MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. -- Personnel from Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Calif., came to the Combat Center July 29 and 30 to produce an instructional training video for the Jammer Effectiveness Device, a piece of equipment used to help remind Marines to turn on the improvised explosive device jammers equipped in all humvees.
“A lot of Marines see the JED while out training in the ranges and don’t know what it is,” said John Surmi, an engineer for the NAWS Weapons Division. “What this device does is let TTECG [Tactical Training Exercise Control Group] instructors know if the Marines are utilizing their counter radio-controlled IED electronic warfare systems, or simply, CREW systems.”
The CREW system, first implemented in 2003, is a device that can be attached to vehicles and fixed locations to prevent or defeat IED threats by jamming detonation frequencies, he said.
From July 2003 to July 2007, more than 1,500 coalition deaths in Iraq were caused by IEDs, he said. Since the implementation of the CREW system, less than 300 coalition deaths were caused by IEDs.
Gunnery Sgt. Stephen T. Wozniak, the electronic warfare chief with TTECG, said Marines need to start paying attention to the JEDs while going through Enhanced Mojave Viper.
“It’s better for Marines to go ahead and begin using their CREW systems now in a training environment,” Wozniak said. “When they get overseas saving Marines’ lives can be as easy as a flip of a switch.”