EBBING AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Ark. – Seventeen Airmen from the Arkansas National Guard’s 188th Intelligence Support Squadron, or ISS, recently returned from their annual training at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, conducting integration training with the 693rd ISS to enhance mission readiness while supporting ongoing real-world operations.
The temporary duty, or TDY, assignment provided the 188th ISS Air National Guard members an immersive opportunity to synchronize with their active component counterparts.
“This training represents an excellent opportunity for both the 693rd and the 188th to collaborate. As an active-duty Distributed Common Ground System [DCGS] site, 693rd experiences a continual rotation of personnel that are serving 24-36 month overseas assignments. While that model brings in fresh perspectives and builds overall RegAF 1D7 experience, it also means the valuable experience of their Airmen regularly departs. If you couple that with a heavier ops tempo, it can make it challenging to stay ahead of every mission requirement. Our team can come in, share our years of technical expertise, assist with their backlog of work, and exchange best practices. It also gives the 188th the opportunity to validate our ability to send groups overseas, some cross-functional exposure to Airmen that have been in other organizations and gain firsthand experience operating in an overseas environment,” said Senior Master Sgt. Boone Beatty, 188th ISS operations superintendent.
On the operations floor, Airmen worked to validate existing fiber architecture and systematically remove legacy cabling from previous installations to optimize the physical network infrastructure. The two units cross-shared best practices in information management, configuration management, fiber operations such as running, tracing and termination and Cyber Mission Assurance operations, which included network mapping and architectural diagram analysis.
“This trip is a win for everyone involved. It gives our Airmen valuable deployment experience while providing meaningful support to Ramstein AB by helping reduce their maintenance backlog,” said Maj. Andrew Dodd, 188th ISS commander, adding that the experience allowed Airmen to share expertise and compare processes.
The knowledge exchange also extended into classroom and academic settings. 188th ISS members provided weapon system permission-specific training to active component members, reviewed Distributed Ground System-101 course materials, exchanged standard operating procedures and shared DCGS enterprise lessons learned, specifically involving mission-specific data flow diagrams.
This deep-dive integration directly impacts global mission execution, enhancing the 693rd ISS’s capability to swiftly handle high-priority, break-fix actions across four mission-essential enclaves supporting ongoing operational lines of effort and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance command and control.
The deployment-like environment of the TDY prepares the Air National Guard site for crisis or contingency Information Technology support requirements. The face-to-face collaboration directly informs ongoing DCGS analytic and Primary, Alternate, Contingency and Emergency planning considerations.
“The 188th consistently exceeded mission expectations during their integration with the 693rd Intelligence Support Squadron,” said Capt. David Foy, 693rd ISS director of operations. “Their proactive efforts successfully identified and mitigated over 100 discrepancies destined for a Report of Survey, protecting critical government property. Furthermore, their technical leadership in troubleshooting a vital mission communications platform restored essential connectivity with assets across the Area of Responsibility. Without their specialized expertise, resolving this critical vulnerability would have been severely delayed. We highly value this partnership and look forward to future joint operations and training opportunities.”