116th Air Control Wing Public Affairs
11/20/2014 - ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Operators from the 116th Air Control Wing and the 138th Military Intelligence Company took to the skies to provide real-time situational awareness to F-16 Fighting Falcons, AH-64D Apache Attack Helicopters and ground forces during the Operation Carolina Thunder exercise.
The multi-state, multi-component, collective training exercise conducted during the South Carolina National Guard drill weekend, involved more than 650 participants from South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee National Guard units.
Using the one-of-a-kind battle management, command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities of the E-8C Joint STARS, the Airmen and Soldiers provided targeting data and intelligence for attack aviation, fighter attack and friendly maneuver forces in the vicinity of the Savannah River Site near Augusta, Georgia.
The JSTARS crew from the Georgia Air National Guard welcomed aboard Army Capt. Michelle Roberts, a deputy intelligence officer with the South Carolina National Guard.
"Having Capt. Roberts aboard is a great asset to JSTARS," said Maj. Kenneth Billings, mission crew commander with the 128th Airborne Command and Control Squadron. "She is able to provide insight to what the South Carolina National Guard needs from us."
"The ability to train with a liaison on the jet is a great asset because they can speak from the perspective of their particular unit, and this helps us fuse that with the way we do things and provide a better product for our customer," said Billings.
During the flight, Roberts acted as the ground liaison officer supporting military intelligence operations and got a chance to get her hands on the equipment, learning first-hand the capabilities that JSTARS brings to the fight.
"The incorporation of JSTARS is huge," said Roberts. "From an intelligence perspective, JSTARS provides the overall common operation picture from air to ground, and we can use that to relay where the enemy threat actually is."
According to Billings, the biggest value of JSTARS that makes this possible is because it is a manned platform versus being remotely operated from a ground control station.
"Having operators onboard the actual aircraft allows us more flexibility in ever-changing operational environments," he said.
Training exercises like Operation Carolina Thunder are a step toward strengthening relationships with different states and components that exist in the National Guard and also showcase the full spectrum of capabilities that JSTARS has to offer.
"I can see a lot of training and mission opportunities with JSTARS coming from exercise Operation Carolina Thunder," said Roberts.
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