Under the category of things missed, we report that the Air Force Research Lab’s Directed Energy Directorate at Kirtland AFB, N.M., last month received the Air Force’s Modeling and Simulation Experimentation Award for 2006. A team of five (leader Rudy Martinez, 1st Lt. Joseph Friel, Brian Spanbauer, Beth Nayder, and Linda Lamberson) won the award for their work in advancing experimentation wargaming by employing high-energy lasers, high-power microwaves, and other models of DE weapons in warfighting simulations.
Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, nominee to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Defense Department needs to upgrade its electronic warfare capability and its EW training ranges; just as his predecessor said at his own confirmation hearing.