By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Steven L. Shepard
MONTEREY, Calif. (NNS) -- The selected deputy commander of the soon-to-be reconstituted U.S. 10th Fleet/Fleet Cyber Command, addressed more than 70 prospective Navy linguists studying at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) on Dec. 2 at the Presidio of Monterey.
Rear Adm. William E. Leigher spoke to Sailors attending DLIFLC as an "A" school for the cryptologic technician (interpretive) rating, about the role of the Navy's newest numbered fleet and the effects it will have on future fleet operations and the Navy's cryptological community.
"I have watched cryptology evolve over the last 20 years from a very tight and small field to a community that will lead what the Navy does in the Information Age," Leigher said. "We are going to be much more involved in defining the operations that we take part in."
In conjunction with the stand up of Fleet Cyber Command/10th Fleet, Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations (CNO), in a speech on Oct. 1, said that "the Navy is bringing together the resource sponsorship for all of our information-related capabilities into one entity and that will include intelligence, networks, electronic warfare, cyber, meteorology and oceanography, space and unmanned systems. They will all be resourced in one organization and we will manage those capabilities collectively and ballistically to achieve information dominance for the Navy and for joint interagency partners."
The reorganization is slated for completion by year's end.
The Navy is not the only branch of the military that is restructuring to better adapt to the challenges of the Information Age. The Air Force and Army also are standing up organizations that focus on information operations and network security.
Leigher explained to the Sailors that there has to be continued collaboration between the different military branches due to the extensive man-hours required to cover cyber threats, and that Navy cryptologists will play "a crucial part in the continuum of how information flows into the battlefield of today."
The new 10th Fleet which will be based out of Ft. Meade, Md., was originally active from May 1943 to June 1945 and was involved in efforts to thwart enemy submarines during World War II.
Fleet Cyber Command will be a subordinate unit to U.S. Cyber Command, the formation of which was directed by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on June 23.
