UK AOC Newsletter - September 2008 |
ELECTION TIMEForget Gordon Brown! The positions of AOC UK Chapter President (Bob Andrews) and Executive Officer (David Kitching) are due for election in 2009. Additionally, the post of Treasurer, currently occupied by John Stubbington as a co-opted member of the Board, is also open for election. Bob Andrews has advised that he wishes to stand down at the end of his current term and will not therefore seek re-election. David Kitching and John Stubbington have indicated that they are willing to continue to serve as Directors in their respective posts and will therefore retain these positions unless an election is called for. Nominations for these positions are invited from the UK Chapter
membership by the completion and submission of the
nomination forms. In
accordance with the Constitution of the UK Chapter, nominations for the
position of President shall be supported in writing by no less than six
full members of the AOC UK Chapter and for Directors by no less than
three full members of the Chapter. All nominations must be validated by
the nominee's agreement, in writing, to stand and should be submitted by
30 November 2008 to Peter Nunn, Chairman of the Nominations Committee,
at: VISIT TO RAF DONNA NOOK 3 JULY 2008On 3 July 2008 a small party from the Chapter attended a classified briefing and demonstration at the air weapons range at RAF Donna Nook in Lincolnshire where they observed trials of IR decoys. Members were greatly impressed by the quality and scope of the instrumentation that was used and by the thoroughness of the trials procedure. There were many surprising and fascinating issues involved in both the conduct of the trials and the decoys themselves.
We are very grateful to our host for the day, Wing Commander Steve Chaskin of the Air Warfare Centre’s Air Platform Protection Operational Evaluation Unit (APPOEU), for this unique opportunity to attend such a trial. The APPOEU was recently the winner of the Smallwood Trophy for its work on the defensive aids systems that protect all of the UK’s operational aircraft. The UK Chapter makes a cash award with the Trophy to help encourage innovation in EW. AOC PAVILION AT FARNBOROUGH 14-17 JULY 2008Our parent US headquarters organised a dedicated EW pavilion at this year’s Farnborough air show. It included a small conference area for some 50 persons and a schedule of both military and civilian speakers had been prepared by John Knowles (editor of JED) for each morning throughout the week. The conference was supervised by John Knowles and David Kitching. Whilst attendance at this free conference varied from maximum to zero (the latter was not, I hasten to add, a reflection of the quality of the speaker) it did nonetheless provide an excellent and inevitable opportunity for networking in the EW community. We even managed to find some “lost” members and were able to bring them back on to the books! ROYAL NAVY FLEET EW EFFECTIVENESS TROPHYWe are delighted to congratulate HMS RICHMOND and her EW Department as very worthy winners of the Fleet EW Effectiveness Trophy for 2008. During the early part of 2007 RICHMOND conducted Operational Sea training. With many of the EW Department (EWD) new to their respective jobs and having not worked together before, the EW team matured very quickly, showing both enthusiasm and a willingness to learn. The EW team gelled quickly, with teamwork and support for each other being quickly established which was commented on encouragingly by Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) staff. The EW department achieved a final assessment of GOOD for Phase 2 and GOOD for Phase 3 which was the highest assessment not only for the Warfare Department but for the ship as a whole. In May 2007 RICHMOND deployed for Operation TELIC. The EW department again swiftly put the new skills learnt into practice providing the Command with a solid service ensuring MSO procedures were implemented during passages and whilst on patrols during Operation ACTIVE ENDEAVOUR and Operation CALASH. This included the reporting of AIS contacts via NAMESIS from the bridge and the Flight using the Form Gold format. Again encouraging feedback was received from Fleet on the service provided by the EW team.
Whilst in the Northern Arabian Gulf new roles for the EWD were established. These included Maritime Interaction Operations Commander (MIO commander) which involved being responsible for the querying of all vessels within the oil platform areas and clearing vessels to their next port of call. They were also responsible for detailing coalition warships to conduct boarding and security sweeps of all merchant vessels that were due to go alongside the oil terminals. Although new to the role, the EWD quickly established its role ensuring a sound service to both Ship’s Command and the Task Force Commander whilst still providing a core EW service within the ship and force. RICHMOND was the first ship to take the new UAT MOD 1 ESM system on an operational deployment. During the time away, the EW team provided constructive feedback to both the UAT IPT and MWS Collingwood on the capabilities and limitations of this new system. The feedback presented both positive and negative characteristics of the system, making recommendations for standard operating procedures that RICHMOND has implemented and continues to utilise. Both MWS Collingwood and the UAT IPT passed complimentary comments on the feedback that RICHMOND’s EW team provided which has enabled the IPT to implement changes to both the system and operating procedures. As part of a fleet requirement, all warships fitted with an ESM system are to provide monthly ESM returns to the Air Warfare Centre, Waddington, to enable the defence EW database to be expanded and updated. Since being fitted with UAT MOD 1, RICHMOND’s EW team has worked determinedly to provide quality returns for inclusion in the database. Over the past year the EW team has produced an average of 300+ ESM returns per month. This is an extremely high number of returns and the EW team are complimented on their continuing hard work in this area. More recently, during Operation GRAMPUS 08 in the Bay of Biscay, the EW team again provided solid support to the Command and Warfare teams during ASW operations, especially whilst the ship operated in a silent posture. This resulted in several ESM detections of the submarine enabling the command to plan and make tactical decisions. Operation GRAMPUS is an annual ASW exercise organised and run by the French Navy and included units from France, Canada and the USA. The French Submarine Perle acted as the enemy force and tried unsuccessfully to evade RICHMOND over the 8-day exercise. Overall the EW department has worked remarkably hard in all that has been achieved in the last 18 months and continues to provide a sound service to both the Ship’s Command and external authorities. AOC UK CHAPTER CHRISTMAS DINNER 12 DECEMBER 2008The UK Chapter Christmas Dinner will be held in The Royal Air Force Club, London, on Friday 12 December 2008. All AOC members, their partners and their guests will be most welcome at this very enjoyable annual event, a bargain at only £37 per head including wines at the table. If you wish to attend then kindly complete the proforma and return it to David Kitching no later than Friday 7 December. AOC UK WEB SITE: www.ukaoc.orgPlease remember to press the refresh button on each page to get any updates to the site…… and please keep the Membership Secretary up to date with any change to your e-mail address. |
