Intel's best kept secret

  • Published
  • By Master. Sgt. Wendy Lopedote
  • 916th Public Affairs Office
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  Small and cozy; security system installed; great neighbors; near golf course; sorry, no ocean view.

A small place may sound appealing if worded just right, but it was a place the 916th Operations Group Intelligence shop had long outgrown. There is still no view at all but at least they now have a new home with the needed room to operate thanks to a complete work center overhaul.

For years 10 people shared 520 square feet of office space, making unit training assemblies cramped and less than efficient. Sharing desk space and computers, intel personnel made do with what they had to get the job done. But with the addition of three active duty members from the 911th Air Refueling Squadron, the tiny office was bursting at the seams.

"It was affecting the mission," said Capt. David Ramirez, officer in charge of internal operations. "We take the information from our research and analysis and disseminate it to the aircrew or deployer. With such a small work area, it was difficult to do this during UTAs or exercises. "

The old office used separate workstations for secure and non-secure computer networks, allowing only two to three Airmen at a time to process through the shop.
"We now are able to process up to ten ISOprep data cards at a time," Capt. Ramirez said, referring to the Personnel Recovery Isolated Report system which allows members deploying to certain locations to have needed information on file.

According to Capt. Ramirez, ISOprep cards can only be processed on a secure work station, meaning members had to wait for one to become available in the old office. The expanded workspace allows for 12 workstations, 10 of which have both secure and non-secure capabilities. This facilitates processing time and allows the warfighter to continue the mission. "We had a very supportive local area network shop in making this a reality," Capt. Ramirez said.

This reality started as a dream well over a year ago. As plans were made for 916th Current Operations personnel to move out of the 916th Operations building and into a new one, the intel shop saw the opportunity to spread its wings.

Plans for the remodel, which added 1,408 square feet to the existing space, were approved in early 2009. However, construction couldn't begin until October 2009 when the old tenants had completed their building transition. Finally, in February 2010, members of the intel shop got a little more breathing room and that new office smell with 1,928 total square feet of expanded work space.

Capt. Ramirez credits Senior Master Sgt. Laurie Benn and Mr. Jeff Neal, mission planning support representative, with keeping the $159,000 remodel on track. "From the floor plan to the contract and furniture acquisition, they were a big part of the total concept," he said.

Along with more work stations, the new space includes a separate briefing room with conference tables. This separate area greatly enhances the training of intelligence personnel. They can use the space to study or for practicing briefings which can be recorded and critiqued according to Capt. Ramirez. The room is also used by aircrews and by combat crew communications personnel for training and testing.

This dream-come-true for the intel shop will have an outreaching benefit to the wing as well. "This new work center allows us to better support wing personnel through effective management of space." said Capt. Ramirez, "With improved briefings, preparation and crew processing, we are now able to meet the wartime mission."