Capt. Pamela Tan, an engineer with the 36th Electronic Warfare Squadron at Eglin AFB, Fla., has received a Bronze Star medal for her actions while deployed as an electronic warfare officer with an Army battalion in Iraq. In her normal role, Tan helps test the ALR-56M radar warning receiver pod for the F-15. She volunteered to serve as a ground EWO for six months with another five weeks training up front. In Iraq, her job was to install and maintain frequency jammers on Army vehicles and train soldiers how to use them and troubleshoot them in the field. Tan often traveled “outside the wire,” to see how the soldiers employed the equipment to help her with the training. She said: “It was very important to get face-time with those soldiers who were actually using the equipment. … Many times the soldiers had never seen or touched this equipment before arriving in theater.” (Eglin report by Samuel King Jr.)
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.