VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- The Center for Information Dominance (CID) Unit Hampton Roads held a change of command ceremony, Dec. 1, at Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana Dam Neck Annex.
Guest speaker Rear Adm. Elizabeth Train, members of the unit, family, friends and colleagues celebrated the 26-month command tour of Capt. Harold E. Williams and welcomed Capt. Mark C. Kester, the new commanding officer.
Capt. Maureen Fox, CID headquarters' commanding officer and the ceremony's presiding officer, praised Williams for his exceptional performance while managing a complex merger involving the integration of the Navy and Marine Corps Intelligence Training Center (NMITC) and the CID Learning Sites Norfolk and Dam Neck into one cohesive command, CID Unit Hampton Roads. The merger brought together more than 250 staff personnel geographically dispersed over three locations.
"Over the last two years, Capt. Williams has taken all that was good in how we developed intelligence professionals — the precepts of excellence which have led to operational and tactical successes over the past decades of war — and expanded the portfolio," said Fox. "In 2013, then-NMITC taught 20 courses in intelligence. Today, CID Unit Hampton Roads teaches more than four times that —81 courses — in intelligence, cryptology, information warfare and information technology."
Williams, an intelligence officer and native of Madison County, Florida, said he is proud of having the opportunity to command CID Unit Hampton Roads.
"This change of name to Center for Information Dominance Unit Hampton Roads reflects our regional role as CID's campus in Hampton Roads," said Williams. "What I have tried to do is to build on our firm heritage, as we expanded to cover training for ITs (information systems technicians), ETs (electronics technicians), CTs (cryptologic technicians) and even AGs (aerographer's mates)."
Under Williams' leadership, more than 10,000 active and reserve students graduated from the command, and he credited his staff for the command's successes, including earning the 2013 and 2014 Manpower, Personnel, Training and Education Retention Excellence Award. He also was the driving force behind revising the Information Dominance Mid-Career Course and establishing the Foreign Military Intelligence Collection Activities Course and the Information Dominance Basic Course.
"Pick any ship or squadron in the Navy or any unit ashore, and I am willing to bet that somewhere between a few and several hundred of their members trained here," said Williams. "They are running the communications, maintaining the networks, protecting the ship in SSES (Ship Signals Exploitation System) and the EW (electronic warfare) module. They are manning SUPPLOT (Supplementary Plot) and EXPLOT (Expeditionary Plot). They are mensurating coordinates; briefing the aircrew before attacks. They are on the ground collecting intelligence. They are advising our senior commanders in the field and at sea. The work that they are doing is superb."
As Kester assumed command of CID Unit Hampton Roads, he thanked Williams for a first-class turnover, and took the opportunity to discuss today's strategic environment and his commitment to the unit's mission and its people.
"Our graduates must have the skills that will allow them to excel, not only in today's active armed conflict, but also in the future, where our military will likely have adversaries who will challenge the technological advantage our military has enjoyed for so many decades," said Kester. "The passion and professionalism each and every one of you put into the training this command provides is critical in guaranteeing the Navy and joint operational forces maintain information dominance."
Kester, an intelligence officer and native of Pennsylvania, takes command after 24 years of naval service. He comes to CID Unit Hampton Roads from his most recent assignment as the deputy director of intelligence at Joint Special Operations Command. In addition to serving in a variety of ashore and operational intelligence positions, he is the recipient of a number of leadership and intelligence community awards.
During the ceremony, Williams received the Legion of Merit for his performance as commanding officer of CID Unit Hampton Roads from September 2013 to December 2015. His next tour will be as assistant chief of staff for intelligence at U.S. Fleet Forces Command.
Located at NAS Oceana Dam Neck Annex, CID Unit Hampton Roads delivers full-spectrum cyber, information warfare, intelligence, and information technology training to Information Dominance Corps and joint service professionals from other warfare disciplines, to enable assured command and control, battlespace awareness, and integrated fires across the range of military operations.
For more information about the Center for Information Dominance, visit http://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/ceninfodom/; http://www.facebook.com/CenterForInformationDominance/ and http://twitter.com/CenterInfoDom/.
For more news from Center for Information Dominance, visit www.navy.mil/local/cid/.