SPECIAL DUTY OFFICER – CRYPTOLOGIC WARFARE

(DESIGNATOR 1810)

Community Overview:

Cryptologic Warfare Officers (CWs) are

part of the Navy’s Information Warfare

Officer Community (along with Intelligence,

Oceanography, Information Professionals,

and Cyber Warfare Engineers) whose mission

is to defeat any enemy by using Assured

Command and Control, Battlespace

Awareness, and Integrated Fires to achieve

Freedom of Maneuver across all warfighting

domains.

CWs provide the Navy with expertise in

cryptology, space, signals intelligence

(SIGINT), cyberspace operations, and

electronic warfare (EW) to ensure freedom of

action while achieving military objectives in

and through the electromagnetic spectrum,

cyberspace, and space.

CWs are expected to apply their expertise at

the tactical, operational & strategic levels of

war while employed on ships, submarines, or

aircraft, with Naval Special Warfare, across

the Intelligence Community or on major navy

and joint staffs.

Cryptologic Warfare Officers are technically

adept, as well as effective communicators,

able to translate complex technical issues into

operationally relevant information for Naval

and Joint Commanders.

Mission:

Deliver competitive outcomes in all domains

of warfare through the application of

Cyberspace Operations (CO), Signals

Intelligence (SIGINT), and Electronic

Warfare (EW). To support and defend US

interests, operate as a fully integrated part of

the Information Warfare Community (IWC)

by optimizing combat power through

integrating the elements of Assured

Command and Control (AC2), Battlespace

Awareness, and Integrated Fires. To do this,

we must coalesce with all elements of the

IWC—intelligence, METOC,

communications, cryptology, and cyber

warfare engineers. Our community plays a

critical role.

Eligibility Requirements.

Required: A baccalaureate degree with a

minimum GPA of 3.00, an Officer Aptitude

Rating (OAR) minimum score of 45, US

citizenship, the ability to obtain and maintain

a Top Secret security clearance, and be

physically qualified for sea duty and world-

wide deployable. Must be willing to take a

Counter-Intelligence Polygraph.

Desired: A baccalaureate degree in a

Science, Technology, Engineering, Math

(STEM) related field. A curriculum including

calculus and calculus-based physics (CALC I

& II, PHYSICS I & II) is highly desired.

Accession Options.

Direct Accession: There are a limited

number of USNA and ROTC quotas, as well

as a larger number of Officer Candidate

School (OCS) quotas available each year to

immediately begin as a Cryptologic Warfare

Officer.

Cryptologic Warfare Option. USNA and

ROTC midshipmen are also able to

commission under as a SWO-CW option.

CW Option Officers are commissioned as a

Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) - Student,

(designator 1160). These officers are

assigned to Division Officer Afloat duties on

a ship where they will complete a SWO

experience tour and qualify as a Surface

Warfare Officer. Following that tour, SWO-

CW options are redesignated as CWs (1810)

and begin serving in CW specific

assignments.

Training Pipeline:

New CW Officers attend the following

training courses: The Division Officer

Leadership Course at Dam Neck, VA (1

week) helps to prepare new officers for their

upcoming leadership roles.

The Information Warfare Basic Course (3

weeks) also in Dam Neck, VA introduces new

officers to the range of skills that make up the

Information Warfare Officer Community.

The Cryptologic Warfare Officer Basic

Course (8 weeks) in Pensacola, FL covers the

basic core competencies of CW and prepares

CWs for their initial fleet assignment at a

major cryptologic center.

Qualification:

CW officers are required to complete a series

of CW-specific qualifications and to qualify

as Information Warfare Officers (IWOs).

Career Opportunities:

CW Officers serve worldwide, afloat and

ashore, across almost every naval platform,

special operations and expeditionary forces,

on every major Navy and Joint staff,

throughout the Intelligence Community and

the Cyber Mission Force.

Most CWs begin their careers at a

major cryptologic center where they

learn their tradecraft and develop a

strong foundational understanding of

signals intelligence, electronic warfare

and cyberspace operations. Follow-on

tours are extremely varied and afford

officers the opportunity to broaden their

experience and to develop deep

expertise within specific areas of the

CW community. CWs have sea-going

assignments at every paygrade and are

often deployed in support of navy &

joint operations.

Postgraduate education is important to

the success of the CW community.

Many CWs will have the opportunity to

attend the Naval Postgraduate School to

complete a Master’s Degree in Electrical

Engineering, Space Systems

Operations/Engineering, Computer

Science & Systems Design, Cyber

Systems and Operations, Modeling,

Virtual Environments & Simulation, or

Operations Research. Limited PhD

opportunities also exist.

Web sites:

More information at Navy.com:

https://www.navy.com/careers/cryptolog

ic-warfare

Navy Personnel Command CW site:

https://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-

npc/officer/Detailing/IWC/IW/Pages/def

ault.aspx

Information Warfare Community on

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/IWCsync/

?ref=br_rs

Point of Contact

Cryptologic Warfare Officer

Community Manager

BUPERS 317C

DSN 882-3123

Commercial (901)874-3123

Updated: 7 August 2019