UK AOC Newsletter - January 2009 |
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OUTSTANDING NATO UNIT 2008: Y SQUADRON, ROYAL MARINESIn the last Newsletter we were very pleased to announce that the AOC had named Y Squadron, Royal Marines, as the Outstanding NATO Unit for 2008 for their work during ISAF operations in Afghanistan. Y Squadron are 3 Commando Brigade’s electronic warfare specialists. They are equipped with the latest communications and electronic support measures and can access intelligence at the very highest level by intercepting enemy transmissions. In Afghanistan Y Squadron personnel were deployed in forward operating bases providing mobile Radio Reconnaissance Teams (RRT). During their deployment over 6,000 significant intercepts were made and in the region of 700 enemy call-signs identified. The collected information was used to develop the first bespoke EW database for the region which greatly assisted the theatre NATO SEWOC. More significantly, Y Squadron personnel provided many advanced warnings of enemy ambushes in Helmand Province which saved many lives. This was accomplished operating with foot and vehicle patrols, fully armed, carrying EW equipment and playing a key role in hundreds of fire fights. The measure of their success is simply that once patrols knew what Y Squadron could do, they wanted a RRT every time they left base. Y Squadron's use of their ODETTE EW system both in the dismounted and mobile configuration, combined with superb work with Alliance and Coalition EW and SIGINT assets, greatly improved shared situational awareness and force protection. This enabled innovative EW missions in Helmand, led to real-time fusion with J2 and the first ever integration of RRT into Special Forces operations. On their return from operations, Y Squadron worked with 51 Squadron RAF and US EW and SIGINT authorities to promote better air-land interoperability ahead of future operations in Afghanistan, using STANAGs agreed in the NATO TRIAL HAMMER series (see news item below). During a later NATO exercise in Norway, the first coordinated position fix with a RRT working with a maritime platform, HMS CORNWALL, was achieved. Y Squadron has also worked closely with 14 Signals Regiment, Other Government Departments and other nations to develop more effective tactics and procedures. Y Squadron's exceptional performance during intense fighting was in itself worthy of the award. However, the Squadron's expertise and professionalism have also been fully employed nationally and internationally with a clear focus on enabling an even better performance on operations. The bravery of its personnel on the front-line and their drive to further exploit and enhance EW capabilities rightly earned Y Squadron, Royal Marines, recognition by the AOC for this prestigious award.
UK Chapter President Bob Andrews and Vice-President Chris Howe
present
Flight Lieutenant Peter Liivet RAF of the NATO Joint EW Core Staff
was ROYAL NAVY FLEET EW EFFECTIVENESS TROPHYAs previously announced, HMS RICHMOND and her EW Department were very worthy winners of the Fleet EW Effectiveness Trophy for 2008 (See September 2008 Newsletter for details). At a ceremony on board HMS RICHMOND on 20 October 2008 John Stubbington, our Treasurer, and Jim MacCulloch, past Vice-President, presented the EW Department with an engraved UK Chapter plaque, a UK Chapter Commendation and a cheque for £250.
John Stubbington and the EW Department during the ceremony on HMS RICHMOND AOC UK CHAPTER ELECTIONSWe are very pleased to announce that Wing Commander John Clifford OBE RAF (Retd) has been elected unopposed as your new UK Chapter President and will succeed Bob Andrews from the date of the Annual General Meeting 2009. At the same time, John Stubbington and David Kitching were elected to remain as Directors and will continue in their current posts. John started his RAF operational flying as a Radar Navigator and subsequently EW Instructor on Vulcan aircraft. After graduation from the Royal Air Force Aerosystems Course, John had a very varied career including a period as an avionics and weapons instructor at the RAF Navigation School and also as Deputy Squadron Commander of Radar Research Squadron at RAE Bedford. In this latter role he flew most operational and experimental aircraft types including Tornado, Buccaneer, Hawk and Canberra, several large aircraft and most marques of helicopters. He then moved to the NATO MRCA Management Agency (NAMMA) in Munich to manage the Tornado Flight Test programme and aircrew aspects of the UK Tornado Mid Life Update. After graduation from the Joint Service Defence College at Greenwich he spent a short time in MOD writing the UK Command & Control Warfare policy before joining the Joint Warfare Staff at Royal Marines Poole as EW staff officer. For the last 12 years John has worked in MOD London in the Directorate of Joint Warfare, the Directorate of Targeting and Info Ops, the Directorate of Air Operations and finally the Directorate of Joint Capability. During this period he also chaired NATO’s Air EW Working Group for over 10 years producing NATO EW policy, concepts and doctrine and, most recently, he led work on NATO EW Transformation. He was elected Chairman of the NATO EW Advisory Committee (NEWAC) by national delegates in June 2006, pending the arrival of the permanent International Military Staff. John received the AOC International Achievement award for EW In 2002 and collected the AOC Outstanding NATO Unit award on behalf of the NATO SIGINT/ESM Working Group in 2006. John finally retired from the Royal Air Force in December 2008. Most significantly, you should note that John was the author of current UK EW policy and was responsible for its implementation. It would therefore be wise to choose your words carefully should you wish to discuss EW policy issues with our new President! AOC LONG SERVICE AWARDSMany congratulations to a trio of retired Royal Air Force officers for the award of their AOC 25 year pins during 2008. We recognise John Stubbington (our number crunching treasurer), Ian Sampson and Terry Mooney and look forward to their continued association with the AOC for many years to come. NATO TRIAL IMPERIAL HAMMER 08NATO Trial IMPERIAL HAMMER 08 (TIH08), the fourth in this series, was held in Sardinia during 29 September to 15 October 2008 to demonstrate how the Alliance’s ability to share time critical intelligence can better protect NATO forces and populations from terrorist attacks through better identification and tracking of enemy combatants. Fifteen nations and ten NATO agencies worked together, under the auspices of NATO’s SIGINT Electronic Warfare Working Group, to leverage their collective expertise and assets to improve NATO’s counter-terrorism capabilities. The trial included units from NATO navies, special operations forces, air forces (46 aircraft and UAVs) and armies (25 ground systems), consisting of over 1000 personnel in all. TIH08 was part of the NATO Conference of National Armaments Directors (CNAD) overall Defence Against Terrorism (DAT) programme. TIH08 forged together a joint all-source intelligence architecture combining land, maritime, airborne, space and special operations assets to share signals and imagery intelligence to better exploit this information in a common fight against terrorism. It had specific implications for the NATO Response Force by developing methods for fusing and sharing time critical information leading to improved Alliance’s situational awareness and combat readiness. AOC UK CHAPTER ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2009A final reminder that the AGM will be held in the RAF Club, London, on Thursday 5 February. After the AGM Squadron Leader Rich Birchenall RAF will be giving a short presentation on his winning MESE course thesis on ‘Reverse Engineering the MANPAD’. Attendance at the AGM is free and an application form to attend is on the AOC UK web site. Please advise David Kitching as soon as possible if you wish to attend. |
