VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to present obstacles on all fronts of life for the Navy, maintaining physical fitness standards at Information Warfare Training Command (IWTC) Virginia Beach for Navy readiness remains imperative.

As a way to encourage the Sailors and staff of IWTC Virginia Beach to not only continue to conduct physical fitness but further build teamwork during this austere COVID-19 era, the command fitness leader and assistants creatively established the “Battle of Midway Challenge.”

“I’m hoping, as the command fitness leader, that we have a lot of participants to help support Navy readiness,” shared Chief Cryptologic Technician (Collection) Adrine Young. “We also wanted to design a fitness challenge that encourage physical fitness and prepare everyone for the new physical readiness test events such as forearm planks.”

The three-month long, command-wide fitness challenge has been developed to promote naval heritage while supporting individual physical readiness. The goal of the challenge is to damage enemy “fighters” through a point bases system where points directly translate to enemy impact.

Each individual will be awarded five points for designated exercises that he or she conducts on his or her own time:
-One mile of run/walk/treadmill/rowing/elliptical
-Ten minutes of High Intensity Interval Training/online work out class/yoga
-Ten minutes of strength training
-Five minutes of planks
-Three miles of biking

At the conclusion of the “Battle of Midway Challenge,” the individuals and teams with the highest impact, or highest points earned, will receive awards such as command-wide recognition and special liberty from the IWTC Virginia Beach commanding officer for the participants’ efforts.

“While the health and safety of our Sailors and civilian staff members remains our top priority at IWTC Virginia Beach, maintaining our physical fitness standards is vital to our mission success,” said IWTC Virginia Beach Commanding Officer Cmdr. James Brennan. “The fitness challenge is a great way to remember where we came from while ensuring we remain physically active in a creative way,”

IWTC Virginia Beach currently offers 59 courses of instruction in information technology, cryptology, and intelligence with an instructor and support staff of 230 military, civilian, and contract members who train over 6,600 students every year at 5 training sites in the Hampton Roads area. It is one of four school houses for Center for Information Warfare Training (CIWT) and also oversees learning sites at Jacksonville and Mayport, Florida; Kings Bay, Georgia; and Groton, Connecticut to continue aligning Information Warfare community training.

With four schoolhouse commands, a detachment, and training sites throughout the United States and Japan, CIWT trains over 22,000 students every year, delivering trained information warfare professionals to the Navy and joint services. CIWT also offers more than 200 courses for cryptologic technicians, intelligence specialists, information systems technicians, electronics technicians, and officers in the information warfare community.

For more news from the Center for Information Warfare Training domain, visit https://www.netc.navy.mil/CIWT, www.facebook.com/NavyCIWT, or www.twitter.com/NavyCIWT.