Agency staff provides aeronautical products to military pilots, aviators

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Russell P. Petcoff
  • Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs
WASHINGTON (AFNS) --  National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency officials here provide up-to-date aeronautical products and support to Air Force pilots and other military aviators, and supported relief efforts after a 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti Jan. 12.

The director of NGA's Aeronautical Services, Office of Global Navigation said his staff worked hard to ensure pilots had the latest information on Haiti and the Port-au-Prince airport as the airport was a conduit for incoming relief, rescuers and equipment.

"During the recent Haiti crisis, we published 13 additional (aeronautical information publications) and for the first-time ever released a 14-day mid-cycle update to (digital aeronautical flight information file) ensuring all Haiti procedures were available to Department of Defense aviators," said Col. Patrick Taylor, the director of Aeronautical Services.

AIPs contain critical air navigation, operational procedures and airfield infrastructure information required to safely navigate within a country, Colonel Taylor said. DAFIF is a database and DVD containing global flight planning information in digital format that flight crews can directly insert into the navigational system of the aircraft.

"We received huge feedback from the mobility community applauding NGA's crisis support efforts and ease of access," Colonel Taylor said. "DAFIF and loose-leaf instrument approach plates were published on the World Wide Web for the first time since 2006 ensuring the widest dissemination of our products."

NGA's Aeronautical Services staff provides timely and accurate aeronautical products, services, and geospatial intelligence to support navigational safety for America's warfighter in support of national security interests, the colonel said. Their products include air navigational charts and procedures, airfield features and infrastructure, foreign air operational procedures, and airfield imagery. Their main customers are pilots, flight crew, unmanned aircraft system operators, mission planners, air traffic controllers and intelligence community analysts.

The colonel said his aeronautical GEOINT analysts are hired because of their aviation experience and clearly understand the importance of their contribution to safety of navigation.

"The timely and accurate production of these products and data ensures the successful and safe completion of all aspects of a military air exercise or mission 24/7," Colonel Taylor said.

"Their extensive knowledge and experience on all things aeronautical has proven invaluable in bolstering a number of air intelligence issues and products around the world," added the colonel who has 4,800 hours flying a variety of RC-135 airframes and the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System.

Ensuring the timeliness and accuracy of its products are keys to the organization. The colonel said the staff works hard to ensure they produce the best aeronautical products for military aviators. Their products differ from commercially produced products.

"All DOD aeronautical data is validated by our team of aeronautical analysts multiple times before it's published," the colonel said. To illustrate, he explained the thoroughness of producing or updating an instrument approach plate.

"We spend hours ensuring climb gradients, geo-fixes, obstacles, approach and departure corridors, routing, aerodrome environment, etc., are accurate and safe using tools available in an intelligence agency," he said. "We're a producer of aeronautical products not a reproducer of country-source data. For airway information on our en route charts, we take the same country-source available to a commercial producer and use analytic methods and sources to validate everything. And, we do it every 28 days ... just like clockwork."

In addition to their commitment to accuracy, Colonel Taylor said Aeronautical Services is committed to improving its products and delivery. They are working with kneeboard producers to digitally portray all flight information publications electronically. In the future, this could significantly reduce aircrew reliance on hard-copy FLIP.