Information Warfare

The Information Warfare field combines the expertise of officers and enlisted in a variety of information-related fields to be able to cause effects in the information domain. Officers come from the Oceanography, Cryptologic Warfare, Information Professional, Intelligence, Cyber Warfare Engineer and Space Cadre. Enlisted Sailors come from the Aerographer's Mate, Cryptologic Technician, Intelligence Specialist and Information Technician ratings.

Navy Information Warfare got it's start during World War I, where operators used Direction Finding equipment to locate German signals. During World War II, Navy Cryptologists broke multiple Japanese codes, covered under the codename MAGIC, that provided vital intelligence to decision makers. In the most dramatic example, the entire Japanese plan to attack Midway Island was revealed, allowing the US to strike decisively and sink 4 Japanese Aircraft Carriers, considered the turning point of the War in the Pacific only 6 months after Pearl Harbor.

More recent history is difficult to list due to classification. The Navy combined the information fields of Meteorology, Information Technology, Cryptology and Intelligence into the Information Dominance Corps in 2009. In 2016, the Information Dominance Corps was changes to Information Warfare.

Information Warfare is a technical-heavy field. Enlisted Sailors require technical A and C schools, taught at sites such as the Center for Information Warfare - Corry Station. Officers have mostly technical bachelor's degrees and are expected to maintain technical certifications during their career.

Information Warfare is in demand. The Information Domain is regularly exploited by our adversaries, and Information Warfare personnel are needed to keep our information capabilities safe while striking the enemy.

Because of classification, most people will never understand what you really do.