Rear Adm. Michael Vernazza has been nominated by President Biden to be the U.S. Navy’s next information boss, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced on May 9.
As the next commander of the Naval Information Force, Vernazza would oversee the staffing, training, and equipping of an agile and technically superior combat-ready information warfare (IW) force.
The Naval Information Force is responsible for delivering information-based capabilities — communications, networks, intelligence, meteorology, oceanography, cryptology, electronic warfare, cyberspace operations, and space — to “degrade, deny, deceive or destroy the enemy’s warfighting capabilities” or enhance the effectiveness of non-combat operations across all domains.
The Navy’s IW force continues to be in high demand as the importance of intelligence to warfighting becomes increasingly critical, according to the Navy’s current information boss, Vice Adm. Kelly Aeschbach.
“I can’t say it enough. We are in demand, more in demand than we’ve ever been, and that will continue to increase,” Aeschbach said during the annual Sea-Air-Space conference on April 8. “Our teammates and our warfighters across the IW community are our greatest weapon system … and we have to be prepared to operate in contested environments where the battle for information superiority is just as crucial as and sometimes more important than traditional warfare.”
According to Aeschbach, the Navy’s IW force’s ability to do everything in the information space is a force multiplier, and it “enables us to make informed decisions and outmaneuver our adversaries in today’s fight and in the future fight.”
Aeschbach has served as the Navy’s information boss since she was confirmed to the post in 2021.
If confirmed by the Senate, Vernazza would take over for Aeschbach, and also win his third star with the promotion to vice admiral. Vernazza now serves as commander for the Fleet Information Warfare Command Pacific/Information Warfare Task Force Pacific at the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
