Goodfellow hosted the Office of Director of National Intelligence Introduction to Aviation Domain Awareness Training Course for the first time, from Dec. 4th to the 8th. Thirty-two students from 13 joint and Inter-Agency organizations received 40 hours of classified instruction from aviation subject matter experts on a variety of topics.

“Following 9/11, this course enables the kind of crucial cross-pollination of ideas and training necessary to identify and prevent another similar attack; the course provides an environment where multiple federal and agency organizations can add their unique insight to tackling aviation threats,” said Capt. Jacob Ewing, 17th Training Wing lead project officer.

The topics were: the aviation ‘ecosystem’ and threats that may exist in the system, operational authorities, intelligence supported outcomes, aviation sector operation environments and application of critical analysis, communication and collaboration.

On day four of training, the students were welcomed by the City of San Angelo to Mathis Field, where they toured the Customs and Border Patrol Facility and learned about the airport’s security processes and air control tower functions.

“This event exposed them to a commercial aviation operational environment, providing a real-world perspective of what drives aviation safety, security, screening, vetting, customs and immigration operations,” said Ewing.

To finish the training, students participated in an aviation security exercise, where they put their recently-acquired air travel awareness to the test in communicating a flight threat, sharing information with mission partners and assessing appropriate responses.

“This experience provided the perfect venue for intelligence and security personnel from across the intelligence and law enforcement communities to collaborate on identifying and mitigating new threats to the Aviation Domain,” said Ewing.

“At our recent NIM-Aviation State of the Mission brief with the Director of National Intelligence, our team at the National Aviation Intelligence Integration Office was lauded on our ability to build out a public/private partnership for aviation and highlighting the Aviation Domain Awareness Course as a model for intelligence and information integration,"

“Goodfellow’s contribution to this innovative training model lies in providing a forum where interagency partners can come together to learn, collaborate, share operational experiences, build relationships, and define creative solutions to the various threats that exist in the aviation ecosystem,” said Dan Johnson, National Integration Manager for Aviation.

“The 17th Training Wing thanks its operational partners for coming to Goodfellow Air Force Base to share in this unique training opportunity; we thank the San Angelo airport for providing a real-life demonstration of aviation security practices,” said Ewing. “We look forward to hosting this critical intelligence course in the future for our intelligence and security community partners!”