MONTEREY, Calif. – An exceptional group of student Sailors, attached to Information Warfare Training Command (IWTC) Monterey and attend foreign language training offered by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC), have continued to find a way to give back to the communities they serve through Habitat for Humanity.

Even with all the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and excelling in one of the most arduous schools the Navy has to offer, these Sailors have volunteered diligently over the last several months as conditions allowed on an 11-house build project, including upgrades to a community center in the city of Santa Cruz, California, just north of Monterey.

Seaman Hayden Bressoud, an Arabic student at DLIFLC, has been coordinating the efforts of the Sailors volunteering with Habitat for Humanity.

“Volunteering with Habitat for Humanity has been my favorite experience at DLI,” said Bressoud. “It has been awesome to have an opportunity to get out and do something physical that makes a huge difference in peoples’ lives. The group that we work with there are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met and I’m excited to get to see these houses once they are completely finished!”

These projects are especially critical in this part of the country that has seen a homelessness crisis over recent years that has only been exacerbated by the pandemic.

Not only are these Sailors contributing to their community as “Goodwill Ambassadors,” but they are also gaining valuable community teambuilding skills in construction, all while maintaining the high academic standards expected of every student attending DLIFLC.

Cmdr. Josie Moore, commanding officer of IWTC Monterey, shared, “These Sailors demonstrate uncommon initiative and truly personify the meaning of service. They really make the Navy shine here in Monterey – and the fleet can expect great things in their future!”

IWTC Monterey, as part of the Center for Information Warfare Training (CIWT), provides a continuum of foreign language training to Navy personnel, which prepares them to conduct information warfare across the full spectrum of military operations.

With four schoolhouse commands, a detachment, and training sites throughout the United States and Japan, CIWT trains approximately 26,000 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 on Information Warfare Training Command Monterey, visit https://www.public.navy.mil/netc/centers/ciwt/IWTCmonterey/ and http://www.monterey.army.mil/Service_Units/IWTC_Monterey.html, or find them on Facebook.

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