Story by Joshua Rodriguez

Leaders from across the Information Warfare (IW) community convened at the Naval Information Forces (NAVIFOR) headquarters for a pivotal three-day Commanders’ Summit, held March 30-April 1. The summit focused on aligning strategic priorities, driving innovation, and continuing the generation of premier combat-ready IW forces for the fleet to increase warfighting readiness.

Hosted by the Naval Information Forces commander, and IBoss, Vice Adm. Mike Vernazza, the event served as a critical forum for IW leaders to synchronize and align to ensure the IW community provides unsurpassed battlespace awareness, integrated fires, and assured command and control to the Navy and joint force.

“The information domain is the most dynamic and contested warfighting environment,” said Vice Adm. Vernazza in his opening address. “This summit is our opportunity as leaders to integrate, synchronize and align our efforts, ensuring we continue to generate the combat-ready Information Warfare forces our fleet needs to deter, compete, and win. We are here to tackle the tough challenges and refine the warfighting advantage that only IW can bring to the fleet.”

The summit’s focus on warfighting readiness was reinforced by the strategic guidance of the Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Daryl Caudle, who provided the keynote address and discussed his Fighting Instructions.

“Our ability to generate and employ our naval combat power must be adaptable, fungible, tailored, and ready…and make no mistake, Information Warfare is central to all of this,” said Caudle. “IW is not merely a supporting function in the Fighting Instructions. It is a foundational warfighting function and competency that enables decision advantage, resilient command and control, and the ability to fight and win. My vision is clear: Information Warfare must be fully integrated into how we plan, fight, and win as a Navy.”

A central theme of the summit was the rapid integration of advanced technologies to maintain a decisive operational advantage. NAVIFOR subject matter experts led in-depth discussions on the practical application of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning to naval operations.

“The integration of capabilities like Artificial Intelligence is not a distant goal; it is a present-day imperative,” Vernazza stated during a technology-focused panel. “We are deliberately focused on rapidly harnessing advanced technology to accelerate decision-making and enhance battlespace awareness, ensuring our warfighters have the tools they need to fight and win in any domain.”

Reflecting on the progress made during the intensive three-day event, Vice Adm. Vernazza expressed confidence in the community’s shared direction.

“The collaboration and shared focus I’ve witnessed over the past three days have been exceptional,” he concluded. “We are leaving this summit with a clear, unified direction for the future of Information Warfare. Our work here will directly translate into a more lethal and ready naval force, capable of meeting any challenge.”

NAVIFOR’s mission is to generate, directly and through our leadership of the IW Enterprise, agile and technically superior manned, trained, equipped, and certified combat-ready IW forces to ensure our Navy will decisively DETER, COMPETE, and WIN.