About AOC Australia
AOC Australia is a distinguished Chapter of the esteemed Association of Old Crows, the foremost global professional body for Information Warfare (IW) practitioners.
What is IW?
IW includes a range of strategies and tactics aimed at gaining advantage or influencing an adversary in the information domain. It involves the use of information and communication technologies to achieve various objectives, such as disrupting, deceiving or manipulating an opponent’s decision-making process, as well as protecting one’s own information assets and operations. Key components of IW include:
Electronic Warfare (EW) | Electromagnetic Warfare Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations (EMS Ops) Cyber Warfare | Cyber Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA) Psychological Operations (PSYOPS) | Information Operations (IO) | Cognitive Warfare
MISSION
Our mission is to elevate and empower Australia's IW community while fostering the growth of Australia’s IW capability to safeguard the nation’s Defence and National Security strategy. The AOC Australia provides a means of connecting members and organisations nationally and internationally across Government, Defence, industry and academia to promote the exchange of ideas and information, and provides a platform to recognise advances and contributions in these fields.
GOAL
Our aim is to emerge as the preeminent IW organization in Australia. We are dedicated to fostering connections among IW professionals, educating and developing the IW workforce, and advocating for Australia’s strategic Information Warfare requirements.
A History of Association of Old Crows (AOC)
The name "crow" emerged from the first large-scale use of Electronic Warfare during the WWII Battle of Britain and the US/Allied bombing raids over Europe. The Allied Radar Countermeasure operators used the code name “ravens” and employed receivers and transmitters to monitor and jam threat frequencies. Military jargon later changed “ravens” to "crows." Since that time, the defence of (and maneuver within) the Electromagnetic Spectrum (EMS) has been undertaken by "crows" across the military, government, industrial base, and academia. The AOC was founded in the US in 1964, and this year we are celebrating 60 years with over 14,000 members internationally, and over 600 active members in AOC Australia.
With an intention to shift our brand and membership away from being a group of “aged and outdated” individuals and to more accurately represent the group of modern professionals in our ranks, the Australian chapter rebranded to AOC Australia in 2023. Similar to other international chapters of the AOC, the Australian chapter put our Aussie twist on the AOC logo - replacing the crow with an Australian bird, a wedge-tail eagle. The wedge-tail eagle is Australia’s largest bird of prey and one of the biggest eagles in the world; and is an Australian symbol of protection and guidance.