The Air Force has sent its first class of intelligence analysts through a new formal training unit course at the US Air Force Expeditionary Center at Ft. Dix, N.J., where they engaged not in analyzing air threats but those on the ground that affect ground combat operations and ground force protection. The 18-day course covers integrated base defense, proper employment of intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance assets, asymmetric threats, and how to apply operating environment intelligence to a real-world area of operations. “Airmen are regularly filling roles in Iraq and Afghanistan that traditionally would have been performed by the Army and Marine [Corps],” explained 1st Lt. Eric Snelgrove, Air Force Force Protection FTU Course director for the 421st Combat Training Squadron at the center. He continued, “Just as these airmen received specialized pre-deployment training to execute their new responsibilities, intelligence airmen also require specialized training to ensure that all airmen are receiving the best intelligence support available.” The Air Force now requires this new course for all intel analysts slated to deploy. (USAFEC report by SSgt. Nathan Bevier)
The Air Force is considering changes to its pilot curriculum to curb the rising number of aviation accidents across the service, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said Feb. 25. The Air Force saw 72 accidents in fiscal 2020—10 more than in the previous year, Air Force Magazine…