The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) would work to secure electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) access required to operate many communication and navigational devices and to protect it against enemy attacks under a bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) on April 16.
“As a career electronic warfare officer in the Air Force, I understand the critical importance of dominating the electromagnetic spectrum in combat,” said Rep. Bacon, a member of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee and a co-chair of the Electronic Warfare Working Group. The electromagnetic spectrum refers to electromagnetic radiation that includes radios, radars, mobile phones, navigation and other types of systems that the United States must protect in the face of modern warfare, Bacon’s office explained.
Rep. Bacon’s Joint Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations Readiness Act of 2018 (JEMSORA), H.R. 5522, would direct the Secretary of Defense to develop capabilities to model and conduct war-gaming scenarios for joint electromagnetic spectrum operations (JEMSO). The bill has been referred to the U.S. House Armed Services Committee.
“This legislation will ensure the Department of Defense remains focused on this goal by requiring that it develop an advanced simulation capability, ensure better joint integration, and provide regular updates to Congress,” Rep. Bacon said. “We have lost our edge in this critical domain and need to quickly restore readiness in the electromagnetic spectrum to ensure we can execute the national defense strategy.”
Under H.R. 5522, the DoD would conduct an assessment of JEMSO capabilities and submit an interim report to Congress on readiness, organizational alignment, command and control, and personnel management by January 2019.
Rep. Bacon introduced the bill with bipartisan support from original cosponsors U.S. Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA) and Reps. Salud Carbajal and Jimmy Panetta, both Democrats from California. Rep. Panetta said the bill “will help inform procurement, force development and operational planning and keep the department accountable to Congress.”
“Department of Defense operations have become increasingly dependent on electromagnetic spectrum access across all domains,” Rep. Panetta added. “To improve national security readiness, effectiveness and efficiency, Congress must encourage coordination of Joint Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations.”
H.R. 5522 has also been backed by the Association of Old Crows, one of the largest electronic warfare advocacy groups in the world. In a letter of support to Rep. Bacon, Association of Old Crows President Lisa Fruge-Cirilli called the measure pivotal legislation.
“The EMS is literally at the center of all modern military operations,” the letter stated. “It is a continuous physics-based maneuver space that we must protect, execute and sustain control of to win any conflict.” Fruge-Cirilli wrote that as the bill states, “we must ‘accelerate’ this effort and provide for ‘the unified governance framework necessary to optimize’ every aspect of JEMSO — from concept to integrated fielded systems to warfighter training to a fully interoperable capability.”