Navy Cyber Defense Operations Command’s (NCDOC) Senior Policy Advisor, James Granger, retired from government service after thirty-four years, during a ceremony in the Hall of Heroes Auditorium, Sep. 20.
An estimated 100 guests including family members, friends and shipmates, attended the ceremony to honor and bid fair winds and following seas to Granger, whose Naval service first began in 1985 as a Surface Warfare Officer including three sea tours. After active duty, Granger then completed twelve and a half years in the Navy Reserves.
Granger’s civil service begins and ends with NCDOC. As a plank owner, Granger was part of NCDOC even before it was formally known as its current name. In March 1997, Granger took a position in the Operations Department at the Fleet Information Warfare Center (FIWC) in the Navy Computer Incident Response Team (NAVCIRT) Division as a computer network security incident handler.
In June 2003, Granger led the transition in which NAVCIRT Division merged with the Navy Component Task Force, Computer Network Defense (NCTF-CND) and became the Technical Director of the new task force.
On January 10, 2006, NAVCIRT was commissioned as a command and renamed to Navy Cyber Defense Operations Command (NCDOC), an Echelon III command under Commander, TENTH Fleet.
NCDOC’s Commanding Officer and presiding officer, Capt. Harold Cole, welcomed the family and guests, and expressed his gratitude to one of the “legends” of NCDOC.
“Jim helped to grow the cyber defense mission in the Navy, eventually bringing multiple organizations together and serving as one of the critical leaders in standing up NCDOC. You are one of the legends of Navy defensive cyberspace operations and may be, more than anyone, responsible for the successful organization we are part of today. The Navy, and especially the Information Warfare Community, will forever benefit from your 22 years of leadership and mentorship. We owe you a sincere debt of gratitude.”
The guest speaker, Capt. Steven Carder, shared stories of Granger throughout the early days of NCDOC and also his many titles and responsibilities.
“As many of you know, Jim is and has always been quite unconventional. Unconventional in his methods and approaches to solving command challenges, and not to mention, his wardrobe. We also know that Jim has had many thoughts and great ideas and all fourteen of them try to get of his mouth at the exact same time. Despite his unconventional quirks, Jim is a critical thinker, a creative problem solver, and a full-throttled collaborator. These are the characteristics of the kind of person we needed to get things done, and he symbolic of each of these. Jim has been here so long that he has had quite a few titles from Incident Handler, Technical Director, Head of C&R Directorate, Head of GRASS, Head of the Commander’s Action Group, Director of Future Outcomes Cell, to his current title, Senior Policy Advisor. However, the best title is his self-given one, ‘The Grand Imperial Poobah.’ Jim’s contributions are vast and we owe him a great debt of gratitude. As he approaches a new chapter in his life, I am sure we have not heard the last of him.”
Granger expressed his gratitude to all the guests, including previous NCDOC Commanding Officers and Executive Officers he has worked with over the years who were in the audience.
“I am incredibly honored and humbled that you all took the time and made the effort to be here today. I can honestly say I have been blessed. NCDOC has always seemed to get the right commanding officer at the right time. Some were more operationally focused, some more personnel focused, and others more process focused. I have been blessed to work with some great CO’s, and it is very fitting that the very first two CO’s of NCDOC and the two most recent are here to celebrate this day with me. Capt. Steve Carder, Capt. Roy Petty, Capt. Julia Slattery, and Capt. Hal Cole, your presence marks the bookends of my career here at NCDOC. Thank you for coming.”
Granger’s speech was interrupted by the “Your speech is too long” awards music several times until Granger finally concluded his speech with departing thoughts for the guests.
“First, your attitude is a choice. If you want to be unhappy, there is a lot to be unhappy about – wars, mass shootings, politics, etc. – however, if you can choose to be unhappy; you can also choose to be happy. Choose happiness. Second, be a professional and take responsibility for your organization. Lastly, have empathy and compassion for others. When you strip away all the trappings, we are all the same. Remember the golden rule, love your neighbor as yourself.”
The ceremony concluded with Granger receiving a meritorious service award from Capt. Cole and gifts from the NCDOC Civilian Association for the longest serving civilian at the command.
Granger stated, “I will now take a meritorious rest of the day off, with pay” to conclude the ceremony.
The mission of NCDOC is to execute defensive cyberspace operations and enable global power projection through proactive network defense and reports operationally to U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet (FCC/C10F).
Since its establishment, FCC/C10F has grown into an operational force composed of more than 16,000 Active, Reserve Sailors, and civilians organized into 26 active commands, 40 Cyber Mission Force units, and 26 reserve commands around the globe. FCC serves as the Navy component command to U.S. Strategic Command and U.S. Cyber Command, and the Navy's Service Cryptologic Component commander under the National Security Agency/Central Security Service. C10F, the operational arm of FCC, executes its mission through a task force structure similar to other warfare commanders. In this role, C10F provides support of Navy and joint missions in cyber/networks, cryptologic/signals intelligence and space.
For news and information from Commander, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command / U.S. 10th Fleet, visit www.navy.mil/local/FCCC10F/ or follow us on twitter @USFLEETCYBERCOM.
Date Taken: | 09.20.2019 |
Date Posted: | 10.04.2019 14:25 |
Story ID: | 346085 |
Location: | SUFFOLK, VIRGINIA, US |
Web Views: | 423 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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