J a n u a r y / F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 0

Vol. 8 No. 1

Bringing GEOINT to the Field
On My Mind

GEOINT: Meeting the Challenges of the 

21st Century at Home and Abroad

The United States faces myriad threats to our domestic and international interests. The September 11 

attacks reminded us that we are vulnerable, but they also showed us our resolve to safeguard this nation. 

Natural forces can also wreak havoc anywhere in the world—the recent earthquake in Haiti is a stark 

example. GEOINT can save lives when disaster strikes.

Globally, we are engaged in a multitheater, long-term conflict against a violent extremism that has 

multiple agendas and can take countless forms. Our military fights on many fronts, contending with an 

enemy that may be hard even to identify. Our duty is to ensure that servicemembers get the GEOINT they 

need to succeed. Our country is counting on them—and us.

One powerful way we carry out our mission is to embed our personnel with our partners. NGA’s global 

deployers support combat missions; they also develop GEOINT for peacekeeping operations, humanitarian 

support and worldwide disaster relief and rescue efforts—like the collaboration with our Allied partners 

in post-earthquake Haiti.

Because we work on site with other members of the Intelligence Community, the Department of Defense, 

our domestic mission partners, and international allies, NGA brings GEOINT to the multi-intelligence 

resource mix and specifically tailors it to suit mission imperatives as they evolve.

Our GEOINT expertise is crucial to the success of American and coalition success in combat operations. 

It is equally potent in support of NGA’s domestic responsibility: providing the GEOINT component of 

our government’s mission to prepare for, prevent and respond to domestic terror; mitigate and recover 

from natural disasters; interdict the traffic in narcotics and other contraband and protect our country’s 

borders.

NGA analysts are at the scene of floods, hurricanes, wildfires and other natural and manmade disasters, 

providing direct, onsite GEOINT to our domestic partners’ rescue operations. We also work with federal 

agencies and local law enforcement at national special security events ranging from the G-20 international 

economic summit held in Pittsburgh, Pa., in the fall of 2009, to national political conventions, presidential 

inaugurations and high-profile sports events like the Super Bowl and the All-Star Game. In addition to 

these short-term domestic assignments, NGA personnel serve at federal agencies for up to five years, 

working side by side with colleagues at the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency, the FBI, the Secret Service and other organizations to bring GEOINT to bear on 

critical issues within our borders.

Our people deploy globally to dangerous places to provide GEOINT analysis and tools to our servicemembers 

as they undertake complex missions—counterterrorism operations, building regional stability, combating 

piracy, building host-nation capacity, ensuring force protection, and supporting combat operations as well 

as non-combat operations such as the International Security Assistance Force’s Provincial Reconstruction 

Teams in Afghanistan. These NGA personnel are volunteers. They don’t have to accept this challenge; they 

choose to. Their individual commitment makes NGA the leader in delivering the forward-deployed GEOINT 

that protects the lives of our warfighters and enables mission success.

Experience shows that the most effective way to fully exploit the power and capability of GEOINT is to take 

it to the mission space, whether at the Department of Homeland Security or on the dusty and dangerous 

terrain of Afghanistan. This is how the people of NGA meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Robert B. Murrett

Vice Admiral, USN

Director
Contents

2 Letter to Our Readers

3 Up Front:

Deployers Impress Army Intelligence Officer

4 Up Front:

NGA Supports Haiti Earthquake Recovery Efforts

›› F E A T U R E S

5 Agency Aids Agribusiness Development in 

Afghanistan

6 GEOINT Modernization Improves Sinai 

Observers’ Operations

8 Analysts Deploy for SOUTHCOM Missions

10 Shiprider Analysts Serve at Sea

12 G-20 Summit Security Draws on GEOINT

14 Psychological Services Program Addresses 

Deployers’ Concerns

16 NGA Family Puts Deployment First

›› D E P A R T M E N T S

18 Viewpoint: 

Human Terrain Analysis Seeks Deeper Cultural 

Comprehension

20 Partnerships:

Visiting Scientists Enrich Agency’s Research

22 Our Heritage:

Forward Deployed and Out in the Bush

Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010 ›› Vol.8 No. 1

On the Cover

In today’s global climate, deployers are often associated with uniformed 

men and women, preparing for combat along the turbulent frontlines of 

Iraq or Afghanistan. But behind the scenes, both in theater and beyond, 

another type of deployer exists—civilian men and women who represent 

a work force committed to its mission of providing geospatial intelligence 

around the world. Whether in support of the warfighter or humanitarian 

missions in Haiti and elsewhere, NGA deployed personnel represent 

the best of the best, facing the toughest issues of an operational 

environment and providing indispensable expertise to ensure mission 

success. When the mission calls, NGA’s deployers stand ready. Photos 

courtesy of DOD. Landsat imagery courtesy of NASA Goddard Space 

Flight Center and U.S. Geological Survey. Background map by NGA. Cover 

design by Richard Hardwick.

More to the Story?

The online Classified Pathfinder, which is accessible 

by members of the Intelligence Community, may include additional information and expanded sections 

of some Pathfinder articles. The Classified Pathfinder 

provides a forum for reading and discussing topics at 

the level of “Unclassified//For Official Use Only” and 

higher. For information, please contact the Classified 

Pathfinder editor, Muridith Winder, at (301) 227-7370.

18

1 Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

8

12 18
2 Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

Letter to Our Readers

Bringing GEOINT to the Field

In today’s technological world, many functions 

that once required a human presence can 

now be performed remotely from a different 

facility, city, country or continent. Locations can 

be mapped, resources evaluated and enemy 

targets struck from hundreds if not thousands 

of miles away. However, technology can never 

fully replace the advantage of being present. In 

the heat of battle, in the midst of a disaster or 

during a critical operation, a physical presence 

and an immediate response are invaluable.

NGA understands this need and the benefits 

of embedding its personnel in deployed locations with military and civil mission 

partners to ensure we provide the most accurate and effective geospatial 

intelligence, or GEOINT, needed for fast-paced, real-world operations. Whether 

within the United States or abroad, mission partners have ready access to 

GEOINT experts who routinely answer difficult questions quickly and effectively, 

establishing the geospatial foundation of whatever intelligence problem they 

face. These experts also know where and how to reach back to others within 

NGA to ensure we are delivering the best GEOINT.

This issue of the Pathfinder illustrates the breadth of NGA’s global reach by 

discussing how deployed and externally assigned team members bring GEOINT 

expertise to the field through temporary deployments, long-term assignments 

and a variety of support teams. Whether members are enhancing efforts to 

maintain peace in the Sinai, develop viable agribusiness in Afghanistan or 

protect world leaders visiting the United States, the work of agency professionals 

who serve in this way does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. Expressions 

of gratitude for NGA’s embedded personnel and the GEOINT they bring to the 

issues globally are frequent.

To those who deploy, NGA provides essential support services and round-theclock access to NGA resources, demonstrating the agency’s commitment to the 

mission, its partners and its personnel, wherever they may be. 

 Jennifer A. K. Daniel

 Director, Office of Corporate Communications

2 Pathfinder ›› November/December 2009 

Published by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

Office of Corporate Communications

4600 Sangamore Road, Mail Stop D-39

Bethesda, MD 20816-5003

Telephone: (301) 227-7388, DSN 287-7388

E-mail: pathfinder@nga.mil

Director

Vice Adm. Robert B. Murrett, U.S. Navy

Deputy Director

Lloyd Rowland

Office of Corporate Communications, Director

Jennifer A. K. Daniel

Public Affairs, Chief

Karen A. Finn

Editor

Jason K. Michas

Associate Editor

Laura L. Lundin

Art Editor

Carmella Bender

Graphic Designer 

Richard Hardwick

Contributing Authors

Kurt B.

Leah C.

Helen Chapman

Joanna D.

Roger G.

Chris K.

Dr. Meredith K. 

Laura Lundin

Ty M.

Susan Meisner

Kenneth O.

Sally S.

Matthew W.

Dr. Gary E. Weir

SUBMISSIONS

The Office of Corporate Communications accepts articles of 

geospatial intelligence community-wide interest for consideration. 

Articles are edited for style, content and length. Submit articles by 

e-mail to pathfinder@nga.mil.

The Pathfinder is the National Geospatial-Intelligence 

Agency publication that promotes public awareness and 

understanding of geospatial intelligence. The Pathfinder is an 

authorized Department of Defense publication for members 

of the Department of Defense. Contents of this publica­tion ar

not necessarily the official view of, or endorsed by, the U.S. 

government, Department of Defense or NGA. Articles in the 

Pathfinder may be reproduced in whole or in part without permission, unless stated otherwise. If reproduced, credit the author 

and the “National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the Pathfinder 

magazine.” Any reproduction of graphics, photographs and imagery 

is subject to the original copyright.

2 Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010
3 Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

Up Front

Deployers Impress Army Intelligence Officer

By Matthew W.

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has a long

history of providing the best geospatial support to U.S. 

and allied forces across the globe. It is always welcome 

to hear about the efforts and exploits of the agency’s 

deployed personnel from a mission partner’s perspective. 

That is the story I’d like to tell: NGA’s support to my unit 

before I joined NGA.

As a U.S. Army intelligence officer in Iraq, I was assigned as the collection manager for Multi-National 

Division–Baghdad from 2006 to 2008. During my tour, I 

relied heavily on the NGA deployers not only for the custom geospatial intelligence products they provided, but 

also for their diverse expertise in the intelligence field. 

Through their detailed knowledge of my area of operation 

and mission, NGA deployers often anticipated my needs 

for maps and imagery and provided finished products to 

support key tactical operations. Their efforts allowed me 

to concentrate on the tasking and management of the 

other intelligence disciplines.

NGA’s ability to foresee and provide these resources 

maximized my unit’s ability to support the troops and, 

most assuredly, saved lives on the battlefield. On one 

occasion, NGA deployers supplied highly accurate 

geospatial analysis of Sadr City in Baghdad. This was a 

dangerous area for troops, and, due to cultural and political concerns, GEOINT was one of the only means available 

to collect intelligence. The difficulty of collecting the 

intelligence did not, however, diminish the need for it. At 

this time, Sadr City functioned as a safe haven for Shia 

extremists, allowing them the freedom of movement they 

needed to plan and launch attacks against coalition forces. Often, coalition forces could determine the sources of 

attacks and the locations of high-value targets, but not 

with sufficient accuracy to launch a counterattack while 

avoiding civilian casualties. NGA’s ability to provide the 

coalition with detailed and timely intelligence of a denied 

area greatly contributed to our situational awareness and 

resulted, in part, in a 50 percent overall reduction in attacks during my tour.

NGA’s professionalism and ability so impressed me that 

when my time in the Army came to an end, NGA was the 

agency I wanted to join. Through my experiences, I realized that although NGA deployers don’t necessarily wear 

a uniform, they nonetheless support and defend the nation like those who do. I’m proud to be a part of an agency 

with such a renowned reputation of support to the United 

States, its allies and the Intelligence Community.

3 Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

Matthew W. is a staff officer in NGA’s Office of 

Geospatial Intelligence Management. He served 

with the U.S. Army for seven years.

NGA deployers supplied coalition forces with geospatial analysis of Sadr 

City in Baghdad, a denied area, helping to greatly reduce attacks.

.

DOD Photo
4 Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

4 Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

NGA Supports Haiti Earthquake Recovery Efforts

By Susan Meisner

Up Front

Susan Meisner is a public affairs officer in the 

Office of Corporate Communications.

Haitian citizens remain in the street afraid or unable to return to their homes after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake caused severe damage Jan. 12, 2010. 

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has been

supporting the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Agency for 

International Development, the U.S. Southern Command 

and the Department of Homeland Security with analysis, 

unclassified commercial satellite imagery and geospatial 

intelligence products of the Haitian areas devastated by 

the Jan. 12 earthquake. 

In addition, NGA has provided GEOINT products 

to supported agencies, including graphics of major 

infrastructure and damage assessments, which provide 

a common operating picture and greatly assist first 

responders and relief efforts.

“We’re looking at infrastructure and force protection 

and producing products for the Command,” said Thomas 

M., director, NGA Support Team to SOUTHCOM. “We are 

prepared to send analysts into the region to provide 

support on-site.”

NGA has also provided public access to some of its 

geospatial intelligence products, including imagery and 

maps, as they have become available via NGA’s crisis 

response portal, NGA-Earth, www.nga-earth.org, a satellite 

imagery and map viewer. The site provides links to other 

federal agency sites and is updated as new geospatial 

intelligence products are made available. 

USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance is leading 

U.S. disaster relief efforts, and SOUTHCOM will serve a 

supporting role to its efforts.

DOD Photo
5 Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency deployers 

in Afghanistan are supporting the U.S. military 

Agribusiness Development Teams’ mission to expand 

reconstruction efforts in the country with an eye toward 

providing farmers an alternative to joining insurgents. 

With roughly 85 percent of the nation’s inhabitants being 

farmers, ADT soldiers assist with many projects aimed 

at stabilizing and furthering Afghanistan’s reemerging 

agribusiness sector. In coordination with the Ministries 

of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, these U.S. Army 

National Guard units from multiple U.S. states train and 

advise Afghan universities, provincial ministries and 

local farmers, focusing on infrastructure areas such as 

production, storage, processing and education.

After becoming aware of the ADTs and their mission in 

Afghanistan, the NGA Data Management Team, located at 

Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, offered its GEOINT services. 

The NGA team began learning about the ADTs, focusing 

on two with members from the Kentucky and Kansas 

National Guard units located in Bagram and Forwarding 

Operating Base Mehtar Lam, respectively. Initial ADT 

GEOINT inquiries included, “There is a soldier in Kentucky 

that wants to come over ... and be a liaison to the GIS 

[geographic information system] resource in country, 

but we need a legitimate reason as to why we need this 

position and how it can benefit us” and “How do I provide 

layer edits back to NGA, and is there a focal point for 

geospatial coordination in country?”

Addressing such GEOINT inquiries aligns with the 

NGA team’s role to support the National System for 

Geospatial Intelligence community in Afghanistan. 

The team’s goal is to make GEOINT discoverable, 

accessible, interoperable, maintainable and sustainable 

for NSG partners, including the unanticipated user. To 

accomplish this goal, the DMT focuses on integration, 

data operations and workflow management.

GEOINT integration efforts with the Kentucky and 

Kansas ADTs first involved visiting their sites to learn 

about them. By physically observing the ADTs in their 

operational environments, DMT members understood the 

network connectivity issues, classification environment, 

embedded ADT GEOINT analysis experience, current data 

holdings, software and hardware configurations and 

desired output products.

Agency Aids Agribusiness Development in Afghanistan

By Chris K.

After completing these site visits, the DMT supplied 

unclassified GEOINT data on external hard drives 

containing both imagery and vector data for ADTs to use 

as foundation data for generating their products. One 

example of a Kansas ADT-created GEOINT product depicts 

a breakdown of crop plots within a planned demonstration 

farm in Mehtar Lam region. The underlying imagery used, 

from the Army’s airborne Buckeye platform, was delivered 

via hard drive. The demonstration crops and GEOINT 

product help teach local farmers about a variety of growing 

methods and enable them to try different techniques in 

their own fields.

In addition to providing data via hard drives, the DMT 

briefed the ADTs about GEOINT capabilities available 

in country and documented the current network and 

connectivity issues associated with accessing these 

capabilities. Also, the DMT gathered ADT GEOINT data 

requirements such as currency, resolution, formats and 

classification, all of which will aid in the development 

of GEOINT workflow processes for ADTs and other NSG 

community partners.

Continued GEOINT collaboration with 

the ADTs and other reconstruction 

efforts will become an 

increasingly important activity 

in Afghanistan. By stabilizing 

the agriculture industry and 

enabling farmers to not only 

survive but eventually profit, 

officials hope to give militaryage Afghan men viable 

skills solving Afghanistan’s 

infrastructure needs rather 

than fighting alongside antigovernment forces.

5Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

DOD Photo

Kentucky National Guardsmen serving 

with an Agribusiness Development Team 

assist villagers taking soil samples in 

Afghanistan. NGA deployers are helping 

ADTs to stabilize the country’s reemerging 

agribusiness sector.

Chris K. is a member of the 

NGA Support Team at U.S. Joint 

Forces Command. He recently 

deployed to Afghanistan as a 

data manager.
6Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

Organizations routinely identify areas in which they can

improve their effectiveness. For the Multinational Force 

and Observers, one area of improvement was geospatial 

intelligence. A memorandum of agreement with the 

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and short-term 

deployments by NGA analysts have provided these 

needed improvements.

Established in 1981 with the signing of the Protocol to 

the 1979 Egyptian–Israeli Treaty of Peace, the MFO is 

an international, non-UN organization responsible for 

peacekeeping in the Sinai. The mission of the force is to 

observe, report and verify Egypt and Israel’s compliance with 

the provisions of the treaty, ensure freedom of navigation 

through the Strait of Tiran and prevent treaty violations.

The MFO has dutifully satisfied its mission for more 

than 28 years despite having maps of the Sinai Peninsula 

created in the early 1970s and being prohibited from 

using GPS when recording an observation of a potential 

treaty violation. In addition to the outdated maps, each 

participating nation’s troops rotate every six months to 

a year, taking with them institutional knowledge that is 

often not well documented.

GEOINT Modernization Improves Sinai 

Observers’ Operations

By Kenneth O.

Starting with a 2000 MOA with the then National 

Imagery and Mapping Agency and subsequent MOA 

extensions in 2007 and 2009 with NGA, the agency 

produced 39 new 1:100,000 scale Topographic Line 

Maps covering the Sinai and provided the MFO with the 

corresponding digital data. Additionally, NGA provided 

the force with technical guidance on the purchase of 

appropriate geographic information systems to use the 

softcopy data. To ensure the success of this new GEOINT 

capability, NGA deployed a GEOINT analyst on two 30-

day rotations to MFO North Camp to train MFO on the use 

of their new GIS software and digital data.

With the technical guidance and training of the 

deployed analyst and the new NGA mapping data, 

the MFO was able to address the force’s incomplete 

situational awareness picture of the past. The force 

produced four new, MFO-specific maps that depicted the 

entire Sinai and the three MFO operational areas. These 

maps included peace treaty zone boundaries, all MFO 

deployed locations, resupply routes and unexploded 

ordnance areas. Additionally, the MFO produced road 

atlases that included all the information found on the 

6Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010
7 Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

situational awareness maps and information about MFOspecific speed limits, radio frequency usage, radio report 

points and emergency contacts. 

These new products proved significant during the spring 

of 2007 when a team of civilian observers conducting 

their biweekly road mission encountered a flooded road. 

Because the new situational awareness products had not 

been produced yet and its maps did not show any other 

roads in the area, the team was forced to either backtrack 

100 miles or cross the flooded road. The team chose to 

cross the road and completed its mission successfully. 

However, once the new products were provided, the team 

realized that the flooded road was surrounded by areas 

of unexploded ordnance that could have washed onto 

the road during the flood. Additionally, the new maps 

showed that much shorter alternative routes had been 

available to the team.

In March 2008, the deployed NGA analyst assigned 

to MFO North Camp demonstrated the utility of the 

GIS software and new mapping data during a real-life 

situation involving an overturned MFO resupply vehicle 

in a remote location. The report received by the Force 

Operations Center included a geographic coordinate 

and the name of the route on which the vehicle was 

traveling. Unfortunately, the name did not match any 

routes familiar to the FOC. The battalion responsible 

for patrolling that area had recently changed the route 

names, and the new names had not yet reached the FOC.

Using the geographic coordinate to locate the resupply 

vehicle also presented challenges because the force did 

not maintain a centralized index of its maps. Typically in 

such situations, once maps of the area were located, they 

would be taped together and photocopied to produce a 

complete map of the crash location. This could take up to 

an hour to complete, slowing medevac operations.

The onsite NGA analyst input the geographic coordinate 

directly into the GIS software and identified the location 

of the crash. Using the new NGA digital TLMs, the analyst 

produced a custom map of the crash location and 

provided copies for the medevac teams – all within 10 

minutes. Both the driver and navigator in the resupply 

vehicle sustained only minor injuries due in part to the 

rapid reaction enabled by the deployed GEOINT analyst.

According to Maj. Gen. K. Narve Ludvigsen, MFO 

Force Commander, “[NGA] was able to bring the MFO 

substantially into a new era of mapping technology.” 

Now the MFO is “much better equipped to accurately 

locate military equipment, conduct expeditious search 

and rescue, and provide better security for MFO 

movements throughout the Sinai.”

7 Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

Kenneth O. is a geospatial intelligence 

analyst in the Office of Central and 

Southwest Asia.

Deployed NGA analysts provided GEOINT 

training to Multinational Force and Observers 

peacekeepers in the Sinai Peninsula.

Photo by Getty Images
8Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Support

Team at the U.S. Southern Command is actively engaged 

in the real-world operations of its mission partners by 

embedding deployed analysts with U.S. troops and 

providing the critical geospatial intelligence, or GEOINT, 

critical for mission success.

In the past year, the support team has provided GEOINT 

for 10 short-notice intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations for countries in SOUTHCOM’s area 

of responsibility. 

“More and more, we are asked to provide GEOINT support to our partners,” said Thomas M., director of the 

SOUTHCOM NST. “Once they realize the true power of 

GEOINT to help solve their intelligence challenges, they 

can’t get enough.”

Analysts assigned to the NST have been deployed for a 

variety of missions ranging from search-and-rescue operations to technology expertise and are routinely deploying at the request of the command for operations and 

exercises as an integrated GEOINT partner. One example 

of this integrated approach is demonstrated by NGA personnel working to support ISR operations and exercises 

for U.S. embassies and the multiservice, multiagency 

Tactical Analysis Teams stationed with them, increasing 

the amount of analysis and number of products provided.

Using a Beechcraft B-200 King Air aircraft equipped with 

an electro-optical and infrared sensor, GEOINT analysts 

receive softcopy data from various missions and perform 

Analysts Deploy for SOUTHCOM Missions

analysis on laptop computers provided by NGA’s Expeditionary Operations Directorate. The captured GEOINT data 

includes EO and IR full-motion video and still photos from 

a digital framing camera.

For one recent mission, which consisted of two days of 

flight operations over 26 areas, the analysts examined 

more than three hours of video and more than 1,600 still 

images. As a result, NGA’s analysts produced 34 images 

and seven geospatial products within hours after data delivery and quickly disseminated the final products to the 

TAT and analysts at SOUTHCOM headquarters as well as to 

U.S. Embassy staff for eventual release to the host nation.

In January 2009, team members deployed to the island 

of Curacao to support the Naval Research Laboratory’s 

P-3 collection aircraft during the Rampant Lion II aerial 

survey. This mission focused on mapping and imaging 

the north and west coasts of Colombia and resulted in 

more than 1.8 terabytes of data. 

NGA, SOUTHCOM, the Naval Oceanographic Office 

and several military elements analyzed and exploited 

the collected data. This collaboration enhanced the 

understanding of the terrain and coastal areas and will be 

used to conduct riverine studies and create 3- to 10-meter 

digital elevation models that were previously limited to 

30 meters.

By Kurt B.

8Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010
9Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

the Unified Geospatial-Intelligence Operations concept 

of operations to ensure all GEOINT requirements are 

met. UGO emphasizes coordinated GEOINT alignment 

throughout the Intelligence Community.

“It is only through the support of our UGO partners that 

we are able to respond as quickly as we do to the numerous requests for ISR support,” said the SOUTHCOM NST 

director. “It is essential that we continue to strengthen 

these relationships as we continue to codify the processes of the UGO to provide GEOINT support to our national 

and international partners.”

The SOUTHCOM NST is just one example of NGA’s 

deployed analysts providing critical GEOINT products on 

a global scale, empowering the nation’s military commanders with the analysis and tools that help shape the 

decisions affecting the battlefront to ensure the success 

of each and every mission.

Kurt B. is the chief of staff for the 

NGA Support Team at the U.S. 

Southern Command.

Members of the NGA Support Team at the U.S. 

Southern Command deployed to Curacao to 

support the Naval Research Laboratory during 

the Rampant Lion II aerial survey. The NRL 

operated a P-3 Orion aircraft during the survey.

DOD Photo

The team not only offers support to deployed operations, but also provides technical support to the command. One technical effort addressed the challenges 

associated with ISR deployments. SOUTHCOM required 

the deployment of a Foliage Penetrating, or FOPEN, asset 

in a location that presented major technical challenges 

that could have prevented deployment. The integrated 

team developed a plan that overcame the technical 

difficulties and focused on the WATCH-IT system as a 

solution. This system can be deployed and used by 

personnel in the field to perform imagery analysis in 

remote locations to exploit FOPEN data. As a result, the 

NST is leading the effort for permanent integration of the 

deployable WATCH-IT system for use by the command 

when and where necessary.

As has been demonstrated, the SOUTHCOM NST and its 

mission partners are part of an integrated team championing the use of GEOINT and the role that it provides in 

addressing current and future challenges. A nimble, fastacting deployment capability is crucial for successfully 

providing GEOINT to meet the command’s mission objectives. As a result, the NST has created an indigenous 

“deployment capability” that includes every member of 

the team. The NST is also leveraging its partners under 

9Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010
10Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is actively

deployed on land in faraway parts of the world; however, 

not all deployments these days involve enduring hot 

weather, wearing combat gear and living in tents. For 

NGA’s geospatial intelligence analysts in the Shiprider 

Program, working away from home is more likely to involve wearing deck shoes, adjusting to motion sickness 

and trying to stay dry.

Several times a year, NGA deploys GEOINT analysts 

from the Office of Global Navigation, Maritime Services, 

to work onboard U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office survey 

vessels as part of the joint NGA–NAVOCEANO Shiprider 

Program. During trips that last several weeks, the analysts serve with NAVOCEANO scientists collecting the 

depth measurements of the ocean floor that make up 

bathymetry data.

Bathymetric Surveys

In a bathymetric survey, detailed depth data is collected remotely over swaths of the ocean floor, similar 

to gathering information over land with a satellite. 

However, where one satellite picture can cover a huge 

swath of the Earth, accurate bathymetric data can be collected only in small segments by surveying the seafloor 

with a ship or, in shallow clear waters, with a plane and 

Shiprider Analysts Serve at Sea

By Leah C.

specific lasers, making collection a time- and resourceintensive process.

To begin a shipboard survey, a conductivity, temperature and density (CTD) probe is lowered almost to 

the seafloor to measure the temperature and salinity 

throughout the water column. As the survey ship moves 

along, multibeam sonar transmits pulses of sound and 

“listens” for the sound to return. The depth is computed 

based on the sound speed and how quickly the sound 

travels to the ocean bottom and back. However, the 

sound speed can change depending on the composition 

and temperature of the water. A quality sound speed 

profile is key to forming or steering the individual sonar 

beams to get an accurate measure of the water depth. A 

profile created from the CTD data is therefore fed into the 

sonar to correct for any variations.

The sound speed profile is regularly adjusted for current 

conditions using expendable Bathymetric Temperature 

probes. XBTs are dropped off the stern of the ship at 

regular intervals or when changes in the water composition vary enough that it is deemed necessary. For 

example, when crossing into a different body of water 

or a current, the values change dramatically, and it is 

important to apply current values as soon as possible. 

The temperature profile from the XBT is merged with 

10Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010
11Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

the salinities calculated from the CTDs to generate a 

new sound speed profile, which is then used until the 

next XBT is dropped. Other data is collected about currents and bioluminescence. Collection of the data also 

depends on many factors that the surveyors must take 

into account. NGA shipriders participate throughout all 

aspects of these surveys.

As part of the verification that occurs at the end of a 

survey, known soundings for the area from charts and 

NGA’s Digital Nautical Chart are compared to the survey 

soundings. Areas of significant differences are noted so 

that only the most recent and accurate data are trusted. 

The data is then sent electronically to the NAVOCEANO 

facility at Stennis Space Center, Miss., for validation.

Mutual Advantages

Working together through the Shiprider Program, both 

NAVOCEANO and NGA benefit. With an NGA analyst 

aboard, NAVOCEANO scientists gain an up-close understanding of the data NGA needs to compile a chart. The 

analyst can apprise NAVOCEANO personnel of agency 

information that NAVOCEANO can use in planning or 

performing a survey. The ship’s navigation officers also 

have immediate access to an expert on NGA products 

and procedures including Digital Nautical Chart, Notice 

11Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

to Mariners, the Worldwide Navigational Warning Service 

and other NGA resources.

NGA, which uses the survey data to compile and 

update nautical charts, initiated participation in the 

Shiprider Program years ago for closer collaboration 

with NAVOCEANO. NGA uses the data from the surveys in 

a variety of maritime navigation systems and products. 

NGA analysts get a firsthand look at survey data collection and limitations, as well as experience using and 

depending on NGA’s nautical products. NGA’s Shiprider 

participants broaden their career skills by assisting the 

NAVOCEANO scientists with tasks such as survey line 

planning, data processing and multibeam sonar calibrations to correct for motion.

Onboard living conditions are those typical for anyone 

at sea, with little space or privacy, and the ships are at 

sea for the entire survey period with little opportunity 

to visit an exciting port of call. Yet for NGA’s analysts, 

serving time in the Shiprider Program is the chance of a 

career to work with one of the agency’s military hydrographic partners.

Leah C. is a nautical cartographic analyst 

within Maritime Services. She deployed 

with the Shiprider Program in 2009.

NGA analysts deploy onboard U.S. Naval 

Oceanographic Office survey vessels as part of 

the Shiprider Program.

DOD Photo
12Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

When world leaders met at the G-20 Summit in 

Pittsburgh, Pa., on Sept. 24 and 25, 2009, to discuss 

global economic issues, the National GeospatialIntelligence Agency, at the request of the U.S. Secret 

Service, deployed onsite to serve with other government 

organizations protecting the leaders from harm. The 

summit’s designation as a National Security Special 

Event required NGA’s geospatial intelligence for 

situational awareness and event planning at the David L. 

Lawrence Convention Center, the site of the summit.

Known as the G-20 Summit, the Group of Twenty 

was established in 1999 to regularly convene leaders 

to discuss worldwide economic issues. While the 

Pittsburgh summit’s participants discussed recovery 

from the current global economic and financial crisis, 

the summit’s security officials harnessed the power 

of GEOINT developed by NGA’s Office of the Americas 

G-20 Summit Security Draws on GEOINT

By Ty M.

and the Department of Homeland Security’s Critical 

Infrastructure Division.

Eleven analysts and other NGA personnel deployed 

to five command posts throughout the mid-Atlantic 

region. The geographically dispersed locations 

included the Federal Emergency Management Agency 

Emergency Operations Center, the U.S. Secret Service 

Protective Intelligence Command Center, the FBI Joint 

Operations Center, the Multi-Agency Command Center 

and the Tactical Operations Center, a multiagency crisis 

response post.

Most command posts were staffed by two analysts, 

each working an average of 13-hour days to ensure that 

government mission partners received GEOINT prior to and 

during the event. Analysts employed a full array of NGA 

software and services to produce mission-specific products. 

Products included large-scale graphics of the security zones 

12Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010
13Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

and restrictions associated with the G-20 Summit, shape 

files of the approved protestor march routes and commercial 

imagery shots of the events. The products were distributed 

to mission partners to aid in planning.

NGA supplied each command center with a GEOINTbased common operating picture that incorporated 

situational awareness information and allowed for 

near-real time event monitoring and tracking. Analysts 

input event information obtained through the monitoring 

of event logs, radio callouts and video feeds into NGA’s 

PalanterraTM Web system, which creates an exportable 

layer file that can be overlaid and viewed by applications 

such as Google EarthTM. This product increased the 

situational awareness of security and emergency 

response personnel and encouraged collaborative 

decision making on critical issues.

Just as the Pittsburgh G-20 Summit leaders 

collaborated on how to progress toward a sound and 

sustainable recovery from the global financial and 

economic crisis, NGA and its deployed personnel 

collaborated with federal, state and local mission 

partners responsible for securing the summit. This 

important international meeting highlighted the power 

of GEOINT to visualize the intelligence needed to ensure 

national and homeland security.

Ty M. is a geospatial intelligence analyst 

in the Office of the Americas.

David L. Lawrence Convention Center

Photo by Gateway Clipper/VisitPittsburgh

13Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010
14Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

In the past six years, the National GeospatialIntelligence Agency’s commitment to providing cuttingedge geospatial intelligence support to its mission 

partners in the field has resulted in exponential growth 

in the size of the NGA deployer cadre. This change 

has been accompanied by increased awareness of 

the unique strains faced by deployers and their family 

members as a result of their time spent deployed in wartorn, crisis-affected, or underdeveloped locales. 

Given the potentially significant nature of these strains, 

NGA developed the Deployment Psychological Services 

Program in the fall of 2008 to provide consultation, 

screening and support services to personnel before, 

during and after deployment abroad.

Most deployers may never require such services, but 

the agency’s commitment to its deployed personnel 

demands that these services be available for those 

who may need them. The DPSP parallels deployment 

screening programs in place at other Intelligence 

Psychological Services Program Addresses 

Deployers’ Concerns

By Dr. Meredith K.

Community agencies and addresses relevant combatant 

command policies regarding psychological fitness for 

deployment and disqualifying psychiatric conditions.

The DPSP screening entails completion of a brief 

screening questionnaire prior to an individual semistructured interview with a licensed clinical psychologist 

prior to each deployment and within 30 days of the 

deployer’s return stateside. This individual contact 

before and after each deployment distinguishes the NGA 

program from others in the IC and reflects the agency’s 

commitment to mitigating and monitoring the personal 

and professional effects of deployment. An additional 

follow-up is conducted via pencil and paper screening 

within four to six months of the deployer’s return. The 

screening interviews tend to focus on issues related 

to emotional adjustment, medication status, family 

adjustment, personal stressors and any psychiatric, 

trauma, brain injury or substance use history.

Together, this information is considered in the context 

of the length and type of assignment, the location of the 

assignment, and the prevailing combatant command 

policies regarding psychological suitability in order to 

generate a recommendation regarding psychological 

readiness. In response to concerns about deployer 

privacy, the confidential screening process is designed 

to comply with prevailing legal and professional 

standards regarding the collection, management and 

storage of personal information. These safeguards have 

contributed to high levels of employee engagement in 

the screening process, as sessions often move beyond 

the clinical basics already mentioned to include frank 

discussions of personal challenges, professional 

frustrations, parenting issues and family concerns.

The screening sessions provide employees with the time 

and opportunity to identify, discuss and brainstorm any 

issues or concerns that may impact their personal or familial 

adjustment over the course of the deployment cycle. 

“The predeployment screening gave me the chance to 

discuss personal, family and job-related concerns that 

I’ve not previously shared with anyone in the workplace. 

I’m very thankful I had the opportunity to discuss 

14Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

Photo by Getty Images
15Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

and resolve these concerns prior to leaving for my 

deployment—it gave me such peace of mind,” said one 

first-time NGA deployer.

While the DPSP screening focuses on the deployers’ 

readiness to enter into and succeed in a given 

assignment based on their personal and psychological 

attributes, the program is also uniquely positioned 

to provide a full range of coordinated consultation, 

research and training services. The DPSP’s consultative 

efforts are designed to optimize deployer functioning 

in theater, minimize or mitigate personal and family 

strain, and increase organizational awareness of the 

psychological impact of deployment, reintegration and 

redeployment on employee well-being, productivity 

and satisfaction. In support of these goals, DPSP staff 

has developed and distributed educational materials to 

deployers, met with supervisors to brainstorm solutions 

for managing deployment-related challenges, provided 

support as needed to family members and deployers 

before, during and after deployment, and facilitated 

referrals to appropriate internal and external providers 

for ongoing care or counseling, such as the agency’s 

Employee Assistance Program. DPSP staff also meet 

quarterly with psychologists engaged in similar work 

across the IC to discuss emerging trends and research, 

identify shared problems and innovative solutions, and 

anticipate upcoming challenges.

“The inclusion of the pre- and post-deployment 

psychological debriefs has added another positive 

element to the support tools NGA provides to the 

deployers. It has given us another outlet to discuss and 

work through issues that may not have previously been 

available and may not have been uncovered,” said a 

veteran agency deployer. “The addition of this program 

15Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

shows that NGA goes beyond the basic care and feeding 

of their deployer personnel and shows they really care 

about their people!”

 The DPSP is also devoting time and attention to 

the collection of data regarding the personal and 

professional impact of deployment on civilian deployers 

to expand the limited research regarding the civilian 

deployment experience. These pilot research projects 

will provide much-needed information on the attributes 

of high-performing deployers; the type and severity of 

stressors commonly encountered before, during and 

after deployment; the impact of these stressors on the 

physical and emotional well-being of deployers; and 

the relationship between deployment, job satisfaction 

and job burnout. These projects will provide critical 

information regarding civilian deployment that will 

inform the delivery of deployer support services and will 

enhance the development and dissemination of training 

for employees and managers on caring for deployers.

The advantages of deployments, which place the 

agency front and center with its mission partners, can 

be obtained no other way. Consequently, the rigors 

and challenges faced by deployers must be addressed 

effectively. The DPSP’s commitment to deployer issues 

and the program’s ongoing research into the effects 

of deployments demonstrate NGA’s concern for its 

deployed personnel.

“I had the opportunity to 

discuss and resolve these 

concerns prior to leaving for my 

deployment—it gave me such 

peace of mind.”

Dr. Meredith K. is a clinical psychologist 

in the Security and Installation 

Operations Directorate.
16Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

NGA Family Puts Deployment First

By Helen Chapman and Laura Lundin

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s Volunteer

Deployment Team program provides an essential 

intelligence skill set to the warfighter while also 

providing significant opportunities for professional and 

personal growth to those analysts who deploy. 

According to NGA’s Expeditionary Operations office, “The 

NGA deployment program is a collaborative effort to improve 

upon the already-successful deployer process and increase 

the effectiveness of the deployed analytic work-force in their 

mission to bring GEOINT directly to the warfighter.”

Working in the operational environment while 

supporting the warfighter provides qualified NGA 

personnel an opportunity to use their expertise in a 

fast-paced, collaborative atmosphere supporting some 

of the toughest intelligence issues. The experience 

not only proves valuable to the warfighter but to the 

individual deployers themselves. For two such analysts, 

the benefits of these opportunities have far outweighed 

their expectations.

Chuck and Adrienne A., a married couple, have both 

deployed several times as part of NGA’s program. For 

them, deploying has become as much a part of their work 

lives as driving to work is for most of NGA’s employees. 

For Chuck, who has deployed four times in as many 

years, the sense of duty to country has played a major 

role in his participation in the program. “Someday I will 

be able to tell my kids that I helped make a difference—

that I made an important contribution to the safety of 

the men and women who serve in our armed forces 

protecting our country,” said Chuck.

Chuck began his career with NGA as a contractor 

before joining the government ranks as an analyst. He 

volunteered for deployment as soon as he qualified for 

the program, and the opportunity to deploy is one he 

believes all analysts should pursue. 

As Chuck points out, “Military commanders make 

decisions, but NGA’s deployed analysts play an 

important part,” he said. “We show them the GEOINT, 

the HUMINT [human intelligence], SIGINT [signals 

intelligence] and any other INT we can collaborate with, 

and often that visual piece can make a critical difference 

in what course they may choose to take.”

Deployed analysts offer an invaluable service to the 

warfighter by providing near-real-time operational 

support to military commanders in the field. Through this 

experience, analysts learn firsthand how their analysis 

and products affect the outcome of various situations 

and how they can improve analytical support to the 

mission. They also provide decisive feedback to NGA that 

can be used for strategic planning and future operations.

Additionally, deploying provides opportunities for 

professional growth. In Chuck’s case, he began his 

government career as an analyst. Within a few years, he 

had been promoted to a branch chief and now serves 

as a deputy division chief. Chuck strongly attributes his 

success to the analytical, personal and professional 

development gained through his deployment experiences.

In addition to the professional and pay incentives the 

deployment program offers, Chuck states that it is the 

personal benefits and the sense of purpose that drive 

him back to volunteering. “It is one thing to believe in 

what you do when you are sitting in the office back in 

D.C.,” said Chuck, “but when you see it up close, when 

you are right there with our nation’s bravest, using your 

critical thinking on the fly, using all your training and 

abilities to deliver a product that is needed right now, it 

is tremendously satisfying.”

“I never fully understood the impact that my analysis 

had and the critical role the NGA mission plays in the 

Intelligence Community until I was in the field,” said 

Adrienne. Like her husband, Adrienne champions the 

deployment experience for qualified NGA personnel and 

believes her own deployment experience allowed her to 

achieve greater professional and personal potential. 

“Intelligence is truly a collaborative effort in the 

field, and NGA’s products are highly valued by our 

troops,” said Adrienne. As an analyst, “you totally 

exceed the expectations you have for yourself. You 

16Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010
17Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

work in a high-stress, difficult situation, and you 

will find the best you have to offer. You will be more 

creative, quicker on your feet, and you will constantly 

amaze yourself at what you can do.”

The time a deployed NGA member spends in field can 

vary from four to 12 months, depending on the mission 

support needed, and can include locations worldwide, 

not just Iraq and Afghanistan.

17Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

Helen Chapman and Laura Lundin are 

public affairs officers in the Office of 

Corporate Communications.

Living quarters for deployed personnel vary.

Members of the NGA work-force who participate in these 

volunteering opportunities will have shaped the mission 

success of the warfighter and, as a result, will become 

the agency’s future leaders in part to due to expertise 

and knowledge they have gained through deploying.

Photo by Lou H.
18Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

Some eyewitness commentaries from the past have

a disturbingly contemporary feel. Even over time we 

can sense human nature at work, recognizing and 

understanding behaviors and reconstructing motives 

from past circumstances. Regardless of time or place, 

the human aspect of any crisis seems to speak to us as 

loudly as its physical context rendered on maps and in 

imagery. That human aspect can help us understand 

conflicts and find possible solutions over time through 

an understanding of the people and cultures involved. 

In many cases, we can feel the density and sheer weight 

of the past resisting change, while at the same time we 

immediately realize that an understanding of the local 

culture may reveal the best ways to introduce innovation 

and social alternatives. If we achieve truly effective 

cultural understanding, we become part of that heritage, 

acquiring a virtual citizenship we never really lose. 

Intelligence analysts have long sought and frequently 

achieved that status. Thus, the quest to recognize and 

appreciate the value of the human terrain is not new.

Success in conflict has always required this kind of 

knowledge. The only female regional expert and analyst 

with the British in the Near East before and during 

World War I wrote the following presently familiar lines 

postwar, as she helped define modern Iraq:

Human Terrain Analysis Seeks Deeper 

Cultural Comprehension

By Sally S. and Dr. Gary E. Weir

Gertrude Bell sent these words back to England from 

the defunct Ottoman Empire on March 14, 1920. Bell 

was the first woman to graduate with a degree in history 

from Oxford University. She brought her expertise in near 

It’s a problem here how to get into touch with 

the Shiahs, not the tribal people in the country; 

we’re on intimate terms with all of them, but 

the grimly devout citizens of the holy towns 

and more especially the leaders of religious 

opinion, the Mujtahids, who can loose and bind 

with a word ... in an atmosphere which reeks of 

antiquity and is so thick with the dust of ages 

that you can’t see through it ... Chief among 

them are a family called Sadr, possibly more 

distinguished for religious learning than any 

other family in the whole Shiah world ....

Viewpoint

eastern history, language and culture into British Army 

intelligence in the early years of World War I.

A colleague of T.E. Lawrence, later Lawrence of Arabia, 

Bell found work as a highly valued, resident regional 

expert who had literally experienced her account on 

foot. She taught herself Persian and first travelled to 

Iran in 1892. She walked and rode camels through Iran, 

visited Jerusalem in 1897, knew Syria well, and with the 

advent of war joined the Arab Bureau. 

Largely a collection of scholars and archaeologists 

led by reserve Lt. Cmdr. D.G. Hogarth, Royal Navy, 

of Oxford University, the bureau worked covertly for 

army intelligence. These men and women possessed 

the local knowledge of geography, language, culture, 

religion and tribal politics that the leadership of the 

Army lacked—what we might now call an appreciation of 

human terrain.

Unlike Lawrence, Bell avoided battle and through sheer 

diplomacy and force of will introduced herself to many 

of the most important native regional leaders of the day 

and won the right to move among them as a consultant 

and an influential member of the British administration. 

In 1917, when the British took Baghdad, she became 

secretary to Sir Percy Cox, the appointed British 

Commissioner. Bell contributed to the composition of 

Iraq from the remnants of the old Ottoman regions of 

Mosul, Baghdad and Basra and earned the title Khatun, 

or fine lady, from many of the regional leaders and 

village people. Her knowledge enabled her to remain 

British, while becoming as immersed as possible in Arab 

culture. While British Iraq contained a volatile mix of 

tribes, tensions and divisions, her cultural knowledge 

enabled the British to exercise extensive control over the 

region. An increasingly influential figure, Bell wrote to 

her father in 1921 that “I had a well-spent morning at the 

office making out the southern desert frontier of Iraq.” 

She had a profound and largely positive effect, which 

many in the region still remember.

Human terrain analysis obviously served an important 

purpose for Bell and the British in the Great War. 

More recently, various contemporary special forces 
19Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

management, systems engineering and contracting 

support to the pilot project, which will, in turn, inform the 

requirements for NGA’s future enterprise architecture. 

The Source Operations and Management Directorate will 

look to the pilot project as an opportunity to develop 

further the regional analyst occupation and to generate 

strategies for meeting additional data priorities. The Joint 

Operations Integration Office is also actively supporting 

the collaboration, focusing on requirements coordination, 

programmatic support for enterprise development and 

collaborative outreach to Intelligence Community partners 

and subject matter experts.

As human terrain emphasizes the practical significance 

of cultural knowledge, so too will the success of this 

time-honored analytical skill at the agency depend on the 

support from every aspect of the NGA community and its 

culture. Gertrude Bell would certainly have recognized 

the importance of human terrain, its vital role in resolving 

conflict and the need to elevate an understanding of the 

human environment to the same status as the desire 

to appreciate the physical environment affecting any 

conflict. The Human Terrain Analysis Pilot Project will help 

NGA attain these goals and bring an eternal skill to bear 

against contemporary threats.

Sally S. is the Analysis and Production 

Directorate lead for NGA’s Human 

Terrain Analysis Pilot Project and the 

tradecraft executive for NGA’s Office of 

Counterterrorism. 

Dr. Gary E. Weir is the NGA historian.

A human terrain team speaks with an Afghan villager. Drawing from current 

practitioners, NGA has embarked on a Human Terrain Analysis Pilot Project 

to complement the agency’s existing geospatial intelligence capability.

contingents have already acquired experience with 

analytic methodologies, drawing upon a variety of 

academic disciplines, operational lessons learned and 

multiple intelligence and data sources related to local 

cultures and social norms. In addition, NGA’s Geospatial 

Preparation of the Environment, published in June 

2006, provided the analytic framework to include this 

type of analysis in the development of the agency’s 

geospatial intelligence products. Seemingly the agency 

lacked only an initiative that would integrate all of these 

elements into a unified human terrain capability at 

the enterprise level. Such an endeavor would naturally 

illuminate a number of architectural, infrastructure, data 

management and training challenges. NGA has now 

addressed this need.

Drawing first upon the experience and lessons learned 

from current practitioners of human terrain analysis, 

NGA has embarked upon a Human Terrain Analysis 

Pilot Project to understand what it will take to develop 

an analytic tradecraft that complements the agency’s 

existing GEOINT capability. The Human Terrain Analysis 

Pilot Project initiated this process by documenting 

workflows, defining requirements, assessing tools and 

techniques and building and evaluating a prototype 

capability to acquire, manipulate, store, analyze and 

create human terrain data and products. This effort must 

also identify ways to permit the expansion of human 

terrain analysis across the NGA enterprise. Improving 

architectural speed and agility as well as human 

analytical capability will play a critical role in meeting 

this challenge.

Human terrain analysis must evolve as a collective 

effort. A collaborative approach will help ensure 

that this capability matures in alignment with NGA’s 

strategic intent and in concert with the capabilities and 

expectations of NGA’s partners.

Initially, implementation of the pilot recommendations 

will begin by employing the InnoVision Directorate’s 

Geospatial-Intelligence Advancement Testbed to provide 

a risk-tolerant environment for the evaluation of new 

tools and methods. The NGA College will work with 

tradecraft officers and experts in analytical methods 

from the Analysis and Production Directorate and Source 

Operations and Management Directorate to identify and 

address training shortfalls in the analyst curriculum. 

The Acquisition Directorate will provide program 

DOD photo
20Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

Collaboration between the National Geospatial-Intelligence

Agency and its mission partners provides fresh ideas and 

leverages diverse experiences, as NGA’s deployed and 

externally assigned personnel consistently demonstrate. 

Programs that allow partners to “deploy” to NGA facilities 

also capitalize on the value of collaboration. 

The InnoVision Directorate’s Basic Research Office 

integrates scientists directly into NGA’s research and 

development workspaces through the Visiting Scientist 

Program. This program allows scientists to work alongside 

NGA scientists for three to 12 months to gain unique 

insight into the agency’s challenges and receive hands-on 

experience with the data and tools NGA employs.

The VSP provides selected individuals with the security 

access required to involve them fully in NGA research. 

According to the program manager, the program has already 

paid dividends to the cause of research and development. 

The visiting scientists focus on geospatial intelligence 

solutions to real-world intelligence problems, from 

finding terrorists on the move to enhancing algorithms 

that improve the accuracy of imagery sensors. In 

the process, they better understand NGA’s toughest 

research problems and opportunities.

“Not only do some of the visiting scientists go on to have 

careers at NGA,” said the program manager, “but those 

who leave and return to academia, or go on to work in 

industry, become excellent spokespeople for NGA.”

Since the program began in 2006, InnoVision has 

hosted 11 visiting scientists. Both seasoned scientists 

and recent doctoral graduates have taken part. In three 

recent cases, NGA gained new employees.

One such scientist arrived at NGA in 2008 with a 

master’s and doctorate in analytical chemistry from 

Arizona State University and never left. 

“The [VSP] has truly been a personally rewarding 

experience for me,” he said about his NGA experience. “I 

was kept actively engaged by those whom I consider to 

be some of the finest scientists in my field. And further, 

my contributions towards NGA’s research programs 

have given me a great sense of national pride, personal 

satisfaction and inclusiveness.”

Visiting Scientists Enrich Agency’s Research

Partnerships

By Joanna D. and Roger G.

He discovered a vacancy on the NGA staff and 

successfully applied for the position of project scientist 

with the geodesy and geophysics division. 

A visiting scientist from the University of Tennessee 

also found a home at NGA. “I have great appreciation for 

the people I interacted with ... they have shown me how 

to balance depth and breadth of knowledge. As a result, 

my skills as a scientist and communicator have been 

broadened,” she said. 

For many visiting scientists, the collaborative and 

research opportunities prove invaluable. 

“The program has given me the opportunity to explore 

my research topic [using] NGA’s wealth of imagery 

products ... Also, I have had the opportunity to reach 

across agencies to work with the Department of State 

and the [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers] Army Geospatial 

Center, as well,” said one of NGA’s past visiting scientists 

who worked to develop a repeatable methodology for 

GEOINT analyses of water resources and their impact on 

political, social and economic stability. 

The visiting scientist experience enriches participants 

as they learn from colleagues in the Basic Research 

Office and work with NGA counterparts in the National 

System for Geospatial Intelligence. A current visiting 

scientist highlights his newfound appreciation for 

the unique data and problem sets as a key benefit of 

working in this interdisciplinary, classified environment, 

stating, “It was a real eye-opener for me. Several 

datasets at NGA opened up many new and interesting 

research questions and challenges that I had never seen 

before in the academic community.”

InnoVision’s focus on the VSP provides an avenue for 

government project scientists to hear and learn directly 

from other thought leaders on cutting-edge ideas and 

methodologies in academia to stay current on trends 

in research and development. Scientists who return 

to academia after their tour continue to benefit from 

their work at NGA. Their research may be documented 

in academic reports and technical papers and their 

findings published in scientific journals.
21Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

The first NGA visiting scientist to work in St. Louis 

worked jointly for InnoVision and the Source Operations 

and Management Directorate developing codes in 

Mathematica, a programming language for technical 

computing, for projects such as automated feature 

extraction of lidar (light detection and ranging) data. 

Despite an enriching career that has led to his current 

position in academia, the St. Louis visiting scientist said 

that the VSP “was the first time in my career when I had 

the opportunity to work closely with other geodesists 

... I have spent much of my career learning about GPS, 

so to have an opportunity to work with the people in 

the St. Louis GPS Network Control Center allowed me to 

turn some of my ‘book learning’ into experience ... the 

best part of the program was the opportunity to work 

closely with the NGA scientists, many of whom are world 

leaders in their field.”

Through the program, NGA scientists gain new 

perspectives on research techniques, and academics gain 

new perspectives on conducting research off-campus. 

As another visiting scientist stated, “You’ll apply everything 

you learned in ways you never thought possible.”

For more information on the Visiting Scientist Program 

or other aspects of the NGA Academic Research Program, 

please e-mail narppo@nga.mil.

Joanna D. and Roger G. are contractors 

on the InnoVision Directorate’s 

communications team.

Photo by Getty Images
22Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

Deployers from NGA stationed with coalition forces

in Afghanistan, Iraq or elsewhere bring with them the 

support of the entire agency, extensive preparation for the 

task at hand and their own talent and initiative. The latter 

two qualities largely define deployers as individuals who 

refuse to accept a setback and regularly find the necessary 

solution. They have to get the job done.

Difficult situations frequently call forth talent and 

initiative even if we occasionally doubt we possess those 

qualities. Imagine yourself on a very different front line 

working on a ship sunk up to its deck in the Rufiji Delta 

in East Africa about 200 miles south of Dar es Salaam. 

You and your colleagues spend days helping the crew 

dismantle the ship’s guns for use on shore. The heat of 

the overhead sun in July 1915 burns your skin, and the 

deck of the German cruiser S.M.S. Königsberg supports 

your partially submerged feet as you prepare those guns 

to join the forces of Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, 

who would emerge from the conflict as the only German 

commander of World War I never defeated in the field. 

Tough, determined and never one to shrink from a battle, 

he did not surrender Germany’s position in colonial Africa 

until Nov. 25, 1918, 14 days after the armistice ending the 

war in Europe.

Von Lettow-Vorbeck, his officers and the colonial 

government that supported them became the ultimate 

deployers for the German armed forces in the Great 

War. The colonel had passed his 44th birthday in Africa 

when the war started in Europe, and before the conflict 

ended, he would lead the British the length of German 

East Africa, modern-day Tanzania, from Uganda to the 

Zambezi, through multiple engagements, without ever 

getting caught. Trained as a German field officer, he 

distained guerrilla warfare and sought open battle, but 

he carefully taught his askaris, or native soldiers, bush 

warfare and imposed discipline through his European 

officers and noncommissioned officers.

With the Royal Navy superior at sea, German Army 

units and the East African colonial administration found 

themselves thrown back upon their own resources to 

accomplish an essential mission: occupying as much of 

the enemy’s resources and personnel as possible. Von 

Our Heritage

Forward Deployed and Out in the Bush

By Dr. Gary E. Weir

Lettow-Vorbeck determined he would do just that, while 

at the same time drawing the British ever deeper into 

Africa to defend their interests.

The colonel frequently viewed the German colonial 

administration in East Africa as 

superfluous. However, like our deployers 

armed with reachback capability, he 

could hardly have survived without it. 

Early in the war, the British destroyed 

the wireless station in Togoland, colonial 

Germany’s only long-range link with 

the homeland. This communications 

base could broadcast directly to Nauen, 

about 24 miles west of Berlin. Losing 

this transmitter isolated the Germans 

further but did not discourage von 

Lettow-Vorbeck. As a German officer, he 

saw the decisions reached by forces in 

the field as most important and took the 

war to the British as often as possible. 

The German colonial governor, Heinrich 

Schnee, believed in the economic, social 

and religious ambitions and benefits 

of well-managed colonization. These 

two perspectives seemed completely 

opposed, but von Lettow-Vorbeck’s 

campaigns derived a great deal from the 

funds, supplies and recruitment activity 

contributed by Schnee’s administration.

The colonel’s talent and initiative came 

to the fore almost immediately in 1914 

and in contrast to the slow adaptation of 

the British and Indian forces to the war 

in German East Africa. The British initially 

focused on plans for an amphibious 

landing against the coastal town of 

Tanga at one end of the German railway 

while von Lettow-Vorbeck preoccupied 

himself with the other end, fearing a 

British movement across the border 

with British East Africa near Mount 

Kilimanjaro. The time spent at sea by the Map c
23Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

British–Indian amphibious forces, the initial indecision 

of their leaders when faced with bush warfare, and 

no attack at the opposite end of the German railway 

permitted von Lettow-Vorbeck to address the coastal 

assault against Tanga with nine companies of infantry 

on Nov. 4. When the British fought their way back into 

the town, the Germans ordered their buglers to sound 

recall, but the askari took it for a general retreat. Faced 

courtesy of Library of Congress
24Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

Dr. Gary E. Weir is the NGA historian.

with a major disaster, the Germans soon realized that 

the British forces mistook the same call for a full charge. 

The British withdrew under naval gunfire support, and 

the Germans regrouped. Given the presence of the Royal 

Navy, von Lettow-Vorbeck knew he still had an untenable 

situation as he quickly reentered Tanga, so he made 

plans for resistance west of the town, only to have a 

British commander uneasy with the situation decide to 

withdraw entirely. Initiative and talent brought victory 

against superior numbers.

For the rest of the war, von Lettow-Vorbeck remained 

resolute and quick to take advantage of his enemy’s 

flawed preparation or indecisive leadership. Often in 

Map courtesy of Library of Congress

contrast to expectations, he assaulted his adversary’s 

weakness rather than confront his strength by massing 

for major battles. He understood the land and the 

range of possibilities opened by his resources as well 

as his limits. As a deployed leader, he sought to defeat 

or deflect the forces sent against him. In doing so, 

he presented a persistent threat, and his adversaries 

responded, permitting him to fulfill his mission. For as 

long as those forces faced him in Africa, they would 

not assist Germany’s enemies on the Western Front 

in Europe. His initiative and talent, like that of NGA’s 

deployers, regularly provided his country with the 

solutions it needed at the most opportune time.
25Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010
26Pathfinder ›› January/February 2010

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