Army releases new electronic warfare manual.

"BATTLEFIELD events in Iraq and Afghanistan compelled the Army to rebuild an electronic warfare capability that it had allowed to slip," said Lt. Gen. William Caldwell IV, commander of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center.

His remarks were in conjunction with the rollout in February of the Army's newest field manual, FM 3-36, Electronic Warfare Operations.

"We encountered a threat we were not prepared for and we must learn from this lesson to ensure that our force is agile enough to deal with future contingencies," Caldwell said.

Upon announcement of the Army's new Field Manual 3-36, Caldwell warned that the military services and other agencies of government should be keenly aware of the rapidly developing threat posed by technological advances in the realm of cyberspace.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Caldwell went on to say the Army is moving rapidly to build a cyberspace force, while updating its legacy electronic warfare capabilities.

The impetus to rebuild the Army's electronic warfare capability came as a result of radio-controlled improvised explosive devices, said Lt. Col. Fred Harper, a key analyst for the TRADOC Capabilities Manager Computer Network Operations Electronic Warfare Division at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

The Army leadership has thrown the weight of its full support behind an institutional commitment to rebuild EW as quickly as possible into a core Army military capability.

In conjunction with re-establishing EW, the Army is also taking steps to develop and integrate computer network operations and cyber-electronics into the broader Army suite of capabilities to ensure that cyberspace is optimally exploited by Soldiers of the future.

--Combined Arms Center