VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Two instructors attached to Information Warfare Training Command (IWTC) Virginia Beach were named the Center for Information Warfare Training (CIWT) domain-wide 2020 Military Instructors of the Year (IOY).

Electronics Technician 2nd Class Jaron Dick and Lt. Heather Gotliboski were named as the CWIT domain-wide Junior Instructor of the Year (JIOY) and Officer Instructor of the Year, respectively.

IWTC Virginia Beach takes great pride in the vast experience each instructor brings with them as they stand before their students on a daily basis. With a combined 40 years of active duty experience, both Dick and Gotliboski have dedicated themselves to providing hundreds of hours of instruction while including what they have learned in the fleet to make course material more relevant to their students.

What has set both IOYs apart from their peers is their ability to also provide mentorship to both their enlisted and officer students by going above and beyond to ensure that all students not only understand course material to the best of his or her ability, but to understand how he or she fits into the missions which he or she will take part in after their time at IWTC Virginia Beach. Additionally, both instructors have taken on the many challenges brought on by COVID-19 by enforcing IWTC Virginia Beach’s safety as first priority through increased healthy-safety measures while simultaneously managing increased course loads for existing curriculum.

As an instructor who is dedicated to providing quality instruction for all students, Dick shared, “I am extremely grateful to have been elected the CIWT domain JIOY. It is our duty as instructors to do everything we can to provide the best instruction possible to every Sailor that sits in our desks. To create successful Sailors and technicians, we must avoid hitting the, ‘I believe button.’ We must be honest with ourselves and our students if we don’t know something and be sure to put in the work to find those difficult answers, otherwise, we’ll never grow.”

Selflessly dedicating her award to her students and colleagues, Lt. Gotliboski stated, “I am both extremely humbled and honored to be named CIWT domain IOY. I truly owe this honor to my students, my fellow instructors, and my chain of command for their continued support, mentorship, and guidance especially during such an unprecedented year of trail and tribulations for us all.”

Both instructors will move on to now compete in the Naval Education and Training Command’s Junior and Officer Instructors of the Year competition, to be named in the coming months.

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.