Recently, Naval Oceanography’s Fleet Weather Centers (FWC), San Diego (SD) and Norfolk (N), announced publication of an electronic platform to share vital information between the commands in effort to optimize operational readiness.

The electronic platform, or sharepoint page, will ensure FWC-SD and FWC-N have integrated capacities in paralleled: Standard Operation Procedures (SOP) and process; point of contact lists; watchbills and accompanying watchstanders, to name a few.

"Integrated deterrence means all of us giving our all," said Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III at a command ceremony for the U.S. Indo-Pacific. "It means that working together is an imperative, and not an option...it means that capabilities must be shared across lines as a matter of course, and not as an exception to the rule…and it means that coordination across commands and services needs to be a reflex and not an afterthought." These efforts of FWC-SD and FWC-N’s backup command support, also known as a Transfer of Service (TOS), is in total alignment with the National Defense Strategy; reiterated by Secretary of Defense Austin’s words to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

FWC-N’s CDR Stephanie Johnson stated, “The TOS between the FWCs was a great success,” she said. “Both teams are looking forward to continuing this optimization effort to ensure seamless support to our Fleet customers during these evolutions.”

Following the completion of the TOS exercises, both commands came out with lessons learned to improve their overall mission(s).

As a quarterly practice, TOS is meant to be seamless and transparent to the Navy’s Fleet, keeping personnel current and mitigating obstacles within various SOPs.
Echoing Johnson’s sentiment, FWC-SD’s CDR Sean Caulfield expressed, “This is the result of a lot of hard work between both teams over the past year,” he said. “We have made large strides already and are now dialing into specific areas to address as the FWCs further align.”

Separate from operational capacity, TOS can also be used for stronger participation at command events, subsequent of stronger and more frequent internal communication options.

Naval Oceanography has approximately 2,500 globally distributed military and civilian personnel, who collect, process and exploit environmental information to assist Fleet and Joint Commanders in all warfare areas to guarantee the U.S. Navy’s freedom of action in the physical battlespace from the depths of the ocean to the stars.
*Public affairs teams at FWC-SD and FWC-N contributed to this article.