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380AEW Article

Enemy threats averted with good intel

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Timothy Boyer
  • 380th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  When it comes to flying missions, the most visible components - pilots, crew chiefs and boom operators, often overshadow important behind-the-scenes functions which ensure mission success.

KC-10 Extender intelligence operations collect and share important information with flight crews prior to their flights over the area of responsibility.

"We do an analysis of the threats that could target our aircraft and brief them to the crews," said 1st Lt. Ryan Little, 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron intel ops officer in charge. "The crew is counting on us to identify those key threats before they get into country so they know where they are and how best to avoid them."

The ability to understand threats is not the only thing an intel Airman must be knowledgeable about.

"They help our situational awareness in areas like weather, terrain, airfield anomalies and, of course, threats," said Capt. Rebecca Gerton, 908th EARS aircraft commander. "They give us information like whether we should fly over certain areas with lights on or off. The more information we have, the better we can execute our mission."

Intel ops use a variety of methods to gather information. Some methods are classified while others are as simple as communication.

"A lot of the information is found on our 'intel google,' as we like to call it," Little said. "Various intel shops also will push out products as they gain information."

Another source of information is the file mission report completed upon the return of crew members from their missions, he said. If they encounter any small-arms fire or surface-to-air fire it is immediately reported and sent to a central hub.

It takes a particular kind of person to work in intel ops.

"They must have an ability to look at things from an analytical point of view," Little said. "You get a lot of trends and information and need to be able to look at it strategically to focus on what really effects you and your aircraft."

While providing intelligence to keep crews safe can be a daunting task, Little said he still enjoys the job.

"I love what I do," he explained. "There are many different personalities and learning how to effectively brief information to them is the most rewarding part of the job. Especially when that aircrew comes back and is excited about what is going on in the area of responsibility and how they are supporting it."

The importance of intel ops is not lost on the crew members either.

"They paint us a good picture of the different threats present and allow us to mitigate those threats," Gerton said.