Navy and Marine Corps Intelligence Training Center Change of Command

Selected remarks from VADM Jack Dorsett's Speech at the Change of Command where Captain Don Darnell (IW officer) relieved RDML Liz Train (Intel officer).

We’re at the threshold of a new era. The Navy is seizing a unique opportunity to revolutionize its warfighting capabilities. We’re undergoing one of the most momentous changes in the history of our Navy. Change that is both profound, and exciting. We’re transforming the Navy for the Information Age.

Similar to earlier days, when the Navy shifted from sail to steam, and from cruisers to dreadnaughts, or when we introduced naval aviation and then nuclear power into the fleet…today’s Navy and Marine Corps team intends to remain the most prominent and dominant Naval Force the world has ever seen. No one comes close, and we aim to keep it that way!

Now, let me turn to the issue of the future of NMITC.

One of the CNO’s most important objectives is for the Navy to maintain its competitive advantage over potential adversaries in the areas of Intelligence, Cyber, Command and Control and Information & Knowledge Management.

Throughout most of my career, Navy seniors referred to Intelligence as a supporting or enabling function. Those days are past and opening.

Today, based on lessons from Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Horn of Africa, the CNO and Navy seniors now talk about our Intelligence & Information capabilities as a Main Battery of U.S. Navy warfighting power.

And NMITC is the Torpedo Factory of the 21^st Century. Today, kinetic weapons…mines, missiles, torpedoes and 5” shells are being supplanted by the main battery of the Information Era…our highly skilled Intelligence, Information Warfare & Information Professionals.

For it is the ability of our Intelligence Professionals to collect, analyze, assess, and deliver the right information to the right decision-maker; or the right data across the right circuit…at a speed that outpaces our adversaries’ decision cycles…that gives the U.S. Navy its competitive advantage.

It should not be lost on anyone that, for the first time, an Information Warfare Officer…who happens to be an Intelligence Professional, too…is taking the helm of NMITC.

Why? It’s simple, Don Darnell is best officer for the job. He has the right demeanor, the right focus, the right dedication. He is an inspirational leader, with a boundless concern for the welfare and education of our Sailors.

But it’s not only about skill sets. CAPT Darnell is assuming command today, because of the CNO’s imperative to ensure the Navy maintains our competitive advantage.

The CNO has also tasked us with championing innovation across the Navy’s intelligence and information enterprise. I strongly believe that innovation can best be achieved by creating opportunities for specialists from diverse backgrounds, with diverse skills, and with diverse outlooks to come together and work issues with open minds.

The professionalism of our force is built upon mastery of a core set of skills that every intelligence professional must possess. It all starts with a deep understanding of the fundamentals of intelligence, and a requirement that our professionals think clearly, and convey their analysis and assessments just as clearly to our Navy and our nation's decision-makers.