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From SMWDC Public Affairs Office
DAHLGREN, Va. — Dec. 8, 2025 — Rear Adm. T. J. Zerr, commander of the Naval Surface Warfighting and Mine Warfighting Development Center (SMWDC), visited Naval Support Facility Dahlgren this week to meet with key training and operational leadership regarding the Navy's future surface combat requirements and capabilities.
The two-day visit focused on the critical role that Surface Warfare Technical Division (SWTD), Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD), and the Surface Combat Systems Training Command (SCSTC) play in preparing the Fleet for high-end Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO).
Rear Adm. Zerr's discussions centered on the fact that every ounce of sea power the Navy wields originates in these commands—they are the bedrock of what the 34th Chief of Naval Operations refers to as "The Foundry." The Foundry represents the enduring sum of the Navy's total force, schoolhouses, industrial base, and intellectual capital required to generate, sustain, and modernize naval power.
On Monday, Dec. 8, Rear Adm. Zerr met with leadership from Fleet Training Atlantic (FT-L) where he engaged with Sailors and civilians during an all-hands call and received a tour of the facility. The mission of FT-L oversees the planning and execution of Surface Warfare Advanced Tactical Training (SWATT). SWATT is a combination of academic, synthetic, and underway training designed to bridge the basic and integrated phases. It exercises surface forces at the watch team, unit, and warfare commander levels in an integrated group construct.
Tuesday, Dec. 9, continued the focus on training readiness at Surface Combat Systems Training Command (SCSTC) and SCSTC AEGIS Training and Readiness Center (ATRC), co-located onboard Naval Support Facility Dahlgren, Virginia. There, Rear Adm. Zerr met with Capt. Michael Dwan, commander, SCSTC, and SCSTC ATRC leadership and staff to discuss the essential training the schoolhouse provides to his Warfare Tactics Instructors (WTI). SCSTC operates as a vital global training organization, utilizing 15 learning sites and detachments to dedicate personnel to maintaining, operating, and tactically employing surface combat systems across the full spectrum of operations.
The training portion of the visit concluded with a WTI training throughput brief delivered by Capt. Michael Dwan, commodore, SCSTC, and the SCSTC ATRC leadership and staff.
To address future warfighting requirements, Zerr then visited SWTD and NSWCDD . His discussions focused on further support of SMWDC's current and future analysis needs with the Surface Domain Analysis Center. The visit also included a dedicated discussion with the Directed Energy program manager, where he received an overview of how DE initiatives align with surface requirements. Zerr was provided a demonstration of the organization's naval replay capability, using the Joint After Action Replay (JAAR) system.
SMWDC is the Navy's Warfighting Development Center for Surface Warfare and Mine Warfare, with the core mission of increasing the lethality and tactical proficiency of the surface fleet across all domains. SWTD and FT-L, which are component commands to SMWDC, directly support this mission by providing surface warfare tactical expertise and innovative solutions to the fleet through the development and assessment of warfighting doctrine, concepts, and tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs).
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