Air Force Special Operations Command’s 16th Special Operations Squadron is celebrating 40 years of operations and working toward moving its whole shebang from Hurlburt Field, Fla., to AFSOC’s new western hub at Cannon AFB, N.M., home to the 27th Special Operations Wing. The 16th SOS and its gunships expect to call New Mexico home next year, with all aircraft, equipment, and personnelin place by fall. Lt. Col. Jason Miller, 16th SOS operations officer, said, “We look forward to training on the Melrose Range and to take advantage of the new targets the 27th Special Operations Wing has placed in the Spirit and Jockey impact areas. … We will accomplish this move to Cannon with the same intensity, dedication, and panache our previous Spectres accomplished their every endeavor.” (Hurlburt report by TSgt. Sheri Kangas)
The defense intelligence community has tried three times in the past decade to build a “common intelligence picture”—a single data stream providing the information that commanders need to make decisions about the battlefield. The first two attempts failed. But officials say things are different today.