| This month's issue of the Spokesman centers on safety, a timely and critical topic given that summer is upon us, school is almost out, vacations are being planned and temperatures are rising.
I'm going to let the experts advise you of the dangers and precautions this season brings, and hope that all of us in the Air Intelligence Agency family will take their message to heart and have a safe and happy summer. Meanwhile, I'd like to discuss a matter close to my heart -- the AIA Vision.
I've traveled to many locations, both within AIA and outside of it, and attempted to describe our vision of the future. As uncomplicated as that vision is - to be the Air Force leader in integrating and conducting information operations -- it isn't always an easy concept to explain or grasp. What usually helps is a visual, and I think this slide does the job pretty well.
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The first thing to note is that the chart represents a full service agency -- one focused not only on traditional intelligence tasks (gain and exploit information) but the full gamut of information operations (gain-exploit-attack-defend).
It also identifies you and me as Air Force operators in the fullest sense of the word.
| The vertical columns in the chart represent areas of experience of different agencies brought together in 1993 to form our immediate predecessor, the Air Force Intelligence Command. Each of these processes -- support to the National Capitol Area, MASINT, information warfare, production, space support, and national SIGINT -- has a national customer. Much of AIA's intelligence production, for example, is done under the guidance of the Defense Intelligence Agency and DIA's funds foot a large portion of the bill.
Our relationship with NSA for SIGINT activities is similar. In the area of information warfare the IWC (which came after the formation of AFIC) has become a national leader in the area of information protection. We have resources committed to perform these tasks, but we do them as airmen. That means we bring a perspective to the task that is not shared by our Army or Navy counterparts. It also means that while we fulfill requirements for "national customers", we also remember the customer "closest to our heart", other Air Force operators.
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We are of little or no value to the Air Force if we cannot leverage the skills, products and services we have developed across the board and apply them to the "air fight."
In addition to these processes that we perform more or less nationally, we also provide theater assets - the Rivet Joint, CARS, HUMINT, etc. We need to fully leverage these other processes as well for the air fight.
Our organization tasked to deliver both sets of processes to the field is the 67th IW. As we embed into the NAFs, wing assets provide direct access to all of AIA's resources to other Air Force operators.
Our presence will be tailored to each NAF as necessary. Our goal is to provide each NAF the type and number of Information Operators they need to enhance their particular mission.
At the headquarters we've charged the Information Operations Center to be our 24 hours a day, seven days a week focal point for harmonizing all this activity. The IOC is the AIA Commander's agent for "seeing" globally and for helping me orchestrate the various parts of AIA to be present at and participate in Air Force operations.
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