Air Force Leader Discusses Electromagnetic Spectrum

In August, Brig. Gen. James R. Stevenson Jr., USAF, deputy director of operations for Joint Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations, and the mobilization assistant to the director of operations, United States Strategic Command, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, discussed the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) with the chapter. Gen. Stevenson clarified that communication is essential to everything we do. EMS is a submission under Gen. John Hyten, USAF, where we need to establish a solid direction. Gen. Stevenson talked about ongoing arguments as to whether EMS should be considered a domain. It is a man-made environment that flows through other physical domains, and we must be able to control this spectrum to conduct future operations. Gen. Stevenson discussed Moore's Law and the inherent challenge to EMS. How do we anticipate that which does not exist yet? He talked about Blockbuster's failure to partner with Netflix because they could not recognize Netflix's potential. Gen. Stevenson concluded by commenting if we can't see the future and make a sound decision, someone else will. We need to acknowledge our Blockbuster moment(s).

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