RENO, Nev. - Members of the Nevada and Mississippi Air National Guard have partnered with the active duty Air Force for Project Liberty, a two-year program designed to increase intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities for Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom.
Project Liberty will train about 1,000 students, including pilots and sensor and systems operators in support of ISR operations aboard MC-12 aircraft at the 186th Air Refueling Wing in Meridian, Miss.
The platform is a modified C-12 Huron, a lightweight, twin-turboprop aircraft, designated as MC-12W for Project Liberty. It has a specialized crew of four, including a flight crew of two, and is the Air Force's newest manned ISR platform. The C-12 was previously chosen by U.S. Army for use as intelligence-gathering aircraft.
For Nevada, Project Liberty means an expansion of the 152nd Intelligence Squadron's mission. The program allows squadron members to train active duty airmen for four weeks in Reno on its Scathe View camera system, which is similar to the camera system airmen will use on the MC-12.
The unique Scathe View system includes advanced electro-optical and infrared sensors mounted on the 152nd Airlift Wing's C-130 Hercules. It provides real-time visible and thermal imagery, including full-motion video. A modified, roughly half-size version of the camera system will be used on the MC-12.
The first class consisted of seven Meridian airmen. Subsequent classes have included a handful of Guard members, but mostly active duty troops retraining into Project Liberty sensor operator positions.
Experience with Scathe View, which has been used in combat operations since 2003, made the Nevada Air Guard the perfect choice for the new ISR training regimen. The unit was asked to take part in the program in December, moved quickly to set up a training plan for its first class in January, and has the capacity for 104 students in fiscal year 2009.
About 40 airmen at the Reno base, including aircrew, aircraft maintenance, life support and others, are dedicated to the project and on active duty orders to support the training.
"The war is shifting to ISR and using fewer bombs," said Senior Master Sgt. Craig Madole, 152nd IS coordinator for Project Liberty. "Our focus is to get this capability operational and to the desert ASAP."
C-130 pilot Maj. Allan Renwick, agreed. "The mission is more about supporting the Army guys and providing the best situational awareness to troops on the ground."
He added that Project Liberty has another benefit for the Nevada Air Guard members and their families. "After five years of rotations (deployments), this will keep our guys on active duty at home."
The seven boom operators assigned to the Mississippi refueling wing, who made up the first Reno class became instructors for the second phase at their home base in Meridian. Follow-on classes continue the cycle of the four-week course in Reno followed by phase two in Mississippi.
The Nevada training includes classroom instruction three days a week and five C-130 flights. On a recent flight, four of the students took turns at the Scathe View console as a scenario played out on the ground. Nevada intel airmen acted as both bad guys and friendly forces on the ground.
From the sky, instructors Master Sgt. Jeff Best and Staff Sgt. Lewis Dix helped the students learn to read the terrain below as well as with the nuances of controlling the cameras with what looks like a flight stick. With the C-130 at 15,000 feet, the exercise required each student to locate a suspect vehicle, then observe and report to forces on the ground.
With years of experience in the U.S. Central Command theater of operations, Madole said the training scenarios developed here locally are as realistic as they can make them. From identifying static vehicles on the ground to watching bad guys carrying fake rifles and digging as if planting an improvised explosive device, the training includes many details the students should be able to discern and pass on to friendly forces.
"We look for sites to set up ground simulations as if in theater," Madole said. Nevada's vast desert environment and mountainous regions, similar to that of Iraq and Afghanistan, add to the realism.
Master Sgt. Glenn Hancock, a student in the initial class, praised the training and looks forward to the coordination between the two Guard units.
"It's been a great working relationship," Hancock said. "We're in this together."