ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla.-- From analyzing the most recent information across the globe to educating members of the 97th Air Mobility Wing on current data and worldwide threats, Airmen from the 97th Operations Support Squadron Intelligence and Tactics Flight perform a variety of tasks to enable mission success, both locally and internationally.
Capt. David Moore, the flight commander, said his team has one main objective that they accomplish by concentrating on two areas of focus.
“Our flight’s primary mission is to serve the wing commander and all of his intelligence needs,” said Moore. “We do that through one of two different ways. The first way is through training and supporting the C-17 aircrews through our daily threat briefs and tactical scenarios, while also providing intel briefings for all of the tanker students that come through here. The second way is by directly supporting the wing commander and all base units through operational intel support.”
Because the 97th AMW’s focus is on training mobility Airmen, the intel flight follows suit by generating training missions with potential threats using the most current information for C-17 Globemaster III, KC-135 Stratotanker and KC-46 Pegasus aircrew training.
“Whether it be through providing the crews with a ‘threat of the day’ briefing, which helps keep them safe while flying, to helping create simulated hazards for crews to practice real-world scenarios, the intel flight directly helps every student at the schoolhouse become ready for the operational Air Force,” said Senior Airman Taylor Baden, the 97th OSS Intel and Tactics Flight intelligence analyst.
The flight is not only focused on the 97th AMW’s local mission, however. They also take measures to educate and safeguard deploying members heading overseas.
“Anytime an Airman deploys or goes to a temporary duty assignment from Altus, they have to come to us for a pre-deployment brief tailored towards the location they are deploying to,” said Baden. “These briefs lay out risks, things the deployer should be aware of and possible threats in the specific area they will be in. We also have to complete an Isolated Personnel Report. In the event an Airman is ever captured, this form helps us authenticate who that person is.”
Moore said that, while intel operations are different from place to place depending on the mission at hand, intelligence officers and analysts across the Air Force are mainly charged with providing the information leaders need to execute their respective missions safely and effectively.
“Intel drives the Air Force mission around the world,” said Moore. “Although we don’t make decisions about things, it is our entire career field’s responsibility to inform those who make the decisions on what is happening. Whether that’s from current or developing threats to battlefield space pictures, it is our entire job to make sure our leaders have all the information they need in order to make safe decisions.”