123rd Intel Squadron finds new home with 188th Wing

by Maj. Heath Allen
188th Wing executive officer

8/4/2014 - FORT SMITH, Ark. -- The newly re-designated 188th Wing at Ebbing Air National Guard Base here recently welcomed the arrival of the 123rd Intelligence Squadron.

The Arkansas Air National Guard's 123rd is a combat unit currently physically located at Little Rock Air Force Base where it operates and maintains an ANG component of the Air Force Distributed Common Ground System gained by the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Agency.

The 123rd moved under the 188th Wing April 1 and the realignment was ceremonially recognized June 7 as part of the wing's Conversion Day event. The 123rd's transition is a critical piece to the 188th's conversion to ISR and remotely piloted aircraft. Prior to the 123rd falling under the new 188th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group, the squadron was administratively serviced by the Arkansas ANG's 189th Airlift Wing at Little Rock AFB.

"I am very excited about the 123rd's move under the 188th," said Lt. Col. Tina Lipscomb, 123rd commander. "It will be the first time in 62 years that we will have a parent wing to lead and support our Squadron. I'm proud to be the 123rd commander and I know that the current squadron members are motivated and enthusiastic to make the move to the Fort Smith area."

In addition to the upcoming physical move to Ebbing Air National Guard Base, the 123rd experienced a 50 percent boost in personnel. The 123rd is now comprised of 120 Airmen. The physical move will happen during the next two years as the 188th moves toward achieving initial operationally capable status.

"As we transition to the 188th Wing, we are eager to get started," Lipscomb said. "We have top notch personnel and training and we will continue to produce world class intelligence. We have a great opportunity to lead the way in our new mission as the center of ISR excellence for the Air National Guard."

That ISR Center of Excellence concept is highlighted by the collaboration of multiple facets of the ISR mission on the same installation operating within the same facility. The 188th will be the first to feature distributed common ground station, targeting and remotely piloted aircraft mission sets on the same operations floor.

"We're going to be the first unit to have those agencies working side by side," said Col. Mark Anderson, 188th Wing commander. "We think that's going to be a huge benefit to our warfighters and the taxpayer. We think there's going to be some efficiencies there and we're going to be on the leading edge of developing some very unique, groundbreaking tactics, techniques and procedures by having those elements under the same roof."

The 123rd operates the AN/GSQ-272 "SENTINEL" weapon system and is responsible for conducting near real time exploitation of imagery intelligence data, collected by ISR platforms and provides actionable, multisource combat intelligence to combatant commanders and war fighting forces across the spectrum of conflict as well as incident awareness and assessment for the homeland.

From 1952 to 2001 the 123rd was an intelligence and photographic reproduction unit providing imagery to support headquarters war planning efforts. The unit has logged a litany of mobilizations, including Operations Allied Force/Noble Anvil, Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and New Dawn.

The 123rd commonly supports the Air Force MQ-1 Predator remotely piloted aircraft and the Air Force MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft but has supported the Air Force RQ-4 Global Hawk remotely piloted aircraft and the Air Force U-2 Dragon Lady aircraft in past operations. Since the unit achieved operational status at home station in December 2006, the Airman assigned to the 123rd have amassed more than 50,000 hours of full-motion video exploitation and generated more than 14,000 products, which have directly aided Coalition forces engaged in combat operations throughout the world.

The 123rd also features a domestic operations mission along with supporting the National Guard Counterdrug Program. In addition to providing first responders, local, state, and federal authorities with situational awareness in the event of a natural or man-made disaster, the 123rd also boasts a unique domestic capability.

The IAA processing, analysis, and dissemination trailer, dubbed the RAZORback PAD, was constructed to function as a mobile platform to capture data from a collection platform, process that data, allow for the analysis of the data and then to disseminate that data in the form of finished IAA to local, state and federal entities to aid in the event of a disaster.

The RAZORback Pad is equipped with six workstations, computers, radios, and telephones, to set up in remote conditions and fuse intelligence products and customize them to suit the diverse customer base.

"The 123rd brings some very unique mission sets and expertise and we're excited they're now a part of the 188th family," Anderson said. "We're looking forward to making history as the ISR Center of Excellence. The 123rd will undoubtedly play a critical role in achieving that goal."