Monday, May 20, 2013

FY2013 Copernicus Award Winner - LT Ryan Haag - Information Warfare Officer



Our Shipmate, LT Ryan N. Haag, USN serving at Navy Information Operations Command (NIOC) Georgia is an FY2013 Copernicus Award winner.


EXTRACTS OF UNCLASSIFIED NARRATIVE BELOW:

Lieutenant Haag, as Air Operations Officer, leads a 53-person division that provides Special Evaluators, Special Signals Operators, and Special Operators for the Africa Command (AFRICOM), European Command (EUCOM), and Central Command (CENTCOM) areas of responsibility (AORs). He also manages Navy Information Operations Command - Georgia's Information Warfare Officer/Information Dominance Warfare Officer (IWO/IDWO) training program, where he tracks the qualifications of 34 officers. 

From February through June 2012, LT Haag was in charge of two EP-3E aircraft crews. While deployed, he streamlined time-sensitive mission information flow, which resulted in a 400% increase in time-sensitive reports. He taught his crews to use collaboration tools on the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communication System network to better share and store signals intelligence information for customers. 

These efforts were praised by collection managers at 6th FLEET, AFRICOM, and various national-level divisions. In addition, despite the absence of a budget and cryptologic maintenance personnel, LT Haag led his Sailors in 40 ground hours and countless in-flight hours troubleshooting and repairing specialized geo-location equipment and SIGINT reporting circuits on board his EP-3Es. 

LT Haag also re-wrote the Navy's communication requirements for the Consolidated Reconnaissance Operating Facility at Souda Bay, Greece. Working with national end-user support divisions, LT Haag directed the installation of more than $50,000 in computer and server equipment, as well as the installation of new fiber lines. He coordinated efforts of various contractors to fix connectivity and geolocation equipment issues on board his EP-3Es, saving more than $10,000 in maintenance funds. Upon returning to NIOC Georgia in June, taking charge of the Air Operations Division, LT Haag worked with subject matter experts to build seven new Joint Qualification Requirements for the AFRICOM, CENTCOM and EUCOM AORs. 

He simplified the data flow path from his deployed crews so that the newly created CTF-1050 Battle Watch could easily integrate EP-3E operations into the daily brief to the NIOC Georgia Commanding Officer. His previous efforts of storing SIGINT data allowed the SIGINT community to quickly respond to the assassination of the U.S. Ambassador to Libya in September 2012. 

He volunteered to manage the command's IWO and Information Dominance Warfare Officer (IDWO) training program, and revitalized the program by building a collaborative web page, instituting office hours, and holding weekly O-3 "Murder Boards" to ensure that officers meet the full requirements for IWO and IDWO qualification. In addition, he telecast weekly training sessions, which allows officers at NIOC Georgia's eight reservist units to make progress on their IWO and IDWO qualifications.

More about the COMTENTHFLT awardees HERE.

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