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Subscribe Back Issues AOC Home Page March 25 - March 31 |
US Army Releases EW ManualFor the first time since the end of the Cold War, the US Army has put out a manual specifically focusing on electronic warfare (EW), which it circulated at this year's Association of the United States (AUSA) Winter Conference, February 25-27, in Fort Lauderdale, FL.The 112-page manual, officially titled "Electronic Warfare in Operations," was created by the Army's Combined Arms Center (CAC) at Fort Leavenworth, KS, and lays out the Army's plan to move EW into the realms of cyberspace and the electromagnetic spectrum. Its release comes on the heels of the Army establishing an EW officer career field, which will train 1,500 EW soldiers and officers at Fort Sill, OK, by 2010, marking the service's largest EW capacity to date. Although it does not mention new equipment, the new doctrine clearly represents the Army's desire to reinvest in EW. It calls for an increased use of high-power microwaves, lasers and infrared beams and better measures for protecting soldiers against remote-controlled improvised explosive devices (RCIEDs) and other kinds of nontraditional warfare. It also calls for a heightened awareness and preparation for potential threats and advancing technologies. "The war in Iraq began to make us understand that there are a lot of targets that we should be going after in the offensive or defensive mode, to protect ourselves," explained Col. Laurie Buckhout, chief of the Army's EW division. Where the Army will get the funding to implement the new doctrine is yet unclear, although in-service budget shifts are likely, as is asking Congress to cover the costs. – M. Kunkel
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