Jan. 21th – Feb. 7th
This week included a visit to the USS NITZE (DDG 94), a guided-missile destroyer. I was lucky to see my older brother, Taequez, who is an ENSIGN onboard. This trip included an introduction to the Electronic Materials Officer, CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER (CWO3) Kennedy. Due to a lack of Security Clearance, I was unable to tour the Server spaces onboard. CWO3 Kennedy discussed Certifications of the Unclassified (NIPR), Classified (SIPR), and Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) networks. We discussed Authority to Operate (ATO) and Risk Management Framework (RMF). I was also able to pass out briefs, and conduct introductions of the team to USS NITZE’s staff. This is a vital soft skill, public speaking, needed when working to conduct inspections and briefs.
During my second fifty hours of interning, we talked about several different processes of gaining new recruits for the Electronic Materials Officer (EMO) position. The EMO is critical to the C5ISR success of Naval Commands. This week I was able to shadow Mr. Danny Smith and learn about an EMO’s role. Using programs such as WISE and Naval Data Environment (NDE amps), train first- and second-year students at seminars. Along with this information, I also learned about navy messages and debriefs, which are summarized information about the ships and what needs to be done
Certifications are another objective I learned about. I currently need to gain certifications to gain access to unclassified information. CompTIA Security plus is one I need to achieve to have a beginner classification. I also learned about a new mechanism named RAVEN used as consulting services to help government clients. I had a conversation on the difference between contracting and government jobs. My mother is a contractor who retired from the navy 13 years ago. I interviewed her earlier for her experience but did not consider she has benefits from her retirement that I wouldn’t get. Government jobs are more promising because they aren’t as erratic and have a solid foundation. When discussing government jobs, I also talked about PD, short for position descriptions. These PDs are crucial for ensuring that any job I get in cyber security matches my experience and what I desire.
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