. "I know, [when] I was at the Joint Staff at OSD. I got to see all the Service Intel Centers. ONI is the best. When you focus on this stuff, you do great work. I just want you to know and understand that that's where you excel."
Branch closed by asking employees if they read the article “Masters or Jacks,” which was published in the October issue of the Naval Institute’s Proceedings magazine. The author expressed fear that becoming part of the IDC would lead to the "homogenization" of the intelligence officers by diminishing their capabilities as specialists and compelling them to broaden their experience. The author was also concerned that being relegated to one component of a larger Information Dominance Corps could potentially diminish the access intelligence officers have to the commanders they support.
Branch said the author’s points are not true and invited civilian and military employee feedback on the article. Careers will not be diluted or burdened with different opportunities, he said. And limiting access to your commander would not be allowed.
Reprinted with permission from the ONI Intelligencer, November 2014