SAN DIEGO – A 2004 Americus High School graduate and Americus, Ga., native is currently an instructor for the U.S. Navy training Sailors in operating the technologically advanced Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).
Operations Specialist 1st Class Keith Tatum has been an instructor at the LCS Training Facility (LTF) since February 2018.
The LTF, the first surface warfare training facility to provide integrated bridge and combat systems tactical scenario training for Sailors serving on board an LCS, is operated by the Center for Surface Combat Systems’ (CSCS) learning site Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Center (FLEASWTRACEN) in San Diego.
Tatum teaches a four-week LCS-2 variant surface warfare tactical communicator capstone course which focuses on what the students will be required to do aboard their LCS platform with a series of training scenarios and classroom lessons.
“Sailors serving in the LCS environment demand a higher quantity and quality of training,” explained Capt. Brandon Bryan, FLEASWTRACEN’s commanding officer. “LCS class ships drive a new approach to individual, team, and unit-level training to accommodate the minimum manning and rotational crewing concepts. This new approach drives the need for the shore-centric Train-to-Qualify (T2Q) and Train-to-Certify (T2C) concepts, which rely heavily on high-fidelity shore-based trainers. Our simulators integrate LCS command and control, propulsion control, and bridge control systems to support individual training in a team environment at the basic, intermediate and advanced levels.”
Tatum joined the Navy in August 2004 and graduated from Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Ill. in October 2004.
“I joined the Navy to get out on my own and experience the world through my own eyes,” he said. “The Navy has given me so many opportunities to travel the world, meet new people from different backgrounds, and even start my own family. I’m very grateful to be a Sailor in the United States Navy.”
Tatum was previously stationed at U.S. Naval Forces Central Command in the U.S. 5th Fleet Area of Responsibility where he operated complex Tactical Data Links and Global Command and Control System-Maritime architectures.
“At the LTF, we prepare Sailors to execute a wide variety of missions around the world,” Bryan said. “They leave our training facility ready to stand their watch and execute the Navy’s mission.”
Tatum is the son of Ms. Sekeithia Walters, who resides in Leesburg, Ga. and Mr. Benny Tatum, who resides in Americus, Ga.
Headquartered in Dahlgren, Va., CSCS develops and delivers surface ship combat systems training to achieve surface warfare superiority. CSCS headquarters' staff oversees 14 learning sites and detachments located throughout the continental United States, Hawaii, and Japan and manages and operates a Naval Education and Training Command (NETC) training division in Rota, Spain. CSCS provides over 560 courses, awards 114 different Navy Enlisted Classifications (NECs), and trains over 38,000 Sailors a year.
For more information on CSCS, visit https://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/cscs/ or follow CSCS on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Center-for-Surface-Combat-Systems/1480366868885239
The LTF, the first surface warfare training facility to provide integrated bridge and combat systems tactical scenario training for Sailors serving on board an LCS, is operated by the Center for Surface Combat Systems’ (CSCS) learning site Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Center (FLEASWTRACEN) in San Diego.
Tatum teaches a four-week LCS-2 variant surface warfare tactical communicator capstone course which focuses on what the students will be required to do aboard their LCS platform with a series of training scenarios and classroom lessons.
“Sailors serving in the LCS environment demand a higher quantity and quality of training,” explained Capt. Brandon Bryan, FLEASWTRACEN’s commanding officer. “LCS class ships drive a new approach to individual, team, and unit-level training to accommodate the minimum manning and rotational crewing concepts. This new approach drives the need for the shore-centric Train-to-Qualify (T2Q) and Train-to-Certify (T2C) concepts, which rely heavily on high-fidelity shore-based trainers. Our simulators integrate LCS command and control, propulsion control, and bridge control systems to support individual training in a team environment at the basic, intermediate and advanced levels.”
Tatum joined the Navy in August 2004 and graduated from Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Ill. in October 2004.
“I joined the Navy to get out on my own and experience the world through my own eyes,” he said. “The Navy has given me so many opportunities to travel the world, meet new people from different backgrounds, and even start my own family. I’m very grateful to be a Sailor in the United States Navy.”
Tatum was previously stationed at U.S. Naval Forces Central Command in the U.S. 5th Fleet Area of Responsibility where he operated complex Tactical Data Links and Global Command and Control System-Maritime architectures.
“At the LTF, we prepare Sailors to execute a wide variety of missions around the world,” Bryan said. “They leave our training facility ready to stand their watch and execute the Navy’s mission.”
Tatum is the son of Ms. Sekeithia Walters, who resides in Leesburg, Ga. and Mr. Benny Tatum, who resides in Americus, Ga.
Headquartered in Dahlgren, Va., CSCS develops and delivers surface ship combat systems training to achieve surface warfare superiority. CSCS headquarters' staff oversees 14 learning sites and detachments located throughout the continental United States, Hawaii, and Japan and manages and operates a Naval Education and Training Command (NETC) training division in Rota, Spain. CSCS provides over 560 courses, awards 114 different Navy Enlisted Classifications (NECs), and trains over 38,000 Sailors a year.
For more information on CSCS, visit https://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/cscs/ or follow CSCS on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Center-for-Surface-Combat-Systems/1480366868885239