‘Devil’ brigade electronic warfare Soldiers outfitted with latest, greatest

Photo By Sgt. Michael Roach | Sgt. 1st Class Gregory Robinson (left), Electronic Warfare noncommissioned officer in charge, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, works alongside Staff Sgt. Susan Bradbury, Electronic Warfare noncommissioned officer, 1st ABCT, during the final day of training with their new equipment on Fort Riley, Kansas, April 6. The new vehicles are outfitted with a shelter that holds communications equipment, computers and software which allows the CEMA section to potentially operate on the front lines of the battlefield. (Sgt. Michael C. Roach, 19th Public Affairs Detachment)  

FORT RILEY, KS, UNITED STATES

04.19.2018

Story by Sgt. Michael Roach 

19th Public Affairs Detachment

Electronic warfare Soldiers from 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, spent the last five weeks training on cutting-edge equipment and software which will give them the ability to conduct operations on the front lines of the battlefield.
“I think it went phenomenal,” said Patrick Murie, an instructor from Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, who was in charge of their training. “It’s a very complicated system; it is a system that these electronic warfare Soldiers have never seen anything like … in the field before. It’s a brand-new capability, especially for the Army having this type of platform and this complete integration.”
Their training and practice with their new gear culminated in a three-day exercise that allowed the Soldiers of the Cyber Electromagnetic Activities section, 1st ABCT, to combine the efforts of their new equipment into a single fluid asset which they can now make available for the “Devil” brigade and their commander.
“It definitely enhances the capability of the brigade and allows us an additional asset to identify targets on the battlefield,” said Sgt. 1st Class Gregory Robinson, 1st ABCT Electronic Warfare noncommissioned officer in charge, originally from Christ Church, Barbados. “We also have the capability, or we’ll present the commander the capability, to go after that target with jamming, or he can make the decision to use fires to attack that target as well. So another asset to identify targets, to locate targets and then also an asset to affect that target if needed. So that’s the biggest gain for the unit.”
The new equipment consists of two vehicles outfitted with software, computers and communications systems which make it possible for electronic warfare specialists to monitor a forward area for an extended amount of time. Additionally, six dismounted systems which can be worn and carried by electronic warfare Soldiers on foot were issued. This allows the person in the vehicle to act as a quarterback, said Murie, who likened the Soldiers in the vehicles to play callers.
Ultimately the equipment is designed to identify the location of signals emitted by enemy forces on the electromagnetic spectrum, such as radio frequencies, Murie said.
For Robinson, having state-of-the-art equipment is a tremendous step forward for him and his Soldiers.
The acquisition and fielding of the equipment has invigorated his section, Robinson said.
“I know these guys are excited … to get out there and do the job finally and show what the (military occupational specialty) is capable of,” Robinson said.
The CEMA section’s counterparts in 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team have already fielded the same equipment while in Europe, Murie said.
As the Devil brigade continues to build readiness for their impending rotation to the continent, Robinson is looking forward to continuing to improve the circumstances of his section.
“We’re kind of like the prototype level, so once we utilize the equipment and have lessons learned I think it just gets better,” Robinson said. “We’ll have improvements on the equipment and increase that capability that we bring to the fight.”

• Date Taken: 04.19.2018
• Date Posted: 04.19.2018 10:45
• Story ID: 273680
• Location: FORT RILEY, KS, US
• Hometown: ABERDEEN, MD, US