U.S. Army and Air Force to improve Joint ISR Training

LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. --- A key group of Army and Air Force intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance professionals met at McChord Air Force Base, Wash., recently for a working group to discuss what is needed to ensure America has the best ISR forces on the ground and in the air. The two-day conference was one of two working groups that met in support of the general officer ISR roundtable, the first of which was held in March 2007. However, this particular meeting focused on the training of Army and Air Force personnel to determine what is available from each service to get the best joint picture in the air and on the ground. "The focus of this working group was to improve on integrating inter-service training with a goal of enhanced mutual understanding of service ISR operations and training needs, ultimately improving combat effectiveness," said Cheri Tone, an Air Combat Command Directorate of Intelligence, or A2, pre-deployment training analyst. "We needed to devote this working group to training to see what was available that could benefit us all". The meeting highlighted that instructors each service could improve on training the ISR information needs of their sister service. An example, said Ms. Tone, is the improved operations when Air Force analysts have a proper ground perspective, which gives the team a higher chance of success. An additional fact, she added, is that many Soldiers are unaware of the full capabilities of Air Force ISR, and there are several ongoing efforts geared to changing that . She added that the working group discussed several ways to accomplish this training, starting at the tech school level and continuing through mission qualification training and pre-deployment training. There are already several initiatives underway in these areas, and some of them will be briefed to the general officer ISR roundtable scheduled for mid-March in the Hampton Roads, Va., area. One of the most significant initiatives to enhance mutual understanding was the exchange of instructors to the services' intelligence schools. While not widely advertised, elements of this initiative are currently ongoing and are improving inter-service ISR training. Another important program discussed at the working group was liaison exchange. Air Force officials currently send intelligence officers to deployed Army units to help them leverage Air Force ISR assets, and actions are being taken to place Soldiers at select Air Force ISR units as well. The liaison acts as a translator to the commanders in the field and to the Air Force ISR analysts.