Soaring eagle eye here marks intel milestone
Marine Corps News
Story Identification #: 200412212712
Story by Lance Cpl. Paul Robbins Jr.
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (Dec. 2, 2004) -- The Air Force's unmanned "eye in the sky" keeps a vigilant watch over the enemy, cruising at more than 500 miles per hour and towering more than 50,000 feet above the earth.
Now, Marine Corps warfighters in Iraq have the U-2's high-altitude reconnaissance capability at their disposal - and local Marines tried tapping it for the first time ever at Camp Pendleton Nov. 23.
The U-2 is already being used by Marines in Iraq to collect near-real-time data from high altitude, said Master Sgt. Derrick D. Nixon, staff non-commissioned officer-in-charge of 1st Intelligence Battalion's Imagery Interpretation Platoon.
The key to rapid access to the plane's images is the Tactical Exploitation Group-Main (TEG-M), equipment the Marines began deploying with the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
"We've gotten rave reviews from every deployment. It's given commanders eyes on the battlefield," Dixon said, adding that the platoon first received its equipment in 2002 and updated it just days before the groundbreaking test here.
"It's not every day we get to work with the Air Force's U-2," Nixon said about the plane, which measures 63 feet long with a wingspan of 105 feet. "The Air Force keeps a pretty tight hold on them due to their current operational commitments around the world."
"This is another good asset for us to get a better understanding of the battlefield," said Sgt. Lloyd S. Totty, an imagery analyst for 1st Intelligence Bn.
The U-2's imagery is effective in determining open routes of travel, estimations of enemy strength and precision targeting, Totty said.
The exercise to familiarize Marines with the equipment met with technical difficulties. Sensor problems with the aircraft cut short the training.
But the exercise was useful nonetheless, Nixon said.
"We were able to communicate with the aircraft and conducted other key testing with the platform that could not be tested through simulation," Nixon explained.
Despite the problems, the training will move forward.
"The Air Force will be giving us multiple opportunities in the near future to train with the U-2. It is a win-win situation for both services in being able to test their systems jointly," Nixon said.
When in Iraq, imagery analysts receiving information from the aircraft will disseminate it to units that need it.
"Everybody thinks intel keeps everything to ourselves when were actually trying to get information down to the trigger pullers," Nixon said, "This type of imagery could save lives."
Imagery Interpretation Platoon will deploy with the equipment next year, Nixon said.
E-mail Lance Cpl. Robbins at paul.robbins@usmc.mil.
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