Advanced Anti-Submarine Warfare Officer Students Train in the Navy’s Newest Combat Trainer

Photo By Clinton Beaird | Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center (SMWDC) and Center for Surface Combat Systems (CSCS) hosted advanced Anti-Submarine Warfare Officer (ASWO) students for hands-on training inside of CSCS’s Combined Integrated Air & Missile Defense/ Anti-Submarine Warfare Trainer (CIAT). From left to right, students Lt. j.g. Chastitie Polk, Lt. j.g. Cara Pastrana, Lt. j.g. Betty Yi and Lt. j.g. John Martin, SMWDC Sea Combat Division’s Training Systems lead Mr. Mo Okita, student Lt. j.g. Amber Glitz, CSCS Det San Diego Chief Sonar Technician Travis Daniels. (U.S. Navy photo by Clinton Beaird / released.)  

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES

09.25.2019

Courtesy Story

Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center (SMWDC)

Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center (SMWDC) and the Center for Surface Combat Systems (CSCS) hosted 10 students in the Navy’s newest combat trainer, combined integrated air & missile defense/ anti-submarine warfare trainer (CIAT), to increase operator lethality in the Advanced Anti-Submarine Warfare Officer (ASWO) school September 20, 2019.

These students will Fleet-up aboard the same ship to become the ASWO, or they have orders to report as ASWO aboard warships homeported in San Diego, Calif., Everett, Wash., Rota, Spain, Norfolk, Va., and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

CIAT represents the Navy’s investment in modernized training. Over the past decade, advances in technology have reshaped the operational capabilities of our Surface Fleet - those same advances are now fundamentally transforming the way SMWDC and CSCS develops combat ready ships and battle-minded crews.

“We’re excited to have our students in the CIAT lab for the very first time,” said Mr. Mo Okita, SMWDC Sea Combat Division’s Training Systems lead and course supervisor for ASW training. “In the Advanced ASW Officer course, we look to capitalize on the capabilities here in CIAT to deliver a warfighting training curriculum that is realistic, relevant, and just as complex as the threat environment our deployed ships are sailing into.”

Through the laboratory’s high fidelity threat modeling and scenario visualization, students are given the opportunity to prosecute adversary submarines using the same consoles resident aboard their warships in a realistic training environment. The cooperative working relationship between SMWDC and CSCS Det. San Diego, and the close proximity of the trainer are added benefits of using CIAT.

“There is so much capability here,” said Lt. j.g. Betty Yi, who was selected to Fleet-Up as the ASWO aboard USS Sterett (DDG 104). “We have transitioned from school house lectures to action-based scenarios. We are all walking away better prepared for deployment.”

Warfare Tactics Instructors (WTI) at SMWDC and CSCS who teach Anti-Submarine Warfare / Surface Warfare (ASW/SUW) understand the significance of visualization. “The value of our training determines the success of Sailors,” said Lt. Dan Walker, an ASW/SUW WTI assigned to CSCS Det San Diego. “We’re investing in the ASW curriculum and CIAT facility because we understand that when a ship leaves the pier - her mission could depend on it.”

The CIAT will be also be available to the ASWO graduates to ensure their newly found proficiency is maintained. Lt. j.g. Cara Pastrana, the prospective ASWO aboard USS James E. Williams (DDG 95) sees the value in bringing her future team back to CIAT for additional training.

“CIAT is our answer to maintaining the tactical edge,” said Pastrana. “With the new CIAT facility in Norfolk, I plan to make training visits a priority for our team, we have to keep training.”

SMWDC is a subordinate command of Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet and exists to increase the lethality and tactical proficiency of the Surface Force across all domains. SMWDC headquarters is at Naval Base San Diego with four divisions in Virginia and California focused on ASW/SUW, Amphibious Warfare, Integrated Air and Missile Defense, and Mine Warfare.

CSCS headquarters' staff oversees 14 learning sites and detachments located throughout the continental United States, Hawaii, and Japan and manages and operates a Naval Education and Training Command training division in Rota, Spain. CSCS delivers specialized training for officer and enlisted Sailors to tactically operate, maintain, and employ shipboard and shore-based weapons, sensors, and command and control systems utilized in today's Navy.

• Date Taken: 09.25.2019
• Date Posted: 09.25.2019 17:57
• Story ID: 343721
• Location: SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, US