An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | July 17, 2014

Air National Guard units collaborate to provide power of space to Earth-bound users

By Senior Master Sgt. Eric T. Calvert 226th Combat Communications Group

SAN DIEGO - What is the result when Air National Guard members from Hawaii, South Carolina, California and Alabama collaborate routinely? You get the power of space delivered to fellow Guard members, our sister services and first responders in support of natural disasters and military contingency operations.

Over the last few months, the Air Guard members from Eagle Vision (EV)-3 (CANG), EV-4 (SCANG), EV-5 (HIANG) and EV-6 (ALANG) have been downlinking imagery and radar products from commercial space-based satellite sources in support of tornado relief, firefighting, flooding and hurricane preparations. The Airmen from Eagle Vision units work within what they call the "current news cycle".

If the news is reporting it, the Airmen are standing by ready to respond. They coordinate with commercial satellite vendors, the National Intelligence Geospatial Agency (NGA), the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other organizations in order to ensure relevant space-based imagery is available for the affected area.

The unique Eagle Vision Air Guard units are DoD's only Deployable, Commercial Imagery Ground Station. They come self-sustained as an operational unit with their own satellite antenna, imagery and radar processing equipment and power generation. Currently the Eagle Vision units are being fielded with a more capable downlink antenna and improved processing equipment in a self-contained shelter. With a downlink range of over 2,500 kilometers, these Eagle Vision units can downlink in a rapid and responsive manner, Multi-Spectral Imagery (MSI), Panchromatic and RADAR products that are available to federal, state, local and tribal organizations and individuals.

A recent example of this support was when EV-3, stationed just north of San Diego, was tasked to provide support to the wild fires threatening the major metropolitan area. The Airmen quickly responded and soon had space-based imagery scenes that were made available to those supporting firefighting operations. A similar request was made also to EV-3 in support of the Funny River fire in Alaska, to highlight a few.

At these locations, the space-based imagery collected by the Airmen were provided to U.S. and allied military partners for use.

 

 

Related Articles
Group photo for the Information Operations Subject Matter Exchange during the opening ceremony of Tiger Balm 2025 on May 5 2025 at Mandai Hill, Singapore.
Washington Guard, Singapore Team Up for Tiger Balm 2025
By Joseph Siemandel, | May 30, 2025
SINGAPORE – Washington Army National Guardsmen traveled to Mandai Hill, Singapore, this month to participate in exercise Tiger Balm 2025. It was the 44th iteration of the bilateral exercise between the Singapore Army Forces...

Soldiers from the 138th Operational Fires Command integrate with 41st Field Artillery Brigade and U.S. Army V Corps during Command Post Exercise hosted in both Fort Knox, Kentucky, and Camp Kosciusko, Poland, early May 2025.
Kentucky Army Guard Completes Exercise with V Corps
By Capt. Cody Stagner, | May 30, 2025
POZNAN, Poland — Soldiers from the 138th Operational Fires Command (OFC), Kentucky Army National Guard, recently participated in a corps-level Command Post Exercise (CPX) with U.S. Army V Corps, held in early May at both Fort...

U.S. Air Force Capt. Isaac Tian, a cyber operations officer with the 262nd Cyber Operations Squadron, Washington Air National Guard, analyzes data for evidence of adversary indicators of compromise on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., April 6, 2025. Tian is among the first Air National Guard members to be selected under a newly established direct commission program for cyber professionals.
Washington Airman Selected for Direct Commission in Cyber
By Airman 1st Class Jordaan Kvale, | May 30, 2025
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Washington – Capt. Isaac Tian, a cyber operations officer with the 262nd Cyber Operations Squadron, is among the first Air National Guard members selected under a newly established direct commission...