Air Force Global Strike Command Public Affairs
11/21/2014 - BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. -- Fifteen intelligence specialists graduated from Air Force Global Strike Command's Intelligence Formal Training Unit course, Nov. 21, culminating three weeks of familiarization with nuclear and conventional operational missions in the command.
Active duty, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve and civilian Airmen of all ranks who are new arrivals to units in AFGSC, complete the course, which is offered five times a year, to gain necessary tools to perform intelligence functions specific to the command's B-52 and B-2 bomber aircraft and Intercontinental Ballistic Missile platforms.
"The uniqueness of AFGSC's IFTU is that it's not like any other normal mission, because we have the nuclear capability where everyone else is solely conventional," said Airman 1st Class Bryan Nixon, assigned to the 509th Operations Support Squadron at Whiteman AFB, Missouri.
During the course, the students received lectures and briefings about the command's missions, and completed classroom exercises and hands-on intelligence support system instruction. The course is capped with a two-day scenario-based mission planning exercise.
"This has allowed me to see how the units work so I can understand how to support them," said Senior Airman Raushanah Walker, an intelligence analyst assigned to the 608th Air Operations Center, Barksdale AFB, Louisiana.
In addition to receiving briefings and lectures, the Airmen also toured AFGSC facilities and aircraft, and networked with other intelligence specialists.
"I also toured the B-52, which was really cool. I don't work at the units with the pilots, but I got to see a part of their life and what they do - and that's important," Walker said.
The IFTU course also offers a first-hand look at the 608th AOC, a B-52 simulator and weapons loading, which helps intelligence specialists perform their duties.
"That was cool for me, because my job is built around dropping bombs," Nixon, who is a geospatial analyst targeteer, said. "I'm always sitting behind a computer - I run programs, I see how things are going to work based on data. It was different to actually see, in person, the munitions that could be dropped," he added.
Course attendees also understand that it's not just about the kinetic weapon system.
"Intelligence is about networking, it's about reaching out to other resources, and just starting out you don't know what that is," said 2nd Lt. David Greenberg, an Air National Guardsmen newly assigned to the 131st OSS, Whiteman AFB. "The most important part of this course is understanding where to go and who to talk to."
The course is administered by AFGSC's Directorate of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance and began in 2010.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment