ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) -- As the Electromagnetic Spectrum Superiority Directorate is two years old this month, and is celebrating its past, present and future.
The directorate is responsible for ensuring the Air Force is able to use the electromagnetic spectrum to secure friendly communications, command and control, friendly kill chains and deny the adversary from using the domain.
• Established to unify Air Force efforts in developing a force that is superior in the electromagnetic spectrum.
• Cell phones, data links, radars and weapon systems represent a small sampling of the electromagnetic spectrum that the directorate works with.
• “If we want to achieve our five core missions of air superiority, global strike, global mobility, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and command and control, we must have electromagnetic spectrum superiority first,” said Col. Tad Clark, selected for brigadier general and Air Force Electromagnetic Spectrum Superiority Directorate director. "Our directorate is key to maintaining the advantage amid great power competition.”
The electromagnetic spectrum is a physical environment where Airmen fight and maneuver to deny, disrupt and defeat how adversaries communicate and operate threat systems.
• “With the standup of the directorate, the Air Force is telling a compelling story about how important the ability to fight and maneuver in the Electromagnetic Spectrum is,” said Lt. Col. Jeffery Kassebaum, Electromagnetic Spectrum Superiority Enterprise Engagement Division chief.
• “The Air Force is transitioning from being overly focused on hiding in the Electromagnetic Spectrum and being defensive,” said Kassebaum. “Now we have the voice and the story to tell about how we need to be offensive in the Electromagnetic Spectrum and a good offense requires a robust capability to maneuver.”
One of the many accomplishments that keep the directorate competitive is the standing-up of the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
• “We have set the template for the force,” said Greg Torba, Electromagnetic Spectrum Superiority Directorate deputy director. “We have established strategy, requirements, plans, and changed the culture around electromagnetic spectrum superiority.”
Using the Department of Defense Electromagnetic Spectrum Superiority Strategy and Implementation Plan signed by the Secretary of Defense, as well as the Air Force’s Electromagnetic Spectrum Superiority Strategy and Strategic Requirements Document, the directorate is shaping the doctrines, processes and missions of the current and future force.
• “It is vital that we maintain the advantage in the electromagnetic spectrum to stay one step ahead of the strategic competition and maintain the necessary freedom of action,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr. “I am glad to see the directorate developing the next generation of Airmen and making the changes needed to ensure dominance across the spectrum.”