The history of the Electronic Warfare Technician (EW) rating is directly linked to RADAR (Radio Detection And Ranging) systems installed on U.S. Navy ships and submarines prior to and during World War Two.
Although the EW rating merged into the Cryptologic Technician (Technical) (CTT) rating on October 1, 2003, the fundamentals of this rating continues to play a significant role in the tactics, techniques and procedures applications of the CTT rating today!
U.S. Navy RADAR History:
In the autumn of 1922, Albert H. Taylor and Leo C. Young at the U.S. Naval Aircraft Radio Laboratory were conducting communication experiments when they noticed that a wooden ship in the Potomac River was interfering with their signals. They prepared a memorandum suggesting that this might be used for ship detection in a harbor defense, but their suggestion was not taken up. In 1930, Lawrence A. Hyland working with Taylor and Young, now at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, D.C., used a similar arrangement of radio equipment to detect a passing aircraft. This led to a proposal and patent for using this technique for detecting ships and aircraft.
Robert Morris Page was assigned by Taylor to implement Young’s suggestion. Page designed a transmitter operating at 60 MHz and pulsed 10 microseconds (μs) in duration and 90 μs between pulses. In December 1934, the apparatus was used to detect a plane at a distance of one mile flying up and down the Potomac. Although the detection range was small and the indications on the oscilloscope monitor were almost indistinct, it demonstrated the basic concept of a pulsed RADAR system. Based on this, Page, Taylor, and Young are usually credited with building and demonstrating the world’s first true RADAR.
Antenna size is directly associated to the operating frequency/wave length; therefore, the operating frequency of the system was increased to 200 MHz, allowing much smaller antennas. At the time, the frequency of 200 MHz was the highest possible frequency due to existing transmitter tubes and other components. The new system was successfully tested at the NRL in April 1937. That same month, the equipment was temporarily installed on the USS Leary (DD/DDR-879), with a Yagi antenna mounted on a gun barrel for sweeping the field of view.
In May 1939, a contract was awarded to RCA for production. Designated CXAM, deliveries started in May 1940. One of the first CXAM systems was placed aboard the USS California (BB 44), a battleship that was sunk in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. By 1942, over twenty Navy ships were equipped with fully operational RADAR systems. Prior to WWII, selected Sailors within the Electrician Mate (EM) rating (a) were designated to operate and maintain the systems, but these Sailors had very little, if any training on the RADAR systems.
Creation of the Radarmen Rating:
As the RADAR systems were being installed ships and submarines, they were also being turned over to untrained operators and technicians and readiness became an issue. In Admiral Richard O’Kane’s book, Wahoo: The Patrols of America’s Most Famous World War II Submarine, the Admiral made significant mention of the submarine’s unreliable RADAR system and the continuous need for the ship’s radiomen (RM) to operate and service this new technology. The USS Wahoo (SS 238) was not the only ship having these problems.
To correct this deficiency in readiness, the Navy’s Bureau of Personnel (BUPERS) in 1943 created Radarman rating (RdM) in order to send qualified personnel to the fleet to better operate and maintain this new technology. Because many of the early Radarmen had previously served as Radiomen, the rating badge symbol used the electrical spark bolts (three rather than the four seen on the Radioman’s insignia) with an overlaid arrow indicating the directional detection aspects of the job, indicating the rating’s origins and the technology from radio. In 1946, the Navy updated the insignia, incorporating the oscillator symbol while carrying over the arrow insignia. In 1950, the RdM rating changed to RD.
Creation of the Electronic Warfare Rating:
In 1973, change impacted this rating once again as BUPERS split the rating. Those Radarmen who operated the WLR-1 Electronic Support Measure (ESM) system located in the EW module of CIC on surface ships were designated as EW Technician. As a result of this new rating, the EW rating badge was created. Because of the maintenance requirements for the system, several Communication Technicians (Maintenance) (CTMs) and Electronic Technicians (ETs) were involuntarily converted to the EW rating. The Sailors who remained in the RD rating were redesignated as Operations Specialists (OS) with the RD rating badge carrying over to the OS rating.
For ratings performing similar duties on non-surface platforms, the ETs were assigned to submarines; Aviation Electronic Technician (AT), Aviation Electrician’s Mate (AE), and CTT were assigned to VQ squadrons; and Aviation Warfare Systems (ASW) Operator (AW) were assigned to VP squadrons.
(a) Today’s Electricians’ Mate (EM) rating is descended from the Electrician rating, which was established in 1883. Not coincidentally, that was also the year that electrical lights—238 lamps in all—were installed on the USS Trenton between June 7 and August 21. In 1921, the Electrician rating was renamed Electrician’s Mate.
Sources:
-The BLUEJACK’s Manuals 1944, 1950
-www.nrl.navy.mil/accomplishments/systems/radar/
-wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_radar
-ethw.org/U.S_Naval_Research_Lab_and_the_Development_of_Radar
-veteranscollection.org
-LCDR Robert E. Morrison, USN (ret.)
Station HYPO 
5 June 2018 at 16:59
What happened to RDE ? It was between RD and what became EW. I was on
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3 December 2019 at 06:22
John Sweeney, have been trying to locate copy of VAVOP that designated the first group designated EW in 1971. I was a RD(e)2 st the time. I was in RD B school class 6902.
Can you. Bear a hand in my search. TIA
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6 June 2018 at 16:31
I was one of those “involuntarily” converted to the EW rating and it happened before 1973. I was a CTM stationed at Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage, Alaska when I was called in to the CO’s office and given the news. To say I was shocked was an understatement !!! I was given 30 days leave and told to report to USS Jouett (DLG-29) in San Diego by August 1, 1972. I was quickly sent to WLR-1C Operator School at Point Loma. By the end of August we were on our way to Viet Nam, returning in late March 1973. I left the Navy in May 1974 as a CTM/EW2.
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8 June 2018 at 03:33
I went to o EW ‘A’ School at Treasure Island starting in 1971. If my memory is correct all of the guys in my class were grouped in the first 100 EW’s to hit the fleet that were not cross rates. My first LPO had been an RDE, my second ships LPO had also been an RDE.
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8 June 2018 at 03:34
I went to o EW ‘A’ School at Treasure Island starting in 1971. If my memory is correct all of the guys in my class were grouped in the first 100 EW’s to hit the fleet that were not cross rates. My first LPO had been an RDE, my second ships LPO had also been an RDE.
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5 July 2020 at 19:22
Graduated April 1984 Pensacola EW ‘A’ and ‘C’ school for SLQ-32. Two years later returned for WLR-1C ‘C’ school as USS Kirk was dual configured at the time. Keeping the old WLR-1C operating was a fun challenge. Loved the long range intercepts.
In 2008 I landed a job with Baker Atlas, an oil field service company repairing well oil logging electronic instrument tools. The guy who hired me was in the 60’s an ET that was responsible for keeping his ship’s WLR-1C working. It sorta got me hired. lol
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27 February 2022 at 04:13
Went to EW A schooling Pensacola Florida in 93-94. Went thru with the first 2 females in EW rate. Went back for slq 32 V3 in 97-98. Then went back in 2000 for journeyman tech school. Stayed in until 2003. Left just before that combined with CTT.
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12 June 2022 at 06:30
I was in class 7412 at T.I. in 1974, anyone from that class give a shout.
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12 February 2023 at 14:08
Jeff Donahue. I also was on T.I in 1974 . I don’t remember what the class number was. Left there and was assigned to the De 1037 U.S.S Bronstein in the South China Sea. We were assigned with the Kitty Hawk group as the sub hunter killer quite the ride
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12 February 2023 at 15:55
I remember your last name, did you know a guy who bought a brand new RED 240Z, last name POBAT? or a guy who I think came from the Brownstein, named Mike Brick? He drove a BSA 440 motorcycle? Or Tim Waters, the older’bearded’ EW that drove the blue and white ‘hippie’ VW Bus? Mark Lucas, aka as ‘Space Cowboy’ and John Kranich? Roger Hart was an ‘army cook’ converted to EW, with his wife Deborah, and Rybel, and former sub sailor George Burkhardt? I remember EWCS Levan who taught the SLQ-22 HPA ECM system, and a civilian who looked like Einstein, last name was White. The EWCS Ron Meyers and I both ended up at General Instruments in Hicksville, NY after he was the Phase Head Coordinator that drove a beige Ford Fairlane that was always parked in front of the compound. But I rmemember mostly last names, like Richard Matthews who fell back from 7411 into my class and became best friends, later I ran into him on a Gator Freighter at NavSta CONCORD when I was there doing an SLQ-32 tech assist to fix a screwed up logic basket on that ship, I was just about ready to fly my Piper Arrow III back to San Diego IFR with another tech rep who couldn’t get a flight and asked if he could hitch a ride with me and I insisted he get wife’s permission first, but she consented and we took off out of Oakland Metro that night and had to stay ahead of a storm on our tail, in between laywers of nasty ICE going back to Brown Field where I parked my machine at.
So many names, like ET1 Broadnax, an instructor, and EW1 Evans who smoked a pipe when he taught up on the second deck across from the Navy Exchange floral shop classroom there. EW1 Pierce, who I later ran into in Subic at the MOTU there doing another tech assist on SLQ-32 ships, was originally sent to support the U.S.S. Blue Ridge which was doing ‘isolation verification’ but I got fed tainted chicken on a NWA B747 where about 250 of us were in bad bad shape, including the flight crew, when we landed at Narita that trip. Anyway I remember your last name but cannot place a face with it being it’s been so long ago now. I’m amazed I can remember too many people. Mike Trask, a nebraskan who I just e-mailed a month or so ago, used to borrow my 69 Camaro when I would go to Tucson to visit my family there and GF. He’s in pretty bad shape, on O2, with COPD issues but at least last time I spoke with him he was alive. one of the others who shared a barracks room with me in Cosson Hall on the end of ‘E’ wing, was last named Eseppi, and also roomed with a ‘thief’ named John Barkley who stole my wallet one night when I didn’t lock up my stuff in my locker coming back from San Francisco. There was another Matthews other than Richard that I mentioned and another guy named Cooper in 7412 too. Lots of names to remember after all of these years, all too few of us still breathing today.
anyway I spent some time at MOTU-5 there at 32nd St. as a tech rep working on EW stuff and COMMS and Radar for a company called Electromagnetic Technology, hired by NARTE President Kent Mills, the former Marine helo pilot who formed the company. Tom Kelleher flew out from Va Beach to hire me, worked with Fred Sieg and John Kime, and Bill Johnson who was the manager at our Mission Valley Office. I left the gang at EMT and went to Raytheon for SLQ-32 stuff, working with Steve Jankowski who I served with on Truxtun, and Rod Newstrom whom I replaced at NAVELEX when he and Bill Finch had a major fight one day. I threw Finch and Ed Miller off Truxtun for showing up ‘inebriated’ to work on my SLQ 26 / OR-45 / SLQ-19 active ECM system so later when I took Newstrom’s spot, working for Bill Talanian in Goleta (commuted using my Arrow II every day) I was also working with Stefan Kong and Phil Bradshaw, Mike Talbot, and Dan Chapman at NAVELEX, which was the AF Plant 19 Building there next to the airport. Later ended up doing GLCM work at General Dynamics as a Dept 60 GLCM test engineer, working mostl TEL-LCC stuff there at AF-Plant 19, same building. Finch and Miller were absolutely huge pains in the a$$ to work with, they never forgot me throwing them off the Truxtun with the help of the EWCS James Poore, who I worked for then.
so a lot of stuff regurgitated here. I have no clue who’s still left alive, but yeah, I remember your last name, just cannot place you. I’d post a photo of me in the EW module on Truxtun if I could but they do’t have a provision for that. We should all be able to post NAVY photos of ourselves here.
and no disrespect meant for the guys from Corry. I just had no use for the being told I had to ‘march’ to lunch or forbidden to put my hands in my pockets on cold mornings walking to class. That was absurd and lame. Had nothing to do with being an EW in any way make or form. 😦
Thanks for your posting. I hope others who are still alive will post now. We had a good group shot by the saluting battery facing S.F. when we graduated from 7412, but a GF of mine has that photo and I doubt she kept it after she and I broke up. I taught her how to fly and that’s what I get 😦
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14 December 2022 at 03:01
In May 1975, the EW School was moved from TI to NTTC Corry Station. I was one of the first to have classes then. We were backed up with students as school was still installing the equipment brought over from California, that when it was functioning we sometimes were at class from 2300 to 0700, as the chool was on three shifts.
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14 December 2022 at 03:11
I found the training available at Treasure Island to be leaps and bounds better than what Corry had because as I was at a WLR-11 ‘C’ school there for a few weeks, I was as a fleet sailor, infinitely more qualified to teach the class, and in fact, ended up having the proctor just abdicate and let me do it because he was so ill-prepared and lacked familiarity with the system, when he should have had at least a few years experience with it to be at the podium. The impetus at Corry was ‘march to lunch’ and crap like that vs real imparting of knowledge. I subsequently got one of my underlings from my ship to take my orders for the 2nd half of my time I was supposed to remain for SLQ-26 training when again, I already had significantly more hands on than Corry instructors had. Granted much of that was because Corry was still maybe in 1975 still in the process of getting it’s stuff together, but it left a bad taste in my mouth when I went to the O.O.D.’s office and found the dufus’ in there in ‘bullfighting uniforms’ whereupon I wrote them all up for being out of uniform on watch. Treasure Island had real instructors with real knowledge to impart, not green sailors who’d maybe spent minimal time hands on with the systems they were responsible for teaching.
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30 January 2023 at 03:07
it is a shame to see others using this time to bad mouth many others who served. these are our brethren in arms and should be remembered as such. I take pride in serving as one of the many EW’s that have gone through corry station. I have had good and bad times there but learned and taught much to others as well. In short those that wanted to do a good job did so by the time honored hard work and elbow grease. no school could teach that was learned in the field and those that rely on a machine such as the slq32 to do the work for them became lazy and did not do their homework (intel),.
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