COMMAND PROFILE
Center for Information Dominance Evolving nature of warfare places greater demands on soldiers. By CID CO Captain Susan K. Cerovsky
Captain Susan Cerovsky hails from Wyandotte, Mich., and was reared in Erie, Pa., then Mobile, Ala. She graduated from the University of South Alabama in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in geology and was commissioned in the General Unrestricted Line Community in February 1986 following Officer Candidate School. Her first two tours with Fleet Capt. Susan K. Cerovsky Intelligence Center, Europe and Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., and Fleet Oceanographic Surveillance Intelligence Facility, Kamiseya, Japan, earned her subspecialties in Operational Intelligence and Information Technology. Additional duties included senior watch officer and assistant operations officer. In May 1991, she attended Instructor School aboard the former Naval Amphibious School, Little Creek, Va., and commenced her duties as an instructor in the Navy Leadership Department earning her Master Training Specialist, and the Education and Training subspecialty code. Her first department head tour was at the Naval Historical Center, Washington Navy Yard, from November 1993 to September 1995 followed by a tour as deputy director of the Joint PROFORMA Center at the National Security Agency/Central Security Service Fort George G. Meade, Md. During this tour, she qualified as a National Cryptologic School adjunct faculty member. Cerovsky received her master’s degree in information technology management from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., and was designated as a Microsoft Certified Systems engineer. She reported to Naval Technical Training Center and the Center for Cryptology Pensacola, Fla., in October 2000 where she served as the information systems technology training department head. In 2003, she was selected for lateral transfer to the information warfare community and was reassigned to Naval Network Warfare Command where she worked computer network defense initiatives. In May 2005, she reported as executive officer to the Navy Cyber Defense Operations Command (NCDOC). She successfully led the command through unprecedented growth and mission accomplishment, culminating in NCDOC being awarded the prestigious Meritorious Unit Commendation. She transferred to Carrier Strike Group Twelve in November of 2007 and immediately assumed the duties and responsibilities as Enterprise Strike Group’s information warfare commander. Next, she was the executive assistant to the commander, Naval Network Warfare and most recently served as the Joint Forces Command J2 Chief of Staff from June 2010 until September 2011 prior to reporting to the Center for Information Dominance. 24 | MT2 17.5
Her personal awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (two awards), the Meritorious Service Medal (five awards), the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (four awards), the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (two awards), and various campaign and unit awards.
Center for Information Dominance Over the past few decades, technology has been moving at an extremely fast pace, and each year, it seems to increase exponentially. The evolving nature of warfare in today’s environment has placed greater demands on all sailors to maintain combat readiness and versatility. This seems to be particularly true for sailors who begin their careers at one of the Center for Information Dominance school houses in highly technical ratings such as those engaged in information technology, cyber operations and intelligence. Then-Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Dominance Vice Admiral Jack Dorsett, in “The Navy’s Vision for Information Dominance” in May 2010, referred to the rationale behind the decision by then-Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral Gary Roughead to move forward with the development of the Information Dominance Corps (IDC). “Time is short and the task paramount. Potential adversaries are working to offset our strengths and level the playing field,” Dorsett said. “We can no longer afford inefficiencies incurred with stovepiped networks, systems and processes.” The IDC was established January 29, 2010, as part of the reactivation of the 10th Fleet at Fort Meade, Md. In a speech to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in October 2009, Roughead announced the future of cyber warfare. In addition to the 10th Fleet, he spoke about the creation of the Navy’s newest corps as one of the centerpieces of that new cyber future. “Right now we have a lot of ratings, a lot of specialties within the Navy that in and of themselves are a bunch of different communities, a bunch of different structures if you will,” Roughead said. “And we will combine them into an Information Dominance Corps.” The diverse communities that make up the IDC constitute of about 44,000 sailors and would include information professional officers, information warfare officers, naval intelligence officers, oceanography officers, space cadre, aerographers mate, cryptologic technician (CTN, CTM, CTT, CTI, CTR ratings) enlisted personnel, intelligence specialist enlisted personnel, information systems technician enlisted personnel, and they would have a new warfare pin to reflect their new responsibilities. www.MT2-kmi.com