Colonel Short Institutes Tactical Training at USAISD (30 OCT 1981)

Photo By Lori Stewart | Colonel Joseph F. Short, commander of U.S. Army Intelligence School Devens, 1981–1985.  

UNITED STATES

10.27.2023

Story by Lori Stewart 

U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence

by Lori S. Stewart, USAICoE Command Historian

30 OCTOBER 1981
On 30 October 1981, Col. Joseph F. Short took command of the U.S. Army Intelligence School Devens (USAISD) at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. This school, which trained all the Army’s signals intelligence (SIGINT) soldiers, was aligned under the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and School (USAICS) at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. After a twenty-five-year career in the Army Security Agency (ASA), Short was the ideal leader to institute changes to prepare SIGINT soldiers for extended periods of field duty.

In the late 1970s, ASA’s tactical units merged with other intelligence assets to form all-source Combat Electronic Warfare and Intelligence (CEWI) organizations. These units were subordinated to field commanders at the corps and divisions. Field commanders quickly noted their SIGINT soldiers had excellent technical skills. However, due to the length of most SIGINT courses, coupled with extensive periods of language training for many students, commanders noted a decline in basic soldier skills. These soldiers needed to be more tactically proficient, physically fit, and mentally prepared for the rigors of extended field duty.

The 47-year-old Short seemed the right man to fix the shortcomings at USAISD. This native of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, had been commissioned in 1956 through the ROTC program at the University of Rhode Island, where he graduated with a degree in business administration. Short’s varied assignments had him stationed in Japan, Hawaii, Belgium, Korea, and Vietnam, as well as in Washington, D.C. From 1968–1969, he had served consecutively as operations officer, executive officer, and then commander of the 8th Radio Research Field Station at Phu Bai, Vietnam, the largest intercept station in the world at that time. He had also commanded ASA’s Vint Hill Farms Station in Virginia and served as a project manager at Field Station Kunia in Hawaii. Throughout his career, Short had developed a reputation as a “revitalizer,” having elevated the accountability, responsiveness, professionalism, and morale at several troubled units in which he had served.

After taking command of USAISD on 30 October 1981, Colonel Short initiated a robust correspondence with field units and visited every CEWI unit in Europe to collect feedback, which he then used to fix the shortcomings of SIGINT training. He also regularly sent staff and faculty
members to the field units to ensure the training remained relevant and responsive. His quarterly Intelligence Training Notes kept soldiers in the field updated on new initiatives as USAISD.

A natural athlete, Short also instituted an aggressive physical training program and implemented multi-day field training exercises (FTX) in every course. Despite resistance, he began similar FTXs at USAISD’s remote training units at Goodfellow Air Force Base in Texas and Corry Station in Florida. With a focus on soldier skills, like marching and bivouacking, and tactical scenarios, USAISD’s soldiers began arriving at their new units combat ready. Within six months, the exercises had become a model for other training centers.

Short’s four-year tenure at USAISD was known for several other significant accomplishments. He fought for and succeeded in making the Army the Executive Agent for all the military services’ Morse intercept training, which was consolidated at USAISD in 1986. He incorporated new computerized trainers and simulators into training, developed new electronic warfare courses, increased the rigor of noncommissioned officer courses, enhanced USAISD’s contributions to SIGINT doctrine, and lobbied for and received millions of dollars to upgrade the school’s facilities. All these changes resulted in notable decreases in attrition rates and corresponding increases in morale, motivation, and tactical readiness for SIGINT students.

On 4 September 1985, Colonel Short relinquished command of USAISD. At that time, the USAICS commanding general, Maj. Gen. Julius Parker, declared “He came at a time of great need… revitalizing a U.S. Army training institution from one of relative inferiority to one of prominence.” Colonel Short retired that day with nearly thirty years of military service. He passed away 22 March 2021.

• Date Taken: 10.27.2023
• Date Posted: 10.27.2023 15:16
• Story ID: 456702
• Location: US