The Chief of Naval Operations addressed the future of U.S. Navy information during a luncheon Feb. 4 at the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) West 2010.
Adm. Gary Roughead said that information dominance will play a vital role as the Navy moves into the 21st century.
“In Iraq and Afghanistan, I’ve seen where our special forces have been able to take information and intelligence and fuse it into operations in ways that we haven’t been able to do in the past,” Roughead said. “That is the direction that all of our forces must move.”
One aspect of that push forward is the creation of the Deputy CNO for Information Dominance. The new position oversees the merged directorates of intelligence and communications.
“I don’t take reorganizations lightly, but I was convinced this was the way to go,” he said. “Our way forward must be centered on information and how we use it.”
Roughead said the key to acquiring information, as the Navy moves forward, is unmanned technology. An example he gave was the Vertical Take-off and Landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV) that will operate from the new Littoral Combat Ship. He also emphasized the Navy’s unique ability to control unmanned vehicles in the underwater environment.
“We are the only service that will play in that domain,” Roughead said. “But what we have to do is solve the power problem. All the sensors in the world aren’t going to do us any good if after 24 hours it has to come home. We need power, and we need power quickly.”
The Navy will also create billets for cyber warfare engineers to maintain computer network defense. The billets will be filled in much the same way as the nuclear power force, he said.
In addition, Roughead spoke about the Navy’s rapid response to assist Haiti following a major earthquake Jan. 12, noting its “global reach and agility that doesn’t exist anywhere else.”
He also thanked the Sailors stationed around the world that he visited over the past few weeks, specifically acknowledging the SEALs, Seabees and Navy medical personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
