Of Intelligence Value Published Jan. 18, 2007 By Tech. Sgt. Ken Sloat 910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs YOUNGSTOWN AIR RESERVE STATION, Ohio -- It's not a classroom, although the Airmen behind its locked door are likely to be sifting through a library of research material looking for little bits of key information. After finishing, they will emerge and share what they've learned with other Airmen in hopes of better preparing those Airmen to stay alive. "We're educators," said Master Sgt. Brenda L. Zickefoose, an intelligence operations craftsman with the 910th Operations Support Squadron. Researching and studying is usually required to stay current. "We brief anybody who goes (out of the continental United States)," said Capt. John C. Gaffney, Chief of Intelligence, who oversees 23 Airmen assigned to the office. Typically, he explained, 910th Airlift Wing members are required to visit the Intelligence Office to get a briefing on threats they may encounter at their destination or enroute. Preparing for that responsibility takes considerable time. The basic enlisted technical school is more than five months long. Once completed, the newly hired enlisted intelligence operations specialists might expect to attend two or three specialty schools within their first year of assignment, said Master Sgt. Joseph J. Dagenais, NCOIC of the 910th Intelligence Section. When new applicants are interviewed for a vacancy in the office one of the first questions Capt. Gaffney asks is whether or not they like to read and do research. "Sifting through a lot of information to determine what's important to your audience is what we do," he said. Many staff members report that on a typical UTA weekend they will spend between eight and ten hours doing research for presentations and studying intelligence to keep current. "We research, decide what's relevant and disseminate it," said Master Sgt. Zickefoose. Capt. Gaffney said their goal is not to tell their customers what to do, but rather to give them the information they need so they can make informed decisions that will allow them to accomplish their mission without harm to themselves or other airmen. It is a big responsibility and the work load can be heavy. According to Capt. Youssef Mhemedi, an Intelligence Officer assigned to the Intelligence Section, normally the office will do four or five briefings during an average drill weekend. "It's always a learning environment. A new technology or changing world event can require more research," he said, adding that because most briefings are done on Sunday of the drill weekend, intelligence personnel have Saturday to prepare for them. Senior Airman Anthony J. DiAngelis, an Intelligence Operations Journeyman, spent much of his UTA preparing for three briefings he was assigned to complete over the weekend. "I'll be here tonight," he said jokingly as he explained that extra hours of duty are occasionally required to stay ahead of the constant availability of information. Learning the data is just the first part, explained Capt. Mhemedi. Understanding it is another part. Something that might seem like an isolated incident when considered alone may in fact be very significant when combined with other seemingly isolated incidents. People sometimes ask for his expertise informally by prompting him to explain a story they may have seen on television. He said he usually has to explain to them that he isn't always able to add to what the networks report. The information they share hasn't been analyzed, it's just information. He said his office is more focused on sharing the "most accurate" information rather then merely regurgitating "the most recent information." There are many ways to get accurate information. Ninety-five percent of the intelligence information they use when deployed to the U.S. Central Command Area of Operations comes from validated intelligence sources while the remaining five percent comes from first-hand human sources such as post-flight interviews, explained Senior Airmen DiAngelis. Almost all of the intelligence operations team members - six officers and twelve enlisted - have been deployed at least once since Sept. 2001, said Master Sgt. Dagenais. For Senior Airman DiAngelis, who recently completed his third year in the office, the rigors of deployments aren't anything new. As he prepares to depart for his second deployment to Southwest Asia later this year, he must also find study time for his upcoming participation in CORONET OAK, an operation providing airlift support of U.S. Southern Command. The operations tempo isn't likely to diminish in the deployed environment either. During a recent 120-day deployment to Kuwait, he said he was responsible for conducting more than 600 briefings. This is a familiar story for Master Sgt. Zickefoose. Immediately after Sept. 2001 she was placed on what would turn out to be nearly two years of active duty. During that period she was deployed four times, including twice to the CENTCOM AOR. She said preparing for a deployment can involve a lot of study time especially when there will be several different types of aircraft that she will have to support at the deployed location. "Being knowledgeable of the airframes is very important," she said, adding that most aircrew members are extremely knowledgeable about them. "If you're wrong, they will definitely let you know you're wrong," she said. Being corrected during a briefing was good training and she was usually thankful for it, she added. Although she loves her job, she joked that it comes with some misconceptions about what they do. Some people seem to think that the intelligence office is spying on them by listening in on phone conversations and even reading email to gather information, she said. She quickly points out that such assumptions are simply not true. According to Master Sgt. Dagenais, Department of Defense regulations, as well as public law, strictly forbid them from collecting intelligence on any "U.S. person" which could mean both citizens and non-citizens of the United States. Although that part of their job probably won't change, others parts likely will. Within the next year the intelligence team will have two Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape instructors assigned. SERE instructors spend more than six months in training to become experts at teaching others to survive in the difficult situations such as those involving combat and captivity. According to Capt. Gaffney, although the positions have been authorized for some time, they have only recently been funded. "It will be a big help to us because it will be a capability that we've never had here at Youngstown," he added. When both flying squadrons of the 910th Airlift Wing were activated after Sept. 2001 the Intelligence Office was tasked to give an aircrew briefing that they simply didn't have the capability to provide. They had to bring an active duty SERE instructor to Youngstown ARS on temporary duty to complete the briefings, he said. The two Airmen selected to become SERE instructors will begin more than six months of initial training later this year. Once they return to the 910th fully qualified, they will begin to conduct specialized survival briefings. "It will be an increase in our capability," he concluded. And they, like the rest of the intelligence team of the 910th OSS, will go on giving Airmen the information they need to make life saving decisions in difficult situations, he said.