68th EWS brings EW support to warfighters around world

  • Published
  • By Ashley M. Wright
  • Team Eglin Public Affairs
The four flights in the 68th Electronic Warfare Squadron labor tirelessly to provide real-time information to not only U.S. warfighters but to 21 allied nations, and have uncovered errors in programs that were undetected for more than a quarter century.

"The mission of the 68th EWS is to increase combat capability and survivability for U.S. and coalition warfighters," said Lt. Col. Robert Kraus, 68th EWS commander.

Conventional Systems Flight

The flight's mission is to present foreign military sales customers with electronic warfare mission data. The 19 people in the flight work exclusively with foreign partners, supporting a variety of systems that are both fielded in the U.S. inventory and sold to foreign military sales customers.

The attention to details provided by the flight in their efforts to do extensive electronic warfare testing for F-16 and F-4 radar jamming equipment led to finding errors in the program's self protection systems, according Perry Wilson, Foreign Military Sales ALQ-131 lead engineer. The errors were undiscovered for more than 25 years and were corrected once the flight notified the proper authorities.

Intelligence Flight


The squadron's intelligence flight provides support to the wing in a variety of ways. It acts as a first filter for new data as they research, build and validate possible air and ground simulations threat to warfighters. In addition, they provide intelligence read files and briefings to wing personnel and also produce a command and control guide in support of the EC-130H Compass Call, an airborne tactical weapon system using a heavily modified version of the C-130 Hercules airframe.

"I feel the most rewarding aspect [of the team's work] is the direct impact on the warfighter," said Airman 1st Class Joseph Eckert, threat definition team intelligence analyst.

The recent 53rd Wing annual award winner stated the team is constantly updating data to send to the men and women down range.

Airmen in the flight work to develop possible enemy threats and create simulations from the data gathered. The analysts send the simulation files to engineers in the 53rd Wing for further evaluation.

The 46 Airmen in the flight have the highest deployment rate in the unit with 20 to 25 percent of their personnel deployed, said Maj. Chad Diaz, intelligence flight commander.

Operations Flight

The operations flight performs several tasks that reach warfighters all around the globe.

"The most visible (task) is providing electronic warfare assistance to Red Flag by planning and exercising Red Flag sorties," said Colonel Kraus.

Red Flag is an aerial combat training exercise hosted at Eielson AFB, Alaska, and Nellis AFB, Nev. On average, more than 700 people and up to 60 aircraft deploy to Eielson, and an additional 500 people and 40 aircraft deploy to Elmendorf Air Force Base, for each Red Flag-Alaska exercise.

Another task of the flight is managing the data distribution system. The system allows for 24/7 rapid dissemination of critical information to protect warfighters worldwide as new enemy threats emerge, said Edwin Feliciano, 68th EWS technical advisor.

The eight people in the operations flight also assist with the unit's help desk, which provides continuous, global electronic warfare answers to those with questions, Mr. Feliciano said.

The desk receives questions from all Air Force units through secure communication lines. A majority of the questions center on technical issues like performance or functions specific to the EW systems they are using. The personnel at the help desk will either address questions or direct them to the proper place.

Advanced Systems Flight

The 16-person advanced systems flight provides mission data reprogramming for five F-16 EW subsystems. The systems include the Advanced Integrated Electronic Warfare Defensive System (AIDEWS), F-16 Block 60, High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM), ALQ-213 Electronic Warfare Management System and the Advanced Combat Electronics Suite.

Except for the HARM mission, all programs seek to detect, identify and deter enemy threats through expendable or electronic countermeasures with signals from the aircraft designed to deceive enemy radar, said Capt. Lyle Rountree, flight commander.

The HARM reprogrammers seek to detect, identify and destroy threats through use of munitions. The reprogramming mission requires detailed regional and technical analysis combined with intricate system knowledge to ensure mission data performs the same in testing as it does in a combat environment.

The mission data files and a system handbook, which details the data, functions and how to expect the electronic warfare systems to operate, are passed to foreign partners, the captain said.

Squadron members work closely with their foreign customers to facilitate future requirements so their mission data can be tailored to the ever-changing threat environment and define customer's necessities to build future products.

Colonel Kraus summarized the breadth of the squadron's mission capabilities in direct support of deployed combat units.

"The men and women of the squadron, military and civilian alike, focus on this mission through dedicated data development and testing, intelligence support, exercise and conference support and by directly supporting numerous reachout/reachback activities," Colonel Kraus said.