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To serve successfully in the Navy is hard work.
It requires courage, but also know-how.
There are tons of skills required along the way — valuable information and talents that are used to keep our nation safe around the world.
That’s where Galliano native Rickey Gisclair comes in.
Gisclair’s job is to teach future information warriors those skills so that when it’s their turn, they’re able to keep us safe.
Petty Officer 1st Class Rickey Gisclair is an information systems technician who serves with the Information Warfare Training Command in Virginia Beach.
A Navy information systems technician is responsible for maintaining the shipboard network servers and satellite communications systems.
For Gisclair, he said the successes he’s enjoyed in the Navy are based on his life growing up as a Cajun.
He said growing up in Galliano taught him how to work hard and also how to be work smart — two traits that he puts to use every, single day in his service.
“My hometown is built on work ethic,” Gisclair said. “There are two industries, oil-
field and seafood. If you put in an honest day of work, you’ll feel and be proud of your accomplishments. This holds true in the military, as well.”
For Gisclair, life moves fast.
IWTC Virginia Beach provides a continuum of information warfare training to Navy and joint service personnel, preparing them to conduct information warfare across the full spectrum of military operations.
The training command currently offers more than 60 courses of instruction in information technology, cryptology and intelligence with an instructor and support staff of 280 military, civilian and contract members who train more than 6,500 students every year at five different training sites.
For Gisclair, his work is playing an important part in America’s focus on rebuilding readiness, strengthening alliances and reforming business practices in support of the United States’ National Defense.
IWTC Virginia Beach is one of four schoolhouses of its kind in the country.
“Our priorities center on people, capabilities and processes, and will be achieved by our focus on speed, value, results and partnerships,” said Richard V. Spencer, Secretary of the Navy. “Readiness, lethality and modernization are the requirements driving these priorities.”
For Gisclair, his path to the military was paved long before his service.
He said both of his grandfathers served during WWII, which caused “some influence” in his decision to serve, himself.
Gisclair misses Louisiana at times, but adds that he takes trips home when he can, adding that what helps soften the blow is the good fishing in Virginia.
When on the job, Gisclair said he loves his work and takes pride in seeing his fellow sailors reach their goals on a day-to-day basis.
He told a story when it was time for inspection — often a stressful time for sailors. But this time around, his shipmates were on the ball and had no issues.
“My former ship, the USS Abraham Lincoln was preparing for a big inspection, Gisclair remembered. “And my shipmates crushed it, and hearing of it, brought tremendous pride in the accomplishments we had there during my tenure.”
At IWTC Virginia Beach, Gisclair and others are serving as a key part of the information warfare community in the continued mission to gain a deep understanding of the inner workings of adversaries, while also developing unmatched knowledge during wartime.
Gisclair said he knows that his career will one day end, but added that he feels a great sense of pride each day in knowing that he’s helping keep America safe, while also helping to train others to keep it safe in the future — a long-lasting legacy of United States excellence and teamwork.
“There is a purpose I feel from the moment I put on the uniform each day,” he said.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
I’ve known Rick since we were children. We went to school together, we played sports together. Today, in adulthood, we’re still buddies and converse about sports on social media from time-to-time. Rickey is a good person — has always been. On behalf of everyone at Rushing Media, we’d like to thank you for your wonderful service and wish you the best of luck in the future! Keep up the good work, man!
