Iraqi air force brings ISR capabilities online

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Stacia Zachary
  • U.S. Air Force Central Combat Camera Team
NEW AL MUTHANA AIR BASE, Iraq (AFNS) --  Intelligence collection has become a valuable capability for the Iraqi air force in its push to provide security and stability. Unique to the Iraqi air force, the King Air Squadron 87 here boasts the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities necessary for detecting and deterring insurgent activity.

For one advisor assigned to the Iraq Training and Advisory Mission - Air Force, part of the Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq, this year-long deployment has presented the challenges of language and cultural barriers, as well as overcoming learning curves using certain technology.

Staff Sgt. Joshua Roden, who is deployed from Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is the chief evaluator mission sensor operator for the King Air ISR training team. He is responsible for advising the Iraq air force in the employment of the sensor payload, or mission sensor equipment, which is associated with Iraq's new King Air 350.

Sergeant Roden seemed the perfect pick for the job. A Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, or JSTARS, instructor for the 116th Air Control Wing at Robins AFB, Ga., he has active knowledge of synthetic aperture radar and ground moving target indicator technology.

"My chief called and asked if I could take a year-long tasking," he said. "I immediately said yes because everything my chief has ever asked me to do has turned out to be a great opportunity."

"Sergeant Roden was the right guy for the job," said Maj. Bryan Lee, an instructor pilot deployed from the 1st Flying Training Squadron, Pueblo, Colo. "He has done an amazing job getting the training material together and learning how to make it work for the Iraqis."

Squadron 87 is the Iraqi organization that Sergeant Roden has been helping set up and become a self-sufficient and capable ISR unit. With qualified MSOs already on board, the squadron will be certifying one of their own as an instructor. Squadron 87 flies King Air 350 airplanes, which are retrofitted with ISR technology in the underbelly of the plane. During flying missions, a mission sensor operator uses ISR equipment to photograph the terrain and detect questionable activity.

"MSOs can capture real-time imagery of potential enemy forces moving into a specific region," Sergeant Roden said. "That information can be relayed to the ground forces to detect and deter perceived threats to the Iraq special sorces, the Iraqi army, the Iraqi navy and the Iraqi police."

As ISR Squadron 87 integrates intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance into the strategic capabilities of the Iraqi air force, the unit has hung its shingle advertising that the squadron is open for business - those interested are welcome.

Many of the people applying for the program were young children when Operation Iraqi Freedom kicked off. As a result, schooling wasn't necessarily a priority for the Iraqis - survival was. Most students needed help with their English language and computer skills. The ITAM - AF team created training to overcome this hurdle, which included intense English language training.

"We will do two weeks' worth of academics by going over all the systems in the aircraft including the ground equipment, such as the Spider laptops, and familiarization of the fixed ground station," Sergeant Roden said. "After that, we give them a test and see where their competency levels are and how much they have retained."

Once the candidates have passed all the tests and are accepted into the program, they are given an orientation with the aircraft and the MSO equipment. They are then trained on a 19-ride syllabus followed by a flight evaluation to ensure that they are fully capable of performing the functions necessary to be an MSO.

"The people we are training and advising are very intelligent, but this technology is completely new to them, and our goal is to make the transition as easy as possible for the Iraqis," Sergeant Roden said. "So, we developed a program that can take a person who has never seen a computer before and develop in them the ability to quickly learn the dynamics of a computer as well as the technology behind why the mission sensor equipment works."

One of the main goals of this mission is to help the Iraqis to a point where they take control of the operations so they can establish their own presence over the security of their country. For those ITAM-AF Airmen here, helping the Iraqis liberate themselves from the control of those who would harm that growth is a very satisfying feeling.

Being involved in such an inaugural project has left an impression on Sergeant Roden, who arrived at the air base on Independence Day.

"The entire reason I am here helping out with the ITAM - AF program is to help the Iraqis to liberate themselves and take control of their own country," he said. "I am hoping to teach them and help the Iraqi people protect themselves from the insurgency within their country, as well as the threats that may be looking to prey on them from the outside, similar to our charge to protect Americans from enemies both foreign and domestic"