Presidio of Monterey Airmen get first-hand look at ISR

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Matthew Meserve
  • 311th Training Squadron
Presidio of Monterey, Calif. --  Seventy-seven Airmen from the 311th and 314th Training Squadrons at the Presidio of Monterey travelled to Beale Air Force Base, Calif, on Sept. 2-3 to get their first glimpse into Air Force Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance operations. This "first look" immersion into ISR operations provided the Airmen a glimpse into their future once they complete the Air Force's longest and most expensive training pipeline. 

The Airmen also received a briefing by Lt. Col. Robert Krause, 548th Intelligence Group deputy commander who provided a high-energy briefing on the linguist's role in ongoing operations. As a former director of operations for the 311 TRS, Lt. Col. Krause understands the value of these informative visits. Members from the 9th and 13th Intelligence Squadrons then escorted the Airmen to their respective classified operations centers where they received more in-depth briefings on their mission and ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The 9 IS processes film and analyzes imagery from U-2 missions. The 13 IS provides all-source, fused, near-real-time intelligence to Air Force, joint/combined task force, and unified command commanders worldwide to meet Air Force, theater and national objectives. 

The group was provided an up-close look at both the RQ-4 Global Hawk and the U-2 Dragon Lady. These intelligence platforms carry out missions for the 9th Reconnaissance Wing. The Airmen were privileged to receive presentations on the capabilities of the aircraft from both maintainers and pilots. 

This was the third trip to Beale AFB for the Airmen, and was lauded by attendees as an eye-opening and inspiring experience. Some comments received from the trip "really showed us Airmen how we fit into the big picture which is something that is easily forgotten in our long training pipeline," and "not only informative, but also very motivating to see the important role that linguists and the intelligence field as a whole plays in the various combat and relief operations around the world." 

En route to Beale AFB, the Airmen visited the Air Museum at Travis AFB, Calif, where they had an opportunity to view Air Force heritage exhibits and experience the surroundings of the base. The 77 Airmen are currently learning foreign languages at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, including Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Korean, Persian-Farsi, Hebrew and Spanish. When they complete their 6-18 month long training at Presidio of Monterey, they will continue their training at Goodfellow AFB for four additional months, honing their intelligence/language analysis skills before moving on to operational assignments as cryptologic linguists. 

Staff Sgt. Damian Davies, 314 TRS and lead coordinator for this trip, was instrumental in strengthening a great partnership that exists between the 517th Training Group and personnel at Beale AFB. Airmen in training can look forward to future visits.