In 1999, the Department of the Navy Chief Information Officer (DON CIO) assumed the collateral duties of the DON Critical Infrastructure Assurance Officer (CIAO) and has developed products and tools to support warfighter mission assurance.
Fielded in June 2004, a Web-based course on critical infrastructure protection (CIP) puts into action the education and outreach guidance of Secretary of the Navy Instruction (SECNAVINST) 3501.1 and recent homeland security directives.
The past hurricane season brought dramatic and tragic reminders that threats to DON assets come from acts of nature as well as terrorists. Hurricane Katrina was the most catastrophic in a series of devastating storms that severely damaged the southern U.S. coastal areas of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
But key elements of the DON CIP Program course can show you how to respond to and recover from any disruptive event. The Web-based course is available to Department personnel worldwide through Navy Knowledge Online (http://www.nko.navy.mil) and MarineNet (http://www.marinenet.usmc.mil). The CIP course is designed to prepare current and prospective commanders and their staffs for their CIP and mission assurance related responsibilities. The course was designed in close collaboration with Navy and Marine Corps subject matter experts.
In addition to providing guidance for establishing and executing response and recovery mechanisms, the course addresses actions that should be taken before and after response and recovery activities. Such actions include identifying assets critical to warfighter mission assurance, assessing their vulnerabilities (and associated risks) to disruptive events, remediating those vulnerabilities to enable continuity of operations, and determining future reconstitution of damaged assets after response and recovery have been achieved. Assessing asset vulnerability risk, illustrated in Figure 1, is one of the steps covered in module three of the CIP Program course: "Reacting to Potential Threats."
Another course module addresses remediation. Its importance was illustrated by the Naval Mobile Construction Battalions in preparation for Hurricane Dennis. The preventative measures undertaken by the Seabees to protect the lives and property of residents were instrumental in avoiding further damage.
Throughout the course, specific case studies discuss the role of Navy and Marine Corps personnel in achieving an effective CIP posture. The multifaceted procedures of the Integrated Vulnerability Assessment are explained, with the resultant remediation and consequence management chain of events that may follow critical asset vulnerabilities identification. Interactive scenarios are presented in which students are asked to make decisions within the threat situations they could encounter. Immediate feedback is provided on whether the student made the correct decisions and why.
Each student also learns about the DON CIP initiative and the tools available to assist Department personnel maintain war-fighter mission assurance. In addition to commanders and their staffs, the lesson suite, made up of four separate modules, is recommended for a wide range of DON personnel, including installation commanding officers; executive officers; senior public works and facilities officers; security officers; chief information officers; and regional commander staffs.
With its wealth of useful information and guidance, the DON CIP Program course can help protect DON personnel and assets against future threats in whatever form they may appear.
DON CIP Program Course consists of four sequential courses outlined below:
DON CIAO – 5862-1/Marine Corps DI5500 A: Beginning the CIP Process
Introduces CIP and the CIP Event Cycle with detailed information on the first phase: Analysis & Assessment. Lesson Goal: student will be able to identify:
• The main events in the evolution of CIP and the steps of the CIP Event Cycle
• The factors that determine mission critical assets
• The types of assets assessed in the CIP process
• The purpose and components of the Naval Integrated Vulnerability Assessment
DON CIAO – 5862-2/Marine Corps DI5500 B: CIP Remediation - Reducing Known Vulnerabilities
Explains the concept of remediation and takes the student through the remediation process. Lesson Goal: student will be able to:
• Identify the purpose of remediation
• Identify and apply the steps in the CIP remediation process
DON CIAO – 5862-3/Marine Corps DI5500 C: Reacting to Potential Threats
Discusses how to use the knowledge gained from mission critical assets to appropriately react to threat indications and warnings. Lesson Goal: student will know how to:
• Identify the elements of CIP Indications & Warnings
• Update a list of mission critical assets
• Identify the techniques used to mitigate the threat to mission critical assets
• Apply available resources to mitigate the threat to a mission critical asset
DON CIAO – 5862-4/Marine Corps DI5500 D: Consequence Management (CM) Planning
Describes the CM planning process and the specific plans required. Lesson Goal: student will be able to determine whether a current and accurate CM plan exists, and will know how to:
• Identify the process used to create an integrated CM Plan
• Apply the steps in the CM Process to update an existing CM plan
• Identify the components of each of the four plans that make up a CM Plan
To access the DON CIP program courses:
1. Log in to NKO.
2. Click on the e-Learning link, which will take you automatically through one screen to the Welcome page for e-Learning.
3. Click on the link for the DON CIP Program in the “What’s New Listing.”
You can access MarineNet via NKO or directly. Eligibility information is verified against the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS). If you are registered in the DEERS, you will likely have access to courses on MarineNet.
Don Reiter is the Lead for the Department of the Navy CIP Program.