from deployed locations to our unit still presents a challenge. Full reachback communications are not yet in place to remotely link data back to home station. Technological and fi-nancial shortfalls prevent this from occurring at the moment. In the meantime, our adaptive work ethics have proven quite effective. A commercially procured pro-gram allows us to transmit data over secure phone lines, allowing us to immediately analyze and report on critical information. To enhance our analysis efforts, we leverage the database resources of both ESSAC-EUR and ESSAC-PAC as well as avail ourselves to a wide array of open source information available via the Internet. Whatever it takes, we provide our customers with the most comprehen-sive analysis of their vulnerabilities. Our goal is to provide command-ers with the tools necessary to pro-tect vital information, train personnel to protect themselves and others, and help them recover from operational security breaches that may occur. Through a new look, we are able to preserve an old conceptÉ guarding our nation against all enemies, for-eign and domestic.
OH, WHAT BIGGER EARS WE HAVE! by 1st Lt. Dan Harbowy 68th IS Brooks Air Force Base, Texas
T is taking on a whole new look. This began when the term "ESSAC-CON" was heard rumbling throughout the Air Intelligence Agency. ESSAC-CON, Electronic Systems Security Analysis Central, Continen-tal United States, is an initiative to streamline operations and enhance the way we do business. This concept helps leverage personnel reductions with technological advances. Long-term plans include remoting telecommunications monitoring, con-ducting 24-hour operations, central-izing databases and providing con-solidated analysis and reporting from ESSACs in Europe and the Pacific. The 68th needed a completely new look in order to accommodate the ESSAC-CON way of doing busi-ness. Space was already limited. We had to accommodate 20 additional people and needed 400 square feet of floor space to establish an operations center. Everyone pulled together to make things happen. For two weeks, squad-ron personnel rearranged modular furniture to maximize space while relocating and consolidating opera-
Operations floor, accommodating 18 personnel, in full swing. 1st Lt. Dan Harbowy, foreground, amidst operators and analysts processing data.
Photo courtesy of 1st Lt. Dan Harbowy 1