The Association of Old Crows...program began in 1986 the BMC has awarded over $356,000 to deserving students. The above mentioned activities and the dedicated men and women of the

Volume 35, Issue 4 1 October-December 2018

AOC – The Electronic Warfare & Information Operations Association Billy Mitchell Chapter □ 5430 Tulip Bend □ San Antonio, TX 78253 □ (210) 279-9837 □ [email protected]

The Association of Old Crows and AOC Education Foundation

Billy Mitchell Chapter “El Grito del Cuervo” The Cry of the Crow

HISTORY

The Billy Mitchell Chapter (BMC) in San Antonio, Texas, is a member of the Mountain-Western Region of the Association of Old Crows, Inc. (AOC) and the AOC Educational Foundations, Inc. (AEF). The Billy Mitchell Chapter (BMC) was chartered in 1968 in San Antonio, Texas. It was the 24th Chapter of the AOC. Located in the nation's highest concentration of Information Operators, the BMC has an active membership of 300 military and civilian personnel with numerous corporate alliances. The BMC has always had an active luncheon program with speakers on current EW/cyber activities and functions. Since its beginning, the BMC chapter has been an active member of the San Antonio community by supporting numerous events such as the Alamo Regional Science and Engineering Fair with – providing judges and awards to the category winners. Most recently, the BMC has supported the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition held in San Antonio and provided scholarships to the local Cyber Patriot winners, -- a national high school level competition. The BMC has supported many ROTC programs at the college and high school levels with awards recognizing outstanding students. Since the scholarship program began in 1986 the BMC has awarded over $356,000 to deserving students. The above mentioned activities and the dedicated men and women of the BMC contributed to the BMC winning the AOC Chapter of the Year award many times for both the large and the medium chapter category. The BMC was named Chapter of the Year (Large Chapter Category) for 15 consecutive years from 1993 to 2008. BMC members have served on the AOC Board of Directors and many have been recognized for their contributions to the AOC by being awarded the Gold Medal, the Silver Medal, Life Time Achievements Awards, and numerous competitive awards

MISSION STATEMENT The Billy Mitchell Chapter (BMC) is the San Antonio-based chapter of the international Association of the Old Crows (AOC). It is a volunteer, nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to advocating for a strong national defense with an emphasis on electronic warfare and the other core capabilities of information operations (IO): computer network operations, operational security, military deception, and military information support operations (formerly PSYOP); it is also dedicated to fostering communication and interaction between professionals in each of these national defense areas; it supports America’s maintenance of the technological edge by awarding scholarships annually to San Antonio students whose interests are in engineering, math, or the physical sciences; it raises the profile of the AOC in San Antonio by participating in local events such as Fiesta, Cyber Caucuses, etc.; it supports DoD events by periodically hosting local social or professional events for major non-AOC meetings and conferences.



Table of Contents Chapter History and Mission 1 Board of Directors 2 BMC 50th Anniversary Celebration 3 Chapter President and Board Nominations 3 BMC Participation at AOC National 4 Crow Feathers 7 Announcements 8 Contact Info 8

BMC-AOC Board Members and Committee Chairs Position Name email President/Awareness/Social John Langford [email protected] Vice President/Awards/Goals Gary Henley [email protected] Secretary / Speakers Programs Kent Namikas [email protected] Treasurer/Historian Francisco Ball [email protected] Scholarships/STEM/Networking Sam Smith [email protected] Member at Large (appointed) Raul Huerta-Mendez [email protected] Advocacy & Awareness Marc Jamison [email protected] AOC Liaison/Membership J.J. Romano [email protected] SWRI Liaison Jim Moryl [email protected] Newsletter/Elections/Bylaws Ross Vincent [email protected] Member at Large Guillermo Naranjo [email protected] Military Liaison (appointed) VACANT

Visit the AOC Jobs Board at

http://www.myaoc.org/EWEB/dynamicpage.aspx?webcode=career_center

http://www.myaoc.org/EWEB/dynamicpage.aspx?webcode=career_center



Billy Mitchell Chapter 50th Anniversary Celebration 11 November 2018

On November 11, Veteran’s Day, a total of 66 Old Crows from the Billy Mitchell Chapter gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the chapter. We met at Casa Rio on the San Antonio River Walk to enjoy good drinks, good food and fantastic friendships. Displayed around the room were pictures and items gathered over the years from various BMC activities. John Langford kicked off the festivities by discussing some of the highlights of the chapter over the past 50 years. Then he handed it off to several of the members to regale the group with stories of times gone bye. Included in the group were Sam Roberts, current Mountain-Western Regional Director along with past AOC International Presidents, Craig Johnson and Wayne Shaw. The group had a great time remembering the past and discussing where the organization is going in the future.

BMC Chapter President and Board Nominations It is time to nominate members for our chapter's President and board of directors. As a reminder, the President’s term is two years, and our nine elected board members serve for three years, staggered so that one third are up for election every year. There are no term limits – current office holders are eligible for re-election. This year, terms expire for chapter President, John Langford, and board members Gary Henley, Kent Namikas, and James “JJ” Romano. If you would like to nominate anyone for chapter President or a position on the board, the process is very simple -- send an email to [email protected] indicating your nominee by Friday, 16 November. You may even nominate yourself if desired. Please identify your nomination as “President” or “board”. Board members are not matched to a specific position, only to a term.

John Langford gets things started then watches on as Ron Poland, BMC past President relates stories of the past to the group.

mailto:[email protected]



55th National AOC International Symposium and Convention by Gary Henley

This year, our chapter celebrated our 50th year in the AOC, just five years short of the existence of the AOC itself. The BMC has been involved in the AOC and has influenced the AOC over a long period of time and shares the values and interests of the national organization. BMC members both participate annually and receive awards annually at this event. This year it was held 26-29 November in Washington, DC, and, as usual, we had several representatives in attendance and volunteering. Over 1,800 attendees from 29 countries participated in this year’s national event.

Sam Roberts (our local member who is also the Director for the Mountain/Western Region of the AOC) and I volunteered to man a booth in the STEM (Science, Tech-nology, Engineering, and Math) area this year where over 1,000 Washington, DC area high school students were bussed in to visit the STEM booths in the National AOC Exhibit area. Sam and I gave presentations about Electronic Warfare and gave a practical demonstration about radio jamming to the students. We also gave them hands-on experience with chaff. Other booths covered such subjects as the EMS (electro-magnetic spectrum), Spectrum & RF Propagation, Radio Communications, RADAR fundamentals, Modeling & Simulation and Mission Planning, Cyber Basics, IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices), Robots, and A Day in the Life of an Engineer.



It was fun to interact with these students and to see their interest in what we shared. The students rotated at time intervals between all of the stations, but only had about 10 minutes per station to learn about the topics. Next year, I plan to volunteer once again, and I encourage any of you to do the same. The topics and props are already in place, along with instructions and main points to cover. If any of you interested, please contact me or John Langford about volunteering at National AOC next year. In addition, a few chapters had a booth in this STEM area, so we might consider manning a BMC booth next time, as well.

In the Medium-Sized Chapter Category, our chapter was presented with the Distinguished Chapter Award and the Award for Most Membership Growth. Thanks to all of you for your continued work that made these awards possible.

Annual Awards Banquet Gary & Becky Henley, Wayne & Monica Shaw, Sam & Nancy Roberts



National and Unit Awards:

This year’s winner for the Outstanding Unit Award for the Coast Guard will be presented to our own Coast Guard Cryptologic Unit in San Antonio. Look for the event soon where the AOC Award will be presented to our local members, CDR Marc Akus and LCDR Rey Castillo.



This month, we have another installment of “Crow Feathers” – little known stories from the history and technology of EW. We owe a big thanks to members of the 563d EWS – creators of the original Crow Feathers Companion Reader.

Sometimes a Gift Just Falls Into Your Lap What would you think if you had delivered to your door a document that purported to reveal every major secret weapon project of a prominent enemy? Would you believe it? Would you consider it a fake, designed to lure your attention away from the real projects? In early November 1939, the British had just the sort of gift described. An anonymous donor had left a document in German (and one that was translated to English) with the British naval attaché in Oslo, Norway. These seven pages of text would prove to be a veritable crystal ball that foreshadowed a lot of Germany’s technical developments. At first, the British didn’t trust the document. There were some statements that did not make sense. There was a claim, for instance, that the German aircraft industry was producing 5000 bombers a month. This number was way too high and, as it turned out, was an error on the part of the author. Also, some analysts could not understand why anyone would want to give away such secrets free and without taking any credit. As time went on, one after another of the devices described in this document—which came to be known as the Oslo Report—were proven to be true. The Oslo Report revealed two different radars: Freya and Wurzburg. It also told about Wotan, which was the code name given two radio navigation and bombing aids called the X-Device and the Y-Device. The papers revealed the Luftwaffe’s breakthroughs in jet-propelled aircraft and pointed out that Peenemunde in northern Germany was the location of advanced work on rockets and missiles (the infamous V-1 and V-2 weapons). Guided bombs and rocket-propelled grenades were also mentioned, among other weapons.

(Left) The Oslo Report revealed the existence of the V-2 rocket years before it was actually used. (Right) A prototype German guided missile, also revealed by the Oslo Report.

This little document was indeed a jewel. Who crafted it? Only after the war did we find out that a German engineer named Hans Ferdinand Mayer was the author of the Oslo Report. He did not like the Nazis and surreptitiously gave the papers to the British to thwart the German war effort. He was actually imprisoned for speaking his mind during the war. If German authorities had known what he had given away in the papers, he would have been hung!



Announcements

AOC-BMC STEM Program Support The BMC has partnered with Northside ISD’s Dr. Hector P. Garcia Middle School to support science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education for our next generation of leaders. If you would like to help out with the STEM program, you can contact either Ms. Wernli ([email protected]) or Ms. Schantz ([email protected]). If you would like to help with the robotics program you can contact Mr. Barksdale ([email protected]). You will also need to complete a volunteer application / background check form on the district website: (https://hrvolunteer.nisd.net/TempMod.nsf?Open).

The Association of Old Crows and AOC Education Foundation Billy Mitchell Chapter 5430 Tulip Bend San Antonio, TX 78253 (Voice) (210)279-9837 (E-Mail) [email protected] Newsletter Editor: R. Vincent Telephone: 210-977-5927 (e-mail) [email protected]

We’re on the web at https://www.crows.org/chapters/billy-mitchell-home-page.html

mailto:[email protected]

https://hrvolunteer.nisd.net/TempMod.nsf?Open

https://www.crows.org/chapters/billy-mitchell-home-page.html

Documents

The Association of Old Crows...program began in 1986 the BMC has awarded over $356,000 to deserving students. The above mentioned activities and the dedicated men and women of the