''Nimitz Operational Intelligence Center'' is one of the four "
centers of excellence
A center of excellence (COE or CoE ), also called excellence center, is a team, a shared facility or an entity that provides leadership, best practices, research, support or training for a focus area.
Due to its broad usage and vague legal prec ...
" under the
Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI). The center provides and supports decision makers, policy makers and operational commanders with analysis to meet their requirements. Nimitz is headquartered at
National Maritime Intelligence Center
The National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office (NMIO) is a United States Navy entity located in the National Maritime Intelligence Center (NMIC) Facility in Suitland, Maryland, southeast of Washington, D.C. It is a part of the Suitland Fe ...
which is located in
Suitland, Maryland
Suitland is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, approximately one mile (1.6 km) southeast of Washington, D.C. As of the 2020 census, its population was 25,839. Prio ...
, southeast of
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Leadership
Nicholas Homan relieved Captain Andrea Pollard from command of the Nimitz Operational Intelligence Center in May 2014. Captain Homan enlisted in the
Navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
in 1983 as an Aviation Electronics Technician. He graduated from the
University of Nebraska
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics degree. Also, he received his Master of Science in Astronautical Engineering from the
Naval Postgraduate School
The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a public graduate school operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California.
It offers master’s and doctoral degrees in more than 70 fields of study to the U.S. Armed Forces, DOD ci ...
. Captain Homan has had notable deployments and received awards including two Bronze Stars, two Defense Meritorious Service Medals, three Meritorious Service Medals, two Air Medals, Joint Service Commendation Medal, three Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medals, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Naval/Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Navy/Marine Corps
Combat Action Ribbon and various campaign awards.
Roles and Responsibilities
Geographically Oriented Cells
The Geographically Oriented Cells are teams focused on specific area of interest and provide extensive knowledge to the Naval forces.
Fleet Support Department (FSD)
The Fleet Support Department is responsible for term analysis of foreign naval and maritime operations to the fleet, Department of Defense, intelligence agencies and U.S. law enforcement organizations. FSD integrates mainly with the Geo Oriented Cells of ONI. The 24/7 Watch for the U.S. Navy associates itself closely with FSD and Geo Oriented Cells. The Watch floor maintains situational awareness for naval activity going on in the world.
Transnational Threat Department (TNT)
The Transnational Threat Department provides ONI with intelligence capabilities based on the achievement of Global Maritime Intelligence Integration (GMII) and
Maritime domain awareness
Maritime domain awareness (MDA) is defined by the International Maritime Organization as the effective understanding of anything associated with the maritime domain that could impact the security, safety, economy, or environment.
MDA is said to w ...
. TNT also partners with analysts from the
Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Multiple Threat Analysis Center (MTAC), and the U.S. Coastguard Intelligence Coordination Center (ICC). They partner with these organizations to provide in-depth analysis on counter illicit weapons proliferation, narcotics smuggling, and maritime crime and piracy.
Fleet Imagery Support Team (FIST)
The Fleet Imagery Support Team provides exploited imagery obtained from national, theater, tactical and commercial means for fleet focused requests. FIST is essentially the eyes of the
US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
. FIST is composed of highly skilled imagery and
GEOINT
In the United States, geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) is intelligence about the human activity on earth derived from the exploitation and analysis of imagery, signals, or signatures with geospatial information. GEOINT describes, assesses, and vis ...
analysts. The GEOINT analysts have a lot of training with
ArcGIS. Joe Kowalczyk is the Deputy Department Head for FIST, and principal advisor to the Program Manager and Commanding Officer, Nimitz Operational Intelligence Center on geospatial-intelligence (GEOINT) support to the fleet and other Nimitz Operational Intelligence Center priority imagery-related requirements.
Naval War College (NWC) Detachment (DET)
Two years after ONI was created
William Chandler established the Naval War College that is responsible for educating naval officers on technology, strategy, tactics, logistics, history, geography and international law.
The Naval War College Detachment provides intelligence support to the college's research, analysis, and war gaming programs.
Naval Warfare Department (NWD)
NWD provides detailed analysis of naval warfare threats posed by foreign weapons systems and countries of interest. NWD supports operational commanders, mission planners, naval warfare development centers, and the National Intelligence Community with tactical and operational assessments.
References
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Naval intelligence