A day in the life of an intel student

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Devin Boyer
  • 17th Training Wing Public Affairs
GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Early mornings and long days begin to describe the daily life of Airman Jesyka Ware, a geospatial intelligence analyst student from the 315th Training Squadron.

Ware starts her day at 3:30 in the morning. With a fresh physical training uniform, she forms up with the rest of her flight for an hour long PT session on the flight line.

After her work out, Ware heads back to her dorm.

"You rush to the shower as fast as you can," she said "Not [Basic Military Training] fast, but you want to kind of put a move on it so you can get your day started and make it out to go to breakfast."

Like a well-oiled machine, Ware and her fellow Wingmen form up outside the Cressman Dining Facility at 6 a.m. and march to class.

"Once we get to the school house together as a squadron, we'll start classes at 7 o' clock [a.m.], and we don't get back to our rooms until about 5 o' clock p.m., and that's every day," said Ware.

The job of a geospatial intelligence analyst is to analyze intelligence imagery from satellites, remotely piloted vehicles and other sources in order to recognize the mundane from the dangerous.

"The Geospatial Analysis and Intelligence Fundamentals courses are approximately six months long graduating over 500 students annually," said Tech. Sgt. Adrian N. Gaxiola, geospatial intelligence instructor. "Airmen are trained on geospatial, imagery and analysis techniques required to support worldwide combat operations. Upon graduating these Airmen will directly support the warfighter by producing accurate and timely intelligence."

Ware finds her class challenging, but feels excited that she's learning something new.

"So far, I really love my class," said Ware. "...the best part of coming here is that it is a little difficult learning something that is totally different, but I feel like it will be very rewarding once I get to the [operational] Air Force..."

The 315th TRS student knows how important her job is and reminds herself at the end of each day of all she accomplished.

"...just always remember: at the end of the day, you've made it through...," she added. "...the next day is a new day to start fresh."


After class, Ware marches back to the dormitories with her squadron. She uses what is left of her evening to eat, shower and go to bed. If she has enough time, Ware visits the base library to enjoy a quiet environment to decompress from her classes. She is then prepared to do it all over again the very next day.