Gregory M Patschke

Improving Professional Development for Usaf Electronic Warfare Officers Gregory M Patschke

Publisher Marketing: As technology advances and the electromagnetic spectrum continues to become more congested and contested, employment of electronic warfare (EW) will become increasingly difficult. EW now crosses multiple domains and mission areas creating new challenges. EW Officers (EWO) are currently not trained to overcome these challenges and several organizations and academics have identified it as a serious deficiency. Without continuing education and career development opportunities, EWOs may not have the necessary skill sets needed to effectively shape EW strategy, policy, operations, and planning. Professional development comprises both continuing education and career development. In the US Air Force, the acquisition, space, and cyberspace communities have professional development programs already in place. For the continuing education half of professional development, the Air Force EW community should use the space program as a model to build a continuing education program from existing courses being taught by the 479th Operations Support Squadron and the Joint EW Center. This should provide a solid understanding of how to properly employ EW in today's complex environment. For the career development half of professional development, EWOs need opportunities to acquire the broader leadership and strategic qualifications necessary to progress through their careers and be competitive for positions of significant influence within the Air Force. Career development would be improved by EWO presence on Development Teams and having an EW Functional Manager on the Air Staff.