39th IOS graduates first international SMC student

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Casey Osborne
  • 688th Information Operations Wing Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. --  The 39th Information Operations Squadron graduated its first international student from the Signature Management Course here Jan. 26.

Squadron Leader John Waugh, a Royal Australian Air Force capabilities manager, said his participation in the course will bring closer ties between his country and the United States.

"It's always good for us to operate with a larger force, like the U.S. military," he said. "Since America is one of our coalition partners, joint opportunities like this are truly valuable experiences."

The Signature Management Course teaches personnel how to analyze their operational footprint, said Joe Mikos, 39th IOS instructor and one of two SMC course directors.

"In SMC, we show people in detail how to look at and protect their wing's resources and missions," he explained.

Waugh, who works in Australia's Russell Offices in Canberra, roughly equivalent to the Pentagon, said he gained good ideas and systems that he can bring back to his service to implement and better safeguard their mission. He was impressed particularly with how the U.S. Air Force accomplishes the base profiling process to identify observable activities and operational trends which reveal critical information to the adversary.

"The United States system for base profiling has a lot of good lessons we can use in Australia," he said. "It seems like it would be comparatively easy for us to implement them, and I intend to work on that issue when I return home."

Beyond the value of sharing best practices with allies, learning how each service communicates ideas and trains its members will pay dividends in upcoming operations, said Spyke Szeredy, 39th IOS instructor and SMC course director.

"With our increased emphasis on coalition operations, it's incredibly important that we speak the same language," he said. "By having our allies train with us, we're increasing future cooperation and building capacity for our partners. That can only help as we continue to operate with the Australians and other partners in the future."