22 April, 2003
Base directs war from afar
By Janene Scully
www.santamariatimes.com

"You know you've arrived when you don't have to go out there and tell them, 'We're here,' because they're calling you up and saying, 'We need more of it,'" said Maj. Gen. Michael A. Hamel, 14th Air Force commander. "I would say we've arrived because literally nobody wants to go to war without space."

Orbiting platforms serve as critical tools providing navigation, communications, weather and intelligence to U.S. military troops located around the world. It's so important, a new squadron will form today with a ceremony aimed at identifying threats against satellites.

Twelve years ago, Operation Desert Storm served as the dawn of the space age for just how widely satellites can aid military troops in the midst of war or day-to-day activities.

"In just one relatively short decade of time there's just been dramatic changes," said Hamel.

This time around with war in Iraq it was clear what space offers modern warriors -- and that is primarily due to an organization with its headquarters at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Hamel oversees an organization -- it formed July 1, 1993, at the base -- responsible for the day-to-day operations of space units. The 14th Air Force's Aerospace Operations Center helps ensure data from satellites is ready to assist U.S. military commanders around the world. But what it isn't, Hamel said, is an organization that chooses targets, as some protesters have charged.

Since Operation Desert Storm, the 14th Air Force has spread the message about space, an easier task among technologically savvy younger troops.

"They understand this stuff comes from space and that this isn't just nice to have. They don't want to go anywhere without it," said Hamel. "It is deeply penetrating across all the military services and forces. It's deeply appreciated. Nobody wants to go to war without it."

With a sizable force operating in the Middle East, a large amount of combat support functions can remain in the United States, ready to assist from afar.

"That's one example that satellites provide an invaluable way to actually link and make
forward-combat forces more lean and lethal, with less in-place support than you need in the theater," he said.

Today's Global Positioning System satellites are one key space-based tool for troops. The constellation of navigation satellites offers precise location information of troops and allows more accurate targeting of weapons.

"I sometimes think we get rather jaded when we think about GPS, but the kind of accuracy that we're delivering with that system in terms of being able to precisely position -- we literally are down to the level where you can distinguish between this end of the table and that end of the table," Hamel said.

Two-meter accuracy allows commanders to approach military operations differently these days. "Then you can start thinking in terms that instead of having to use really large bombs because of inaccuracies I can use very precise, very discriminate kinds of weapons because of the precision that comes with these space-based targeting and delivery systems."

With thousands of aircraft and troops on the battlefield, the challenge is how to orchestrate and synchronize them in a complex and confusing environment and avoid lost convoys like the one in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Hamel said.

"That is one of the things where space can play a very critical role," said Hamel, adding that the not-too-distant future could place GPS units in the hands of every soldier, sailor, airman and marine, letting commanders synchronize troop locations and know if someone goes astray.

"That whole ability to link together position, time and knowledge -- and it doesn't matter whether we're talking about delivering weapons on target or whether or not we're talking about evacuating casualties and trying to move them to hospitals from treatment -- it truly is a dramatic capability in terms of how you prosecute war," he said.

Today's military gets a boost from private satellites, capable of providing communications and maps.

"Literally, information is at the heart of how it is that we conduct modern warfare so we depend hugely upon commercial comsats," he said.

The commercial satellite industry might be down, but it's not out, Hamel said.

"It's been very unfortunate the hoped-for explosion in space has not occurred. But by the same token the widespread pessimism about the role of commercial space isn't warranted either," said Hamel, adding that he believes commercial firms will find niches for private satellites.

Staff writer Janene Scully can be reached at 739-2214 or by e-mail at janscully@pulitzer.net .