[SFDXA] US Navy Explores Amateur Radio as a Training Adjunct

[Bill]

 From Tony N2MFT:


    US Navy Explores Amateur Radio as a Training Adjunct

02/13/2019

The US Navy’s Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (*NAWCWD* 
<https://www.navy.mil/local/nawcwd/>) has adopted Amateur Radio training 
as a possible new approach to basic RF and electronics instruction. More 
than 20 NAWCWD employees took part in a week-long class in Point Mugu, 
California, in December. The class, which culminated in an examination 
session for the Technician licensed, offered NAWCWD employees a novel 
approach to teaching radio propagation, said Brian Hill, KF4CAM, the 
lead for electromagnetic maneuver warfare experimentation in the 
Avionics, Sensors and E*Warfare Department. Hill, who got his license 
while he was still in high school, is also the department’s “innovation 
ambassador.”

“I looked at the breakdown of current new hires and saw that many had 
degrees in computer science and thought that their classwork might not 
have covered things like RF propagation,” Hill said. Rather than have 
employees sit through hours of /PowerPoint/ briefings, Hill thought that 
a licensing course might be a more dynamic, hands-on approach to convey 
the basics — and cover areas such as directional antennas, signal 
propagation, and modulation that are necessary for their work.

Initially, Hill had 10 class slots funded, but then Target Design 
Engineering Branch Head Ian Mann, KI6YVO, got wind of the class, saw its 
potential, and helped get funding to expand participation. Mann, a 
General-class licensee and a ham for nearly 10 years, said he’s been 
able to apply knowledge learned in the class to his NAWCWD work.

Target Systems Division head Milton Gabaldon, also saw merit in the 
approach. He sat in on the classes, took the exam, and he’s now KM6YPA. 
For him, it’s about connecting the dots.

“It’s about introducing people to electronics, to start understanding 
what RF is all about …so when we talk about it in the test and 
evaluation world, [students] know what we’re talking about,” Gabaldon 
said. “They get a better view than ‘I just do software.’ Now they see 
‘My software controls this piece, which sends out RF jamming signals 
that protect the warfighter.’ That’s the most important takeaway.”

In all, 23 employees who took the Technician exam passed, and several 
also successfully tested at for General and Amateur Extra licenses. Hill 
hopes to offer more hands-on classes in the future, and he’s planning a 
Fox Hunt for the near future, as additional hands-on training. /— Thanks 
to NAWCD and Public Affairs Officer Kimberly Brown; some information 
from *C4ISRNet* 
<https://www.c4isrnet.com/electronic-warfare/2019/02/06/can-learning-ham-radio-make-for-better-engineers-and-software-developers/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%202.7&utm_term=Editorial20Daily%20Brief>/ 


http://www.arrl.org/news/us-navy-explores-amateur-radio-as-a-training-adjunct