By Dmitry Filipoff
Ten years ago today, the U.S. Navy’s surface warfare community opened the Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center (SMWDC). This institution has gone on to play a major role in sharpening the warfighting skill of the surface navy. From producing hundreds of warfare tactics instructors, to spearheading doctrinal updates, to rapidly processing combat lessons from the Red Sea, SMWDC has been a driving force behind the warfighting improvement of the surface fleet.
CIMSEC has strived to cover the growth of SMWDC’s influence since the command’s inception. To mark the occasion of SMWDC’s ten-year anniversary, CIMSEC has assembled a special compilation of all its SMWDC content. This includes articles and interviews featuring every SMWDC commanding officer, as well as interviews with warfare tactics instructors and SWATT exercise participants. Read on to see the remarkable progress of SMWDC and the U.S. surface fleet.
“Sea Control 75 – Surface Fleet Warfare Tactics Instructors,” hosted by Matthew Hipple, and featuring RDML Jim Kilby, April 20, 2015.
“When you say the term warfighting first, that connotes action. And this is action by the surface warfare community to change our culture. When you hear me talk about SMWDC and the future, I talk about four elemental programs, one of which is the WTI program. Those programs, without the inertia to change the culture, to be more tactically minded, are just programs. If you look at the goal here, the goal is to become more tactically proficient, to create a community that is innovative and understanding of the tools that is available to them. I think it makes all the sense in the world to go to this model and change the way we have done business in the future.”
“Sea Control 139: What Does It Mean To Be A SMWDC Warfare Tactics Instructor?” hosted by Sally DeBoer, and featuring Lt. Tyson Eberhardt, Lt. Brittany Hubbard, Lt. Benjamin Olivas, and Lt. Damon Goodrich-Houska, July 12, 2017.
“As we have more and more senior leadership who are WTI-qualified, it is going to push an overall culture change, much like the phrase ‘a rising tide raises all boats.’ It is that idea that as increasingly more senior leadership has experience as WTIs, they will maintain that emphasis on being the best, drilling hard, working on doctrine and tactics, and that will really shift our focus. WTIs are supposed to be warriors and thinkers and teachers, so when we get out and stand tactical watches, those same WTIs will be thinkers and work on doctrine, tactics, and improving existing processes as well as developing new systems and ideas, while also serving as teachers, in that they will train watchstanders, crews, and even strike groups. Ultimately, this will improve our warfighting ability.”
“On the Cutting Edge of U.S. Navy Exercising: Surface Warfare Advanced Tactical Training,” by Dmitry Filipoff, and featuring Capt. Joe Cahill and Capt. Grady Musser, November 30, 2018.
“Let’s be honest. Nobody likes to do something wrong. And certainly, nobody likes to be told that they could do something better. But what we do like is being good warfighters and an important part of our nation’s defense and warfighting team. Unfortunately, you can’t do one without the other. You absolutely have to eat your vegetables, you have to do your homework, and you have to do your pushups. That is what SWATT is. It is not about getting it perfect, it is about learning. As a leader, that is perhaps my biggest challenge, to get my team ready and in the mindset that this is not a test – we are here to make mistakes and grow. That is not always the case when we do certifications and other events, but it is a critical leadership challenge for ship COs to sort through.”
“Warfare Tactics Instructor: A Unique Opportunity for Junior Officers,” by RDML John Wade and CAPT John Heames, February 5, 2018.
“The WTI program is a career opportunity that values our officers and empowers them to solve complex and challenging problems. SMWDC WTIs naturally have an eye toward innovation, are rebuilding the surface warfare library of tactical guidance, are shepherding new capability from delivery to operational success, and challenging the status quo in surface warfare training.”
“The Strategic Need for Tactical Excellence: Raising the Surface Navy’s Combat Capability,” by RDML Dave Welch, January 9, 2019.
“We have evolved in our shipboard training ‘reps and sets.’ During exercises on both coasts, watch teams are challenged to grow through the use of replay tools that highlight where errors in planning and execution have occurred. While feedback may seem uncomfortable at first, watch teams and warfare commander staffs quickly understand that some of the best lessons come through mistakes, followed by detailed debrief, with opportunities to immediately apply those lessons to rework a plan, rebrief it, then conduct another round of exercises at increased levels of pace and complexity. Watch teams that initially needed the watchful eyes of senior mentors and WTIs to help guide them are operating at such a high level at the end of the exercise that they need little oversight, and begin to hold themselves accountable and teach younger crew members.”
“Increasing the Lethality of the Surface Force: A Conversation with RDML Scott Robertson,” by Dmitry Filipoff, January 6, 2020.
“We are beginning to see our first waves of command-eligible SWO WTIs go before selection boards and have initially high screening rates for patch wearers. Bottom line, the surface warfare community values our WTIs and it shows in milestone selection figures. One of the founding visions has been the idea of having a fleet full of patch wearers manning our ships at the Commanding Officer, Executive Officer, and Department Head levels. The overall increase in the tactical proficiency and thus lethality of our ships will be impressive and measurable. We are well on our way.”
“RDML Christopher Alexander On Accelerating Surface Navy Tactical Excellence,” by Dmitry Filipoff, January 11, 2022.
“SMWDC emphasizes critical assessment of the SWATT process, the WTI COI, and TTP development. All of these interconnected elements have the overarching goal of increasing the tactical proficiency of the surface fleet. As new systems or platforms come online, new potential adversary technology or tactics change, or national security concerns evolve, SMWDC constantly assesses if we are providing the right tactical training to the right people at the right time. In this era of great power competition, we need to remain a step ahead and anticipate the next fight, not just react to it.”
“Sharpening Surface Force Lethality: The Latest in Surface Warfare Advanced Tactical Training,” by Dmitry Filipoff, January 3, 2023.
“From personal experience as a department head on a ship, we got more out of SWATT than any other training exercise because we felt more freedom to try new tactics and figure out firsthand why they would or would not work, without fear of failing an assessment as a result. If our warfighters are not given avenues to explore new tactics or to creatively solve problems, it is hard to develop the professional curiosity and ingenuity necessary to give us the upper hand over our adversaries.”
“RDML Wilson Marks on Sharpening the Surface Force,” by Dmitry Filipoff, January 8, 2024.
“SMWDC’s restructuring promotes productivity, collaboration, and integration across all warfighting domains. Ultimately, this will enable WTIs to be more effective and efficient in their missions due to ease of information sharing and capitalization on the diversity within our organization. Similarly, in consolidating the schoolhouse at SAWS, each warfare specialty area, colloquially known as patch type, is able to gain additional feedback from every course iteration and share lessons learned at a more rapid pace. It promotes standardization of class structure, rigor in class performance requirements, and camaraderie within the cadre as we transition to subject matter experts teaching their specialty across all warfare tactics courses of instructions regardless of patch type.”
“SMWDC, Growing the Tactical Skill of the Surface Force,” by Dmitry Filipoff, featuring RDML Wilson Marks, January 14, 2025.
“2025 marks a decade of progress and transformation for SMWDC. From its humble beginnings in 2015, SMWDC has grown into a cornerstone of the Surface Navy’s tactical excellence, delivering on its promise to increase warfighting readiness across all mission areas. At its inception, SMWDC was tasked with standardizing training in Amphibious Warfare, Air Warfare, Ballistic Missile Defense, Mine Warfare, Maritime Operations, single-ship Anti-Submarine Warfare, and Anti-Surface Warfare. The central focus has always been clear – investing in people – the greatest asset in our force. SMWDC’s WTIs have been instrumental in bridging the readiness gap, acting as force multipliers and driving a cultural shift toward a ‘Warfighting First’ mindset.”
Dmitry Filipoff is CIMSEC’s Director of Online Content. Contact him at Content@cimsec.org.
Featured Image: (June 9, 2015) Vice Adm. Tom Rowden, commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, speaks to personnel at the inaugural ceremony for Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center (SMWDC) at Naval Base San Diego. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Trevor Welsh/Released)