JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. –
Total Force Integration. Or, "TFI" if you're in a hurry.
This is the tagline of the newest squadron at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, the 63rd Intelligence Squadron. Total Force Integration's goal allows guard and reserve members to fully integrate with their active-duty counterparts, working alongside them and backfilling in the case of active-duty deployments or surges in operations.
Created along with five other squadrons that fall under the 655th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group out of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, the 63rd IS represents the newest Air Force Reserve squadron to fall under the umbrella of the 480th ISR Wing and 497th ISR Group, who operate Distributed Ground Station - One (DGS-1) of the Air Force Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS). The unit exploits near-real-time data from the U-2, Global Hawk (RQ-4), MC-12, MQ-9 Reaper and MQ-1 Predator platforms and provides fused, multi-source intelligence to combatant commanders, as well as to joint and coalition forces.
Being new, the 63rd IS was created as an Air Force Reserve unit upon the arrival of Lt. Col. Jaime L. McGown on Feb. 25. In fact, the unit is so new there is no official squadron emblem, although a group of Airmen is hard at work to change that.
The squadron is broken up into two flights: a signals intelligence (SIGINT) reporting-focused flight and a multi-source intelligence analysis-focused flight. The members of the 63rd IS come from varying backgrounds and experiences, but all of them look to make an impact, supporting the warfighter through the use of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
"I had never done anything involved with the DGS before and that's why I decided to join the unit -- to gain some DGS experience and contribute to the fight," stated one member of the multi-source intelligence flight.
So far, McGown has filled approximately 87 percent of the required manning, both in the Air Reserve Technician (ART) and Traditional Reservist (TR) positions, and hopes to be 100 percent operational by the end of the 2014 calendar year.
The squadron members will undergo Combat Mission Ready (CMR) training for the DGS-1.
"The training is great," said one of the individuals going through mission qualification training. "I'm looking forward to a regular shift and the active-duty mission."
While the 63rd IS isn't 100 percent integrated right now, it will be soon, said McGown. Its members will be able to apply their varying experiences and knowledge they've gained through their individual DGS training to the mission at hand.