REME in the Joint Electronic Warfare Operational Support Centre

Scribe: Sgt Simpson

RAF Waddington in Lincoln is home to the Joint Electronic Warfare Operational Support Centre (JEWOSC). A Tri-Service unit whose job is to deliver assured, high-quality, and timely Mission Data and Electromagnetic Intelligence to Defence, Partners across Government, and International Allies.

The JEWOSC comprises of over 250 tri-service and civilian personnel, with the Army being represented by the smallest cohort with under 20 personnel made up of the Royal Signals, Royal Engineers, Intelligence Corps and three Electronics Technicians from the REME. SSgt James Green, Sgt Ally Irvine and I are the lucky individuals representing the REME at the JEWOSC.

As the change coordination manager SSgt Green helps to enable and support effective facilitation of project delivery which enhances the JEWOSC’s capabilities. Working from Mission Data Operations (MD Ops), Sgt Irvine is responsible for orchestrating and project managing all Mission Data tasks. Mission Data is made up of small re-programming teams who produce assured Mission Data in support of a number of platforms, across all three services for Worldwide Operations, exercises, trials and training.

Air platforms which depend on Mission Data produced by the JEWOSC include A400M, C130J, Wildcat, Merlin, Chinook and the Apache. Surface Units include the Type 23 Frigates, Type 45 Destroyers and the Landing Platform Dock, Sub-Surface Units include the Vanguard Class, Trafalgar Class and the Astute Class. My current role is the Apache RFI team leader, managing the production, timely output and assurance of mission data in support of the Apache AH-64D RFI capability and the new Apache AH-64E Gen 2 RFI capability.

Although being hugely outnumbered by RAF and Navy personnel the small Army contingent make every effort to represent the service at any given opportunity. On the 9th November 2022, myself and Sgt Irvine represented a team of four from the JEWOSC which undertook the famous 4x4x48 David Goggin’s challenge, which involves a 4-mile run, every 4 hours for 48 hours. This was a very physical and emotionally draining challenge but for an amazing cause, with the team raising over £6,500 for our chosen charities. Sgt Ally Irvine was fundraising for the NSPCC whilst I was fundraising for the KIDS charity and after seeing Ally’s morale at 0400hrs on the penultimate run, it is safe to say that we enjoyed crossing the finish line a few hours later and greatly appreciated every donation we received for the challenge. Members of the JEWOSC, including Group Captain Andy Ross (Director JEWOSC), lined the finish line at 0845hrs on Friday morning to clap the team in after a gruelling 48 miles over 48 hours.

Although not being a Regular Army unit, the traditional REME celebrations of St Eligius Day are still at the yearly forefront. This year we opened the invite to the Royal Engineers

Before submitting an article you are requested to read the guidelines on the inside front cover personnel within the JEWOSC on one condition, they wore a REME pin badge, this was surprisingly taken up by LCpl Estill, the things people will do for some time out of the office! We started the day with a visit to the Museum of Lincolnshire Life, which is home to an abundance of military and engineering history.

It was only fitting to visit the White Hart Hotel after the museum which is the birthplace of the British “Fighting Tank”. We got to see the Yarborough room within the hotel where William Tritton, the boss of William Foster & Co Ltd and

Walter Wilson, an Engineer, used to go in the summer of 1915 to escape the distraction of the factory. It is here where they sketched blueprints of the prototypes upon which future tanks were based on and it is argued these drawings, which led to the invention of the tanks, revolutionised warfare and the company was credited with breaking the stalemate of trench warfare and for shortening the war. The hotel has been commemorated with a Red Wheel Heritage Plaque, which states due to Tritton’s and Wilson’s invention of the British Fighting Tank, that 400 tanks were subsequently built by Fosters of Lincoln. The days celebrations were then concluded with a visit to Lincoln Cathedral and Lincoln Castle.

I would like to take this opportunity to bid farewell and the best of luck to Sgt Irvine who is leaving the JEWOSC to take up his new post at 5 Rifles LAD.