New intel squadron "eyes" terrorists

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sgt. Gary Emery
  • AFSOF Public Affairs
Terrorists and their supporters around in the world will soon be under the gaze of a powerful "unblinking eye" providing information on their whereabouts to a "brain" at Hurlburt Field. 

Note to the bad guys: You will not like the attention.

The reactivation of the 11th Intelligence Squadron here on Tuesday marks a milestone for Air Force Special Operations Command, which gains its first intelligence squadron. The 11th IS, commanded by Lt. Col. David Hambleton, is assigned to Air Force Special Operations Forces, AFSOC's war-fighting headquarters.

The squadron's mission is to process, exploit and disseminate to commanders information gathered by AFSOC's MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicles and other airborne intelligence and surveillance sources, Colonel Hambleton said.

Operators at Creech AFB use remote controls to fly Predators anywhere in the world, around the clock. That capability, when fully realized, will create what Army General Doug Brown, commander of United States Special Operations Command, calls an "unblinking eye" for special operations forces.

But even an unblinking eye is worthless without a brain to process the information the eye sees, said Col. Timothy Leahy, AFSOF vice commander.

That's where the 11th IS comes in, he said.

"We're going to extract intel value from data streams coming off (reconnaissance aircraft), figure out what the bad guys are doing and provide information to special operations commanders so they can make combat decisions," Colonel Hambleton said. "Basically, the 3rd SOS will provide the data and we'll tailor it for the SOF customer forward."

Special operations forces require SOF-specific intelligence, Colonel Hambleton said.
So the entire data gathering-analysis-combat commander chain is specialized and unique compared to the way other Air Force commands process and disseminate data, he said.

For instance, AFSOC is the only major command where the intelligence weapons system, called the distributed common ground system, works hand-in-hand with the air operations center.

In AFSOC, both the DCGS and AOC report to the AFSOF commander, Col. Michael Callan.

"I'm very excited to see the 11th IS a reality," Colonel Callan said. "Many dedicated members of the AFSOF and AFSOC staffs have worked very hard to make this day happen.

"Having the 11th IS provide dedicated intelligence support to our warfighters will make us better able to find, fix and finish our adversaries," he said. "I welcome Colonel Hambleton and his squadron members to AFSOF."

In the Global War on Terrorism, tracking down elusive enemies is akin to what Lt. Gen. Michael Wooley, AFSOC commander, calls "finding the proverbial needle not in a haystack, but hiding among other needles."

Intel specialists of the 11th IS will "be able to discern what that needle among needles is doing," Colonel Leahy said.

"Once the operators of the 11th Intelligence Squadron find and fix the enemy, the world's best special operators, riding in the back of AFSOC aircraft, will go in and finish them," he said.