Surface Fleet WTIs Prepare For Great Power Competition by Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center
May 18, 2020
Forty-eight Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Warfare
Tactics Instructors (WTIs) participated in the fourth annual IAMD
WTI Re-Blue event hosted by Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting
Development Center’s (SMWDC) IAMD Division onboard Naval Support
Facility Dahlgren, Virgina, March 2 to March 6, 2020.
March 6, 2020 - Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Warfare Tactics Instructor (WTI) alumni gathered together in Dahlgren, Virgina, home of the IAMD WTI program, and conducted the fourth annual WTI Re-Blue event
in March 2020. Alumni meet for an annual week long Re-Blue requalification training, to provide and share critical combat air and missile defense skills and receive additional tactical training developed during the previous year. (U.S. Navy photo by Information Management Specialist Laurie Buchanan)
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WTI Re-Blue
events bring WTIs, technical experts, and senior mentors together to
sharpen warfighting skills with the most up-to-date fleet knowledge
and skills needed to outpace strategic competitors. Re-Blue events
are also conducted for Amphibious Warfare (AMW) and Anti-Submarine
Warfare / Surface Warfare (ASW/SUW) WTIs.
"Our greatest
strength as IAMD WTIs is in clearing hurdles together, and Re-Blue
affords us the opportunity to hone our collective skills against the
threats of today and tomorrow," said Cmdr. Mike Dwan, SMWDC IAMD N5
branch head and an IAMD WTI. "We are rooted in a commonality of
uncommon expertise, addressing a dynamic and demanding environment
to effectively deter and counter any adversary. When I looked out
across the room of 48 IAMD WTIs, I saw an incredibly focused,
combat-ready cadre determined to OWN THE FIGHT! They are an
impressive and inspiring group of talented warfighters who have
forged a common bond amongst patch-wearers from sixteen classes
since 2013."
Re-Blue is a dynamic networking event which
helps develop lasting and meaningful relationships within the WTI
cadre. WTI culture is a key component of the program that supports
future tactical development and vital transition in the Fleet from a
culture of training compliance to a culture of performance
proficiency.
SMWDC Commander, Rear Adm. Scott Robertson,
connected with Re-Blue participants through VTC to discuss his top
three priorities – Surface Warfare Advanced Tactical Training
(SWATT), WTI production, and Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures
(TTP) development. Robertson received thought-provoking questions
from the group, and he challenged attendees to work daily to develop
their warrior mindset, personal toughness, as well as mental and
physical resiliency.
WTIs received SWATT and Live Fire with a
Purpose (LFWAP) exercise training updates, enabling WTIs to maintain
TTP and program proficiency for continued high-level support to
SMWDC headquarters for planning, leading, and executing advanced
tactical training events while serving in production tours. The WTIs
conducting SWATT exercises expressed that they are learning a lot
from LFWAP and central to those lessons is the understanding and
application of Threat-Centric planning and the use of the Plan Brief
Execute Debrief (PBED) process. WTIs coach ships’ combat teams to
use PBED, trust the process, and continually update tactical systems
to maintain warfighting readiness.
Re-Blue participants also
discussed how SMWDC is working with the technical community to
continually develop and update planning tools, to counter evolving
threats to our capability that stress mission planning tools. In the
interim, trained and ready WTIs armed with the experience and
readiness of our reach-back team are the thin blue line with the
skills and knowledge to keep our forces honed and ready.
Additional
WTI to WTI training topics included updates on advanced Electronic
Attack capabilities; TTP to counter the growing threat of Unmanned
Aerial Systems (UAS); new platforms such as the EA-18G Growler, F-35
and LCS; and a set of scenarios in the new Combined IAMD / ASW
Trainer (CIAT)-based Reconfigurable Combat Information Center
Trainer (RCT) tactical labs located at the Aegis Training and
Readiness Center.
SMWDC is a subordinate command of
Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet and exists to
increase the lethality and tactical proficiency of the Surface Force
across all domains. It is headquartered onboard Naval Base San Diego
with four divisions in Virginia and California focused on Integrated
Air and Missile Defense, Anti-Submarine Warfare / Surface Warfare,
Amphibious Warfare, and Mine Warfare.
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