D-M ‘Crows’ receive national recognition for effect on combat operations

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jordan Jones
  • 355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  'Crows' from the 55th Electronic Combat Group based at D-M took home five national-level awards last month for their outstanding achievements in the realm of electronic warfare capabilities.

The name 'Crows' originated during World War II when the Allied equipment and operators used to disrupt enemy communications and radars were code named 'Raven'. Since then, common jargon changed the name to 'Crows' and those previously engaged in the profession became known as 'Old Crows'.

At D-M, these Airmen are this generation's 'Crows', and five of them received individual awards as follows:

- Capt. Candice Sperry : Clark Fiester Command and Control Warfare

- Capt. Matthew Florenzen : Offensive Information Operations

- Capt. William Shelton : EW Operations

- Capt. Dan Kananen : EW Training

- Senior Airman Anthony Rieck : EW Maintenance

"These awards are about the airplanes and flyers, but also about the maintainers and operations. Our people are constantly in the fight - we've been deployed for 64 continuous months. It is about getting them the recognition that they deserve," said Col. Dean Worley, commander, 55th ECG.

Traveling the road to deserving these awards take many forms.

"As a deployed liaison officer I did the command and control for Navy Prowlers and EC-130 airborne electronic attack in the OEF theater," said Captain Sperry, flight commander, 41st Weapons and Tactics. "I shortened the process cycle to get the information to aircraft that provides precision electronic attacks," the captain said. "This created techniques for integration with ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) assets that allows for jamming and exploration of the enemy."

And when it comes to the enemy, one can never get too much training.

"We no longer have the Cold War missions to fly, so we set up a home exercise called Bat-EX where we established our own pseudo-terrorist network using the same equipment as the terrorists," said Captain Kananen, bravo flight commander, 43rd Electronic Combat Squadron. "It's the ECG senior Airmen and below that deserves the credit for this award, and I accepted it on their behalf."

Airman Rieck deployed from home station with less than 24 hours notice arriving just before the mission began - a mission that resulted in the rescue of three American hostages, wrote Lt. Col. Hans Palaoro in the nomination package. This was just one of many outstanding contributions that Airman Rieck performed that made him the strongest recommendation for the award.

The awards were presented by the Association of Old Crows, a non-profit, international, professional organization engaged in the science and practice of electronic warfare, information operations and related disciplines.

"The AOC awards are the highest recognition a person can earn in our area of expertise. These awards are open not only to electronic warfare but also to those in the information operations and related field," said Colonel Worley.

But earning these awards is more than just a personal achievement for the 'Crows'.

"You realize you're having an impact, and it's an honor to know others are seeing the impact you have on current operations. I was able to make this impact because of the people who were there to support me, especially Joshua 'Mule' Koslov," Captain Sperry said in recognition of the team effort that lead to her receiving the award.

In addition to individual awards, the 55th ECG has also earned the AOC's unit award four years straight and is a prime contender to receive the award again this year, said Capt. Christopher King, executive officer, 55th ECG.

"There are more than 60 potential organizations in the Air Force that are qualified to submit award packages. We won the unit awards because of our deployment and success rates both here and overseas," said Colonel Worley.

The 55th ECG provides combat-ready EC-130H Compass Call aircraft, crews, maintenance, and operational support to combatant commanders. The group also plans and executes information operations, including information warfare and electronic attack, in support of theater campaign plans.

"Primarily, we jam (prevent) enemy communications," Colonel Worley said. Imagine you're in a strange place and suddenly your comms stop working, he said. "At that point the enemy becomes an uncontrolled mob with no leadership."

"We also provide a robust capability in assisting the fight against improvised explosive devices," he said. "The fact is we are directly supporting the people on the ground - we bring the fight to the enemy and protect our own."

EC-130H Compass Call is the designation for a modified C-130 Hercules aircraft configured to perform tactical command, control, and communications countermeasures. Specifically, the modified aircraft uses noise jamming to prevent communications or degrade the transfer of information essential to command and control of weapon systems and other resources.

There are currently 14 EC-130H aircraft in use today, all of which are assigned to D-M's own 55th ECG here.

"Compass Call has been in existence for nearly 30 years," said Colonel Worley. "It's the world's greatest electronic jamming platform and the 55th ECG here is the home of Compass Call."