Andersen Air Force Base, Guam -- Editor’s note: The names of the Airmen are being omitted for anonymity.
While U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer aircrew members with the 9th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron (EBS) prepare to conduct training missions within the Indo-Pacific region, they receive information from intelligence Airmen.
Intel personnel interpret, analyze, evaluate and fuse information to help notify aircrew of critical data in the context of an operation or activity they are supporting.
“Intel participates in mission planning to provide relevant threat and adversary tactics analysis that arms those individuals with the necessary information to execute a safe and successful mission,” said the 9th EBS Intelligence officer in-charge. “Intel is critically important for flying missions in any contested environment. Our ability to correctly identify enemy threats and targets and relay that to aircrew in a timely manner could be the linchpin on where mission success hangs.”
Intelligence Airmen are with the aircrew from the beginning through the end of each mission; briefing enemy threats up front and tracking them through mission execution. After every mission, intel Airmen and the bomber aircrew discuss the details and share any experiences and actionable intelligence to update and inform the intelligence field on current threats and tactics.
Taking part in the Bomber Task Force missions not only help these Airmen in becoming familiar with operating in different regions around the world, it allows them to network and integrate with other agencies across the globe.
“We serve the BTF missions by working to understand how the adversary has operated in the past so that we can reasonably predict how they will react to our operations in the future,” said the intelligence officer. “We are then able to help mission planners refine their understanding of the threat environment in order to capitalize on the enemy’s vulnerabilities while mitigating our own.”
This helps provide aircrew members with an opportunity to learn new things during the deployment.
“The intel shop helps create realistic scenarios to challenge us during our training missions,” said a 9th EBS weapons systems officer. “Training in this region adds a different dynamic to our training missions that helps us adapt and continue to grow as a whole. Because of the work they do we are better able to react real-time when flying.”
This deployment has enabled Airmen with the 9th EBS to become more proficient with their jobs to help maintain stability and security within the Indo-Pacific Command’s area of responsibility.
“Being part of the mission planning for the BTF provides our analysts the opportunity to exercise skills that they are unable to get at our home station,” said the intelligence officer. “We’re able to test our predictive capabilities and make assessments on enemy actions.”