Gina Cavallaro, Senior Staff Writer
Capt. Caleb Rogers may have the most exciting assignment in the U.S. Army right now. On June 7, he became commander of the 111th Electromagnetic Warfare Company, the first unit of its kind in the history of the Army. The unit is part of the Georgia Army National Guard’s 221st Intelligence and Electronic Warfare Battalion. With an imperative for continuous transformation as set forth by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, the new company’s capabilities already are in great demand. Rogers, a former enlisted soldier with a passion for electromagnetic warfare, explains.
1. Can you describe the new company’s mission?
We [will] support a division by providing additional electromagnetic warfare specialists a commander can use as needed. So, in a division, brigade combat teams have platoons of EW [electromagnetic warfare] soldiers, and they have their mission, which is short-range sensing, where the enemy is based on anything that emits a signal. That’s electromagnetic support. Electromagnetic attack is what people think about as jamming, making sure the enemy can’t talk and their systems aren’t working. Three of our platoons can do either of those missions. And then we have a fourth platoon that’s dedicated only to electromagnetic warfare, which is electromagnetic protection. That’s working with units to make sure they’re not as vulnerable to enemy EW assets.Capt. Caleb Rogers.
2. How would you describe the electromagnetic spectrum to a layperson?
I like to think about it as people yelling at each other across a field. Where we come in is with our three missions of support, attack and protection. The support piece is me standing on the side of that field pointing at a map and telling commanders, this is where people are emitting. Jamming is not about making signals quieter; it’s about being louder than the other people. So, that can be me with a megaphone just yelling nonsense, interrupting their ability to communicate. The protection piece is maybe I put up a barricade so the enemy EW assets can’t see us.
3. Do you use futuristic radios with lots of antennas?
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