Col. Charles J. “Jim” Ekvall

U.S. Army Electronic Warfare Div. Chief

Age: 49

Career: Served in Germany as an armor company fire-support officer and as fire-direction officer and platoon leader in a nuclear-capable direct-support field artillery battalion. He was instructional branch chief at the Field Artillery School, and a battalion operations and battalion executive officer at Fort Drum, N.Y. Worked in Army headquarters as the field artillery and electronic warfare organizational integrator for the deputy chief of staff. Deployed twice to Iraq; once for initial entry operations with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, and later as the senior military adviser to the commanding general of the 4th Iraqi Army Infantry Div.

Education: Undergraduate and master's degrees in history from the Georgia Tech Program at Berry College, Mount Berry, Ga.

Aviation Week: What are you trying to establish in the U.S. Army Electronic Warfare Div.?

Ekvall: What we really want is for the Army to have a core EW capability. We don't have that now. That is a revolution.

What, in particular, are some of the capabilities?

The Army wants something that can protect soldiers, platforms and attack enemy C2 systems while protecting U.S. assets. The service is looking for a family of systems that will include ground- and vehicle-fixed assets, be portable and aircraft-mountable. We are focusing especially on command-and-control [C2] systems.