Bedford Minuteman
March 27, 2003

Hanscom lends support to troops overseas

By Natalie Goodale / Staff Writer

American soldiers would be challenged to complete their tasks more blindly, tediously, and less accurately without the technological advances that put the United States ahead of its enemies at wartime. While the battlefield is a tough place, the innovations from Hanscom Air Force Base make the troops' jobs a bit easier.

Col. Darrell Jones is commander of the 66th Air Base Wing at Hanscom. He and his staff are responsible for the security and operation of the base. They are responsible for making sure everyone on the base does his or her job, and that the morale and welfare is high. In a way, he said, they "run the town."

As U.S. soldiers push toward Baghdad, Jones said on the surface, life at the base still operates as it always does. People go to see movies at the theater, they shop at the commissary and the department store, and everyone does his or her job. The feeling, however, is slightly different.

"There is a lot more caution about security; people are aware of their surroundings more," he said. "There is an increased threat of terrorism, and we have to be a lot more aware, even at home now."

Jones said two months ago a group of soldiers from the Massachusetts Army National Guard in Melrose started helping with the increased security on the base to relieve the strain.

In terms of day-to-day routines, the war with Iraq hasn't changed operations at the base much, but Jones said everyone is conscious of the contributions they make to the war effort.

Hanscom does not have a large group of troops regularly deployed. Instead, it is a place of innovation, a research and testing facility. In fact, Jones said, Hanscom Air Force Base is the center of excellence for the command and control integration for the United States Air Force.

"This is an electronics systems center," Jones said. "People work here every day on the next generation's innovations, what gives troops a technological edge in battle."

Air operation centers, said Jones, are examples of what Hanscom has developed. Jones likened an air operation center to a hub where all the information comes in and is tended to, a huge room with screens and computers. centers are based around the battlefields and used by the air force's senior commanders.

"It is there so they can have the most up-to-date information possible," Jones said. "It's like mission-control in Houston."

The senior commanders use these air operation centers to communicate and gather information so they can make better decisions. This center is a type of "Command and Control Integration," Jones said.

"You can be inundated by information; you have to have someone be able to integrate the information into something usable," Jones said.

Chuck Paone is the chief of the media division for the electronic systems center. He said the biggest challenge, and what the air operation center does, is to get around yelling out information to each other or scratching it on sticky notes.

"They have to get past all that and get to the picture of what is going on," Paone said.

Hanscom does not deploy large groups of soldiers; however, there are small numbers of people who are sent to the Middle East, as well as to locations throughout the world.

"We do have a number of who could be deployed," Jones said. "They don't go in groups; there are one or two here and there. But the security forces do deploy in teams."

Jones said the base also deploys actual equipment that is being tested on the base, as well as experts from the electronic systems center who go there to install the equipment, get it running, and then come home.

Jones said it is hard to tell how long the war will last.

"I agree with Secretary Rumsfeld. The outcome of the war is inevitable, but the longer the process, the more resources that are necessary, from everywhere," he said. "The resources from here are proportionate to the size of the base."

Jones and Paone said this war is, in many ways, affecting Hanscom in the same way as the Gulf War did; Hanscom is providing innovation for the Air Force. In the early 1990s, the base was developing a system called a Joint Survey Target Attack Radar System. This piece of equipment allows troops to see the ground in detail. When the Gulf War began, the system was not finished being tested. It had to be tested in the war.

"This device painted a picture of the battlefield," Jones said.

Jones said much of the base's research is done to improve existing systems.

"We improve them; we take quantum leaps with things that existed before but weren't as advanced and as effective as they are today," he said. "They didn't allow as complete a picture."

Paone said it is evident that America has many advantages against Iraq.

"We do have the best troops and equipment," he said. "By far, we have the best technology."

Jones said, "It is important that the people around Hanscom be very proud of the people who keep them safe."

Jones and Paone said, although more attention is given to the equipment necessary at war right now, it is important that the base continue to work on future innovations.

"While some time and personnel are being devoted to wartime needs, we can't stop the focus on the future," Paone said. "We may be working on something now that may not be fielded for five or 10 years."

"The mission of the base continues - it is to develop that next generation technological edge," Jones said.

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