July 6, 2011
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PART 2 OF A NEW SERIES: Designing a New Course and Casting the EW Net Wider
When asked about the process of developing and instructing a new course for the AOC, Mr. Berg says the most rewarding part has been broadening and connecting the EW community at large. "When we conduct a course, people with diverse backgrounds come together due to a common interest and usually leave with fresh information and contacts, as well as a better appreciation of the professional community of which we are all part," Mr. Berg says. During his 20-year stint a military officer with the U.S. Air Force, Mr. Berg got to meet much of his operational EW peer group; now in the private sector and as a course instructor for the AOC, he’s getting to meet more of the critical support folks who design and test equipment, work in labs, manage programs or directly support national defense in their own way. "Looking throughout the history of EW, there is a legacy of dedicated professionals quietly working in secret to develop and integrate EW into military operations, usually with little acknowledgement or feedback on the results of their efforts," Mr. Berg continues. "We wanted to develop an essentials course at a level suitable for non-engineer types; many of the publicly-available EW education courses dive directly into design-level EW discussions, which tends to scare off some folks interested in learning more about EW." Choosing to develop an introductory course with broad appeal was a no-brainer for Mr. Berg. "Even when I worked at the Joint Electronic Warfare Center (JEWC), there were folks who contacted us looking for a basic EW overview course that wouldn’t overload them with engineer-speak, or focus too deeply on a single service (Army, Air Force, etc.) EW application. I recall that at the time that we were unable to refer any such courses, because they didn’t exist." Recently, AOC had course attendees from intelligence agencies who needed to become more versed in Electronic Warfare because foreign trends were unavoidably thrusting EW into their analysis. The goal for the new Essentials of 21st Century Electronic Warfare Course is to attract a wide range of EW professionals while being relevant to attendees in related fields who don’t necessarily have extensive EW experience or qualifications. Coming up next week: Part 3 of 3: The Days of EW Being a Pod Strapped onto an Airplane are Long Gone |
 
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