KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Center for Information Dominance Keesler Air Force Base benefited from a two-week visit by team members from the Joint Spectrum Center, Annapolis, Maryland, that concluded April 5.
During the visit, Chief Information Systems Technician Daniel Schneider and Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Kowalski from the JSC provided training for 25 joint service students attending CID Keesler's Spectrum Operations Apprenticeship Course.
"Our students learn to process frequency assignments, build communication plans, and resolve interference for every contingency," said Chief Information Systems Technician Aaron Lowe, CID Keesler site director. "Ultimately, we want to train the most revered spectrum managers in the world."
The visiting experts taught the proper function and use of the Rohde & Schwarz Portable Receiver 100 (PR100) communications equipment, a state-of-the-art tool used by spectrum managers worldwide to find sources of interference. The PR100 is replacing an older model spectrum analyzer taught and used during the course.
Resolving frequency interference and having a clean cyberspace could very well make the difference in a combatant commander's mission success, according to Lowe.
Following the hands-on experience with the PR100, the students graduated as new spectrum managers and were better positioned to immediately apply their learned skills in planning and operations at their next duty stations, which included assignments in every combatant command and fleet area of responsibility.
The JSC team also spent time with the CID instructors to improve skills and knowledge with the PR100, including complex equipment functions and practice with tracking down signals. The classroom experience combined with performance exercises gave the instructors the knowledge and confidence needed to fully implement PR100s in the course.
"The Joint Spectrum Center shares our passion and has generously provided us with a great deal of support in accomplishing our goals," said Lowe. "We are truly grateful for this training opportunity with them, and I know this will have a long-lasting impact in our military."
The JSC, located in Annapolis, is a field office within the Defense Spectrum Organization, part of Defense Information Systems Agency, with leading experts in the areas of spectrum planning, electromagnetic environmental effects, information systems, modeling and simulation, and operations to provide complete, spectrum-related services to the military departments and combatant commands.
CID Keesler is part of the Navy's Center for Information Dominance training organization and provides a continuum of training to Navy and joint service personnel, preparing them to conduct information warfare across the full spectrum of military operations. CID Keesler partners with the Air Force's 333rd Training Squadron to teach the Spectrum Operations Apprenticeship Course.