by Maj. Amy Rowe
480th IG/HO
Langley Air Force Base, Va.
The 480th Intelligence Group, in its role as the Air Force's Combat Intelligence Applications arm, is actively providing intelligence with potential to support the Force Protection, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and Air Expeditionary Force Battlelabs.
Last summer, the bombing of Khobar Towers shattered intelligence paradigms as surely and effectively as it shattered glass and lives. In the months that followed, Headquarters U.S. Air Force tasked the 480th IG to produce images in support of the various investigations on the incident. The imagery and analysis the 480th IG supplied were key elements in the Chief of Staff of the Air Force's findings report. As our analysts worked these issues, they naturally began to apply their targeting and imagery analysis expertise.
As the Air Force's newest reconnaissance platform, the Predator, was tested under real-world conditions, 480th IG personnel were TDY on-site to provide intelligence support. The Air Intelligence Agency approved 480th IG involvement to include full use of group capabilities in support of the Surveillance and Reconnaissance mission.
One of the few intelligence organizations with a robust video post-production and duplication capabilities, the 480th IG is uniquely postured to exploit and disseminate the video-based UAV data. With Air Combat Command leadership, the 480th is demonstrating the capability to downlink UAV video data to Langley Air Force Base and is providing the capability to store video-derived image products on the 480th IG Image Product Archive.
The 480th IG goal is for these products to be available to both INTELink and INTELink-S users. An active participant in the High Altitude Endurance Integrated Product Team, the 480th IG is a key player in development of intelligence support concepts and products for UAV employment.
Rapid response and dissemination of comprehensive imagery-based data is essential to supporting Air Expeditionary Force deployment. When AEF IV was preparing to deploy to Southwest Asia earlier this year, ACC called on the 480th IG to produce annotated imagery of 132 targets within five days. To meet this challenge, the 480th IG surged to 24-hour production and finished the task within 72 hours.
Besides imagery, the 480th IG has also developed on-line pre-deployment packages containing a political overview, economic overview, geographical data, culture, customs and courtesies as well as threat data. Other support may include briefing imagery, force protection packages, Order-of-battle data via the Combat Intelligence System Data Distribution Host, aircrew threat recognition training materials, mensurated coordinates and Aim Point Graphics.
Providing this data within the deployment cycle of the AEF was critical to successful completion of the AEF IV mission. The group is continuing to explore ways to speed up response time without degrading quality.
New initiatives in virtual production and in electronic dissemination hold great promise and are fertile ground for the AEF Battlelab.
The common threads to 480th IG support to the Air Force Battlelabs are rapid response and availability of comprehensive imagery-based data. The key is connectivity to a robust communications and computer infrastructure.
By providing the Air Force Battlelabs access to the 480th IG's Intelligence Data Handling System infrastructure known as the Air Force Intelligence Network, the 480th IG can provide the same access that is available in the field.
As these battlelabs begin to test and refine revolutionary ideas, this connectivity will become an invaluable tool both for receiving intelligence products and for testing new concepts of intelligence dissemination.
As the force protection mission grows, so will the 480th's commitment. The Reachback Concept will continue to keep the 480th at the forefront of warfighter support. The Surveillance and Reconnaissance mission with its inherent tie to UAVs and the 480th IG's emerging expertise in virtual production and support to AEFs promise the Battlelabs access to a wide range of intelligence support. The 480th IG looks forward to a long and fruitful relationship with the Air Force Battlelabs.
Retrun to July 97