Four 188th intelligence units receive Meritorious Unit Award

by Capt. Holli Nelson
188th Wing Public Affairs

10/29/2015 - EBBING AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Ark. -- Air Combat Command announced that four units assigned to the 188th Wing were among those honored with the prestigious Meritorious Unit Award for 2015.

The awarded units, which included the 188th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group, 123rd Intelligence Squadron, 188th Intelligence Support Squadron and the 288th Operations Support Squadron, received the award for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding achievement or service in direct support of combat operations since Sept. 11, 2001.

Three of the four awarded units have been in existence at the 188th Wing for less than two years since the mission conversion from manned A-10C Thunderbolt II "Warthog" aircraft to a remotely piloted aircraft, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and targeting mission in June 2014.  The forth unit, the 123rd Intelligence Squadron, was moved under the 188th Wing as part of this conversion and has been supporting combat operations for a decade.

The ISR mission at the 188th Wing encompasses supporting MQ-9 Reaper aircraft as well as other RPA operations, a space-focused targeting squadron and maintaining the Arkansas Distributed Ground Station, one of several nodes which are part of the  Distributed Common Ground System, also referred to as the AN/GSQ-272 "SENTINEL" weapon system, and conducting near real-time exploitation of imagery intelligence data to provide actionable, multisource combat intelligence to combatant commanders and war fighting forces across the spectrum of conflict.

"Since the inception of the new mission at the 188th Wing, we have been working toward our goal of creating a world-class, one-of-a-kind center for ISR and RPA operations and we continue to make monumental strides toward that objective with accomplishments like this," said Col. Bobbi Doorenbos, 188th Wing commander. "The designation of this award to these four units truly showcases the depth and breadth of expertise and experience our Airmen possess at this Wing. I'm very proud of their accomplishment and know they will continue to achieve excellence in support of ISR operations around the globe."

The Four units work with the 480th ISR Wing but are based at and serve under the 188th Wing.  The 480th is the Air Force's lead wing for Distributed Common Ground Station operations around the globe and is headquartered at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia.

The effective dates of the award span June 1, 2014, through May 30, 2015.