Electronic Warfare Soldiers assigned to Headquarters, and Headquarters Battalion,10th Mountain Division, maintained Soldier readiness using commercial equipment to train and hone their cyber skills from October 6th through October 10th, 2019.
The EW team trained on commercial devices, the hackRF, and Kerberos to direction find and geolocate enemy signals. The hackerRF is a software-defined radio, half-duplex transceiver programmed to emit signals with ranges of 1Mhz to 6Ghz. Kerberos is an authentication protocol used to find a signal.
Most of an EW soldier's equipment is stationed in overseas theaters of operation.
"To get the best training effect we are using commercial, off the shelf equipment, so that we can understand what signals look like," said Staff Sgt. Devon Redmon, an electronic warfare specialist.
Electronic warfare is the use of electromagnetic and directed energy to control the electromagnetic spectrum and defeat the enemy through planning, coordination, integration, and execution of the electronic attack, electronic protection, and electronic support.
They program the commercial equipment to direction find and geolocate areas of interest, using the commercial equipment and resources on hand. Redmon says this helps hone their skills for Joint Readiness Training Center rotations and deployments, so when they don't have the equipment on hand, they can utilize other means.
An EW's job is to assist infantryman and cavalry scouts to find the enemy.
"We are trying to find their scout teams, their vehicles, their call for fire radars. If I can eliminate those targets, I can save more lives," said Redmond.
Electronic warfare is a team effort. Their skills, along with the information they receive from the intelligence and security office, are critical in locating the enemy and keeping us hidden from the enemy.
"We are combat multipliers if you allow us to be," Redmon said. "We are very eager to get out there and help our task force commander win, find the enemy and destroy them."
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