Saturday, March 30, 2013

Lieutenant Commander Seth Lawrence - 2013 Winner of Captain Joseph Rochefort Information Warfare Officer Distinguished Leadership Award

LCDR SETH LAWRENCE
CAPTAIN JOSEPH JOHN ROCHEFORT WAS A MAJOR FIGURE IN THE U.S. NAVY'S CRYPTOLOGIC AND INTELLIGENCE DEVELOPMENT FROM 1925 TO 1947. HE HEADED THE NAVY'S FLEDGLING CRYPTANALYTIC ORGANIZATION IN THE 1920'S AND PROVIDED SINGULARLY SUPERB CRYPTOLOGIC SUPPORT TO THE U.S. FLEET DURING WORLD WAR II, LEADING TO VICTORY IN THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC. AT THE END OF HIS CAREER (1942-1946), ROCHEFORT SUCCESSFULLY HEADED THE PACIFIC STRATEGIC INTELLIGENCE GROUP IN WASHINGTON. ROCHEFORT DIED IN 1976. IN 1986, HE POSTHUMOUSLY RECEIVED THE PRESIDENT'S NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL, THE HIGHEST MILITARY AWARD DURING PEACETIME, FOR HIS CONTRIBUTIONS DURING THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY.
THE INTENT OF THE CAPTAIN ROCHEFORT IW OFFICER DISTINGUISHED LEADERSHIP AWARD IS TO ANNUALLY RECOGNIZE THE SUPERIOR CAREER ACHIEVEMENT OF ONE IW OFFICER. IN THE SPIRIT OF CAPTAIN ROCHEFORT, SPECIFIC CONSIDERATION IS GIVEN TO LEADERSHIP, TEAMWORK, OPERATIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS AND ADHERENCE TO THE PRINCIPLE BY WHICH HE SERVED, "WE CAN ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING PROVIDED NO ONE CARES WHO GETS THE CREDIT."
Lieutenant Commander Seth Lawrence is currently serving as the Executive Officer of Navy Information Operations Command Pensacola, Florida.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

How long as this award been around, and can you see the individual writeups for those nominated or selected?

Mike Lambert said...

This is the 3rd year. You can't see the write-ups for these peer nominated awards.

Kevin said...

Third year. First I've heard of it.

Mike Lambert said...

@ Kevin

Each winner has been announced here.

First winner - Nicholas Homan - July 11, 2011 post
Second winner - Stephen Garofolo - June 22 2012 post

Send my your e-mail and you will get my blog automatically. Or sign up as a follower on the left side of the blog.

Kevin said...

I only recently started reading your blog.

It's interesting that as an IW officer I didn't know about his via communication from all the other sources. Perhaps I'm not as connected as I think I am.

Mike Lambert said...

@Kevin

Check out IDC Synchronization also, if you have not done so already.

The N2N6 PAO also regularly provides info for further distro via my distro list. Send me an e-mail and I will add you to it. therealnavy@gmail.com

Mike Lambert said...

2013 Captain Joseph Rochefort Information Warfare Officer Distinguished Leadership Award Announced

Navy News Service, 2 April 2013… by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class David R. Finley Jr., Commander, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command Public Affairs

Commander, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet announced the winner of the 2013 Captain Joseph Rochefort Information Warfare (IW) Officer Distinguished Leadership Award Mar. 22.

Vice. Adm. Michael S. Rogers announced Lt. Cmdr. Lemuel "Seth" Lawrence, executive officer of Navy Information Operations Command Pensacola, is the 2013 winner.

"The competition was exceptional, with seven nominations. It was an outstanding group - congratulations and well done [to Lt. Cmdr. Lawrence]," said Vice Adm. Michael S. Rogers, commander, U.S. FLTCYBERCOM /U.S. 10th Fleet.

Lawrence will receive a plaque commemorating his selection and his name will be added to a display in the heritage room at FLTCYBERCOM/C10F.

"The fact that my peers, who by the way are exemplary in many ways, thought to nominate me for such an award means the world," said Lawrence. "The fact that I was selected from among such great competition is all the more meaningful."

Rogers also congratulated the other nominees for their significant leadership contributions to the IW mission:
Lt. Eren Cataloglu, Navy Information Command San Diego; Cmdr. Robert S. Damsky, Carrier Strike Group (CSG) Five; Lt. Kenyatta M. Jones, USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74); Lt.Cmdr. Paul D. Lashmet, CSG Five; Lt Timothy O'Dowd, USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72); and Cmdr. Marc W. Ratkus, Center for Information Dominance.

Captain Joseph John Rochefort was a major figure in the U.S. Navy's development of cryptologic and intelligence capabilities from 1925 to 1947. He headed the Navy's then fledgling cryptanalytic organization in the 1920's and "...provided singularly superb cryptologic support to the U.S. Fleet during world war II, leading to victory in the Pacific," as the award message noted.

At the end of his career (1942-1946), Rochefort successfully headed the Pacific Strategic Intelligence Group in Washington, DC.

"Capt. Rochefort wrote a critical chapter in the Navy and Nation's history in both the Cryptologic and Intelligence communities," said Lawerance. "Without superb Sailors and professionals such as this, the intelligence community would not be the same today."

In 1986, Rochefort posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his contribution during the Battle of Midway.

Today, IW officers, born from naval cryptology, are directly involved in every aspect of naval operations, deploying globally to support Navy and joint military requirements.

IW warfighters execute the full spectrum of cyber, cryptology, signals intelligence, information operations, computer network operations (exploit, defend, attack), and electronic warfare missions. They operate afloat and ashore and serve at the National Security Agency, the Pentagon, Navy information operations commands and regional cryptologic centers across the globe.

seanheritage said...

NIOC Pensacola is so fortunate to have Seth as their XO and I was lucky to have him as my right hand man at the same command. He makes everyone with whom he serves better...can't wait to serve more directly with him again! This is a far more significant selection than most know. This speaks to the future of our community. It's less about where we serve. It's more about how we contribute and the specialized expertise we deliver.