PHOENIX -- In recognition of their efforts during the brigade's 2010-2011 deployment in support of Operation New Dawn, the Electronic Warfare Office with the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division received the Army Outstanding Unit Award from the Association of Old Crows during the association's annual convention Sept. 23-26 in Phoenix.
Founded in 1964 by veteran officers from the Strategic Air Command and Electronic Countermeasures when informal reunions of those men had become so large as to necessitate organization, the AOC has more than 14,000 members and chapters in more than a dozen countries spanning four continents. The nickname of "Old Crows" harkens back to World War II, when servicemen who jammed German and Japanese radar eventually became known as "Crows," a variant of their codename, "Raven."
"We didn't think we would win, but we knew we had done a lot," said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Eric Colon, 2nd ABCT EWO team. "But we honestly didn't realize exactly how much we'd done until we saw it all put together in our nomination (packet)."
Colon, along with his noncommissioned officer-in-charge, Sgt. 1st Class Brian Smith, presided over an impressive array of accomplishments, perhaps none more eye-catching than their efforts in increasing qualified specialists in electronic warfare from 20 percent of the Forces Command requirement to 319 percent within five months. As part of the last brigade in United States Division -- Center, Colon and Smith became a locus of counter-IED expertise.
"We were responsible not only for the safety of all of our convoys and logistical patrols, we were also in charge of coordinating the redeployment of our forces out of Iraq," Colon said. "We had to maintain the safety and security of nearly 1,000 vehicles (and) 3,500 Soldiers every day."
They accomplished this by using equipment such as CREW devices (Counter Remote-Control Improvised Explosive Device Electronic Warfare), which essentially place a jamming cloud, or bubble, around the vehicle in which they are located. This prevents insurgents from using cell phones, walkie-talkies, or other remote methods of detonating an IED.
"The system attacks those (remote device signals) and gives a layer of protection that we didn't have 7 or 8 years ago and has significantly reduced the casualties from those types of IEDs," Colon said. "The battlefield changed vastly when those devices were created."
Historically, the onus on electronic warfare in the U.S. military has fallen on the Navy, but following years of heavy casualties, the Army instituted its own EW program in 2009.
"I was one of the lucky Soldiers who got to graduate from the first official class in the (military occupational specialty) in 2009," said Smith, a former infantryman.
While they are enjoying their award, both Smith and Colon know that in such an evolving field, they must stay attentive to change.
"There's always new equipment coming out, so we are constantly training on those platforms to stay current," Smith said.
It's interesting to think, Colon said, that three or four years ago an Army unit winning this award would have been impossible. Now, it is quite normal.
"We've come from nowhere to running, without really crawling or walking," he said.
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