CDR Sarah Cooper is a native of Mequon, Wisconsin, and graduated from Indiana University in 2007. In September 2008, she attended Officer Candidate School and was commissioned as an SWO/IP in December 2008.
Upon commissioning, she reported to the USS Vella Gulf (CG 72), serving as the Strike, Training, and Legal Officers. CDR Cooper reported next to the USS Independence (LCS 2) as the Electronic Materials Officer, Weapons Officer, and Legal Officer.
Following her tours abroad, Cooper was assigned to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she earned her MS in Network Engineering and Web Sciences. She then reported to Fleet Cyber Command, serving as the Flag Aide to VADM Jan Tighe. She transferred to serve as the Team Lead for the 94 Cyber Protection Team. While on 94 CPT, she screened for Joint Special Operations Command and served in various technology-focused positions.
Cooper returned once again to the Fleet Cyber Command flag deck, serving as the Deputy Executive Assistant to VADM T.J. White. She then reported to the Navy Personnel Command, serving as the Information Professional and Maritime Space Officer Junior detailer. From there, Cooper reported to the INDOPACOM Cyber Operations Integrated Planning Element serving as the Operations Officer.
Embracing leadership opportunities, Cooper reported to the Navy Geospatial-Intelligence Warfare Activity serving as the Executive Officer. While onboard, she was selected to report to Naval Postgraduate School, where she currently serves as the NAVIFOR LNO to NPS TF AI.
I have a fairly diverse operational background that will help lend itself to a broader awareness of operational challenges. Having served tours afloat, with special operations, and most recently leveraging CRADAs to do unique things in cyber in the INDOPACOM theater, I fully understand that our opportunities to make an impact span a wide array of mission areas. I'm also acutely aware that not enough of the great problem-solving that institutions like NPS produce ever makes it to the operational/tactical edge. We need to close that gap and I'm engaging Commands at the operational echelon to accomplish that.
I want to help vector NPS onto the most relevant problem sets users at operational commands are experiencing today. As we develop those problem statements and, allocate resources my role will be to build and maintain those relationships. As well as ensure we have a functional feedback loop and direct user input. I want to foster command buy-in and investment such that we are directly delivering them capability they are excited about.
It will provide unique opportunities not available anywhere else in the DoD. Generating increased capacity to tackle new and increasingly more challenging problems. Too often the really hard, most impactful problems get sidelined in favor of "achieveable" challenges. This infrastructure and our partnerships afford us the opportunity to take those hard problems off the backburner and generate real operational advantage.
Lessons learned from recent global events have taught us that we need to adapt with the changing pace of conflict, particularly in the applications of modern technology. Rapid innovation is and always has been a necessity in the successful development and execution of tactics and doctrine. Our role as leaders is to ensure we are embracing new tools and technologies, so that we can successfully employ them across our mission space. AI can be a powerful force multiplier, and we have the responsibility of ensuring we understand it and leverage it to advantage.
NVIDIA is an organization leading the way and that is precisely where the Navy needs to be. When the Snake Island institute was recently visiting one of the more impactful lessons they shared was a necessity to rapidly iterate on technology they were employing in the battlespace. Emphasizing the need to be able to provide direct feedback to the industry partners producing critical tools used in conflict. Creating a synergistic feedback loop where direct partnerships make both parties more successful and technology more useful. I see our partnership helping to facilitate that type of mutually beneficial relationship. We can be a conduit between critical industry partners and the Joint Force to drive the development of critical tools now that will be critical in future conflict.
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