The Center for Information Dominance (CID) Unit Corry Station held a change of command ceremony, Sept. 25 at the National Naval Aviation Museum on board Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola. Members of the unit and guests celebrated the 26-month command tour of Pace native Cmdr. Christopher Bryant and welcomed new commanding officer, Cmdr. Christopher Eng.
"Anyone who knows (Bryant) knows he was always focused on producing the best Sailor possible, which meant holding the standard high and ensuring each Sailor who graduated from Corry Station bore his personal stamp of excellence," said guest speaker Capt. Maureen Fox, CID headquarters commanding officer. "During his time in command, Chris ushered over 27,000 Sailors through his schoolhouse and into the fleet all around the world."
Fox praised Bryant for his exceptional performance while leading the largest command in the CID domain, where he was responsible for 39 courses of instruction and a staff of 15 officers, 258 enlisted members and 58 civilians.
Bryant, an information warfare officer, said he is proud of having the opportunity to command CID Unit Corry Station and to prepare new members of the armed services for careers in cyber, cryptology, information technology, and information warfare.
"It didn't take me long to realize the unique challenges associated with that of a training command. How much you rely on (junior) Sailors, chiefs and officers to prepare these new accessions in their technical field that they will be required to perform, as well as continuing their transition from a civilian to a Sailor," said Bryant. "These military professionals accomplish their mission with a schedule reminiscent of sea duty."
As Eng assumed command of CID Unit Corry Station, he thanked Bryant for his thorough turnover and took the opportunity to discuss his commitment to the unit's mission and its people.
"To the CID unit staff, we are charged with a great task, to truly develop the future technical cadre of the Navy's Information Dominance Corps," said Eng. "With continual changes in technology, the ongoing developments by nation states and people who mean to do this country and our allies and partners harm, and the never ending throughput of students, we can never rest on our achievements. It is a tremendous challenge to ensure our war fighting readiness but one that I am excited and eager to tackle with you."
During the ceremony, Bryant received the Meritorious Service Medal for his performance as commanding officer of CID Unit Corry Station from July 2013 to September 2015. His next tour will be as deputy information operations warfare commander with Carrier Strike Group 12, which includes USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71).
Located aboard NAS Pensacola Corry Station, CID Unit Corry Station delivers Navy and joint forces training in information operations, information warfare, information technology and cryptology for approximately 12,000 service members each year.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Pace man concludes tour as commanding officer of CID Unit Corry Station