Vol. 8 No. 6

M a y / J u n e 2 0 1 1

Vol. 9 No. 3
On My Mind

Putting the Power of GEOINT in the 

Warfighter’s Hands 

As a combat support agency in the Department of Defense, the National Geospatial-Intelligence 

Agency plays a critical role in providing geospatial intelligence in support of military operations. 

We apply a broad range of expertise—cartography, regional analysis, imagery and geospatial 

analysis, geodesy and geophysics, imagery science, aeronautical analysis and others—to aid 

in the planning and conduct of combat operations and other military operations.

How do we do this? One of the keys to our success is understanding the needs of our military 

partners through our NGA support teams at the combatant commands and military service 

intelligence centers and by embedding analysts in the operational footprint to provide the 

tailored support for their mission. One example of this, described in the article on supporting 

the African continent, is the geospatial support team embedded with the Combined Joint Task 

Force-Horn of Africa. 

We also provide a geospatial foundation upon which vast amounts of data can be correlated, 

leading to analytic assessments that help identify trends and predict what may happen, as 

illustrated by NGA’s partnership with Army civil affairs. In addition, we place great emphasis 

on ensuring we continually develop our expertise and tradecraft, broadening the geospatial 

intelligence discipline to its full potential and ensuring the National Geospatial-Intelligence 

College provides training that moves us to the next level.

Army Maj. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, former chief military intelligence officer for the International 

Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, gave us his perspective from his time in theater 

when he spoke to the NGA work force in January. He congratulated us and said that we were 

“doing exactly what needs to be done.” But he didn’t stop there. Taking a look at the future, he 

posed a question to the audience, the same question that led to a report that he coauthored 

analyzing the effectiveness of our intelligence operations in Afghanistan: How are we going 

to “continue to grow, to evolve...continue to change with the times we are facing?”

How is NGA going to take advantage of the technology, like smart phones and GPS, which 

our adversaries use to such powerful effect? How are we going to use that technology to better 

serve the warfighter?

The NGA vision, “Putting the Power of GEOINT in Your Hands,” seeks to provide some answers. 

For example, by providing online, on-demand GEOINT, we can help an intelligence officer at 

U.S. Central Command push reliable, actionable intelligence to the soldier in the field more 

quickly. Broadening and deepening our analysis will ramp up the quality of that intelligence 

by providing additional context.

We are committed to putting the best, most comprehensive and most accurate GEOINT 

resources in the hands of those who carry out the warfighting mission, both now and in the 

future, and our vision will take us to the next level in honoring that commitment.

This edition of the Pathfinder will help illuminate how the NGA work force—whether at NGA 

facilities, embedded with the combatant commands, military service centers or other agencies, 

or those who are forward deployed in direct support of operations working beside our military 

members—plays a critical role in helping our military achieve mission success. 

Letitia A. Long

Director
Pathfinder ›› May/June 2011 ›› Vol. 9 No. 3

3 Pathfinder ›› May/June 2011

6

On the Cover

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is both a 

member of the Intelligence Community and a Department 

of Defense Combat Support Agency. As part of DOD, NGA 

provides geospatial intelligence to the military worldwide, 

supporting both warfighter and civil affairs missions. Cover 

design by Ron Kee; DOD photo. Back cover, Wikimedia Photo

Published by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

Office of Corporate Communications

4600 Sangamore Road, Mail Stop D-54

Bethesda, MD 20816-5003

Telephone: (301) 227-9123

DSN 287-9123

E-mail: pathfinder@nga.mil

Director

Letitia A. Long

Deputy Director

Lloyd Rowland

Office of Corporate Communications, Director

Kimberly Thompson

Communications Group, Chief

Art House

External Communications Branch, Chief

Karen A. Finn

Editor

Susan H. Meisner

Associate Editor

Laura L. Lundin

Graphic Artist

Ron Kee

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 

are 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 On My Mind

5 NGA in the News 

›› F E A T U R E S

6 Implementing the Vision—NGA Poised to 

Strengthen Relationship With In-Q-Tel 

8 Burial at Sea Charts—A Unique NGA Service

10 NGA and Army Civil Affairs—A Natural Evolution of 

Fused Civil Intelligence

12 Supporting the African Continent with GEOINT

14 Army GEOINT: Engineering and Intelligence Communities Join Together

16 The Ground Truth—Putting the Power of GEOINT in 

the Hands of the Warfighter

18 The Freedom of Information Act and You

20 NGA Leads the Way in Its Commitment to Work 

Force

›› D E P A R T M E N T S

22 Our Heritage: Remembering Vietnam 2: Early Days 

in Laos and Vietnam

Contents

MotionDSP Image
NGA Photo by Larry Franklin

» The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency GEOINT Research Center recently began a new chapter in its history 

with relocation of large portions of its staff and collection 

from Washington, D.C., and Bethesda, Md., to the NGA 

Campus East in Springfield, Va. 

According to Nancy B., Deputy Branch Chief of the Data 

Services Branch-East, the newly renamed Nathaniel 

Bowditch GEOINT Research Center “honors Nathaniel 

Bowditch for his important contributions to maritime 

navigation, mathematics and his landmark book, The 

American Practical Navigator.” 

The new center is a 32,400 square-foot, modern and 

inviting workspace modeled after a university library. It 

provides comprehensive research services and access 

to open source and GEOINT materials to the Department 

of Defense and Intelligence Communities. Its collection includes almost 40,000 books; 3,000 atlases and 

gazetteers; hundreds of audio books, DVDs and foreign 

language materials; magazines and journals; 2 million 

ground photos; daily newspapers; and over 800,000 

maps out of a total 1.2 million in the collection.

In addition to its physical holdings, the center offers 

digital products and services and plans to digitize its 

entire map collection of over 600,000 unique items by 

September 2011. 

The St. Louis Research Center provides similar physical 

holdings and research services at its 2nd Street location 

for employees in the West.

Nathaniel Bowditch

GEOINT Research Center Opens at NCE
3 Pathfinder ›› July/August 2010 

NGA IN THE NEWS

Secretary Gates Announces Next NGA Director

On Feb. 22, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates announced that 

Letitia Long will serve as the next director of the National GeospatialIntelligence Agency. Long currently serves as deputy director of the 

Defense Intelligence Agency. 

“Her more than 30 years of engineering and intelligence experience 

include service as the deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence, 

deputy 

director of naval intelligence and as 

a coordinator of Intelligence Community activities for the director of 

central intelligence,” Gates said.

Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair 

stated, “Ms. Long’s histor- ic 

appointment reflects her 32 years of 

exceptional government service, 

including more than two decades 

in the Intelligence Community. She 

is highly respected throughout the 

Intelligence Community and Department of Defense.”

Long will be the first woman to lead 

a major intelligence agency when 

she 

assumes her new post later this 

summer.

DIA Director Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess 

Extended Learning Site Opens 

in Tampa, Fla.

The National Geospatial-Intelligence 

College formally opened its first 

Extended Learning Site at MacDill 

Air Force Base, Tampa, Fla., with a 

ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 

24. The MacDill site is part of the 

agency’s continuing drive to push 

GEOINT resources forward throughout the National System for Geospatial Intelligence.

The MacDill site will provide tra5 Pathfinder ›› May/June 2011

NCE North

Building Opens,

College Relocates

Leadership, Outstanding Women 

Awards Honor Sharon Parish 

A National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency senior 

leader who was killed in a car accident is being honored with the creation of a Department of Defense 

leadership award and renaming of an NGA award.

The Sharon R. Parish “People Always” Leadership 

Award was created to “encourage and promote 

leadership qualities she exemplified,” according to a 

recent statement. The award is designed to recognize 

leaders at all levels with the Department of Defense 

acquisition and contracting communities. Award winners must have developed, motivated and inspired 

others through formal and informal initiatives.

The DOD award is open to military or government 

employees within the DOD acquisition/contracting 

communities at any grade level. The person selected for that award will be recognized at a banquet 

scheduled for May 11 at the DOD Procurement Conference and Training Symposium in Orlando, Fla. 

NGA has renamed its “Outstanding Women of 

NGA Award” to the “Sharon R. Parish Outstanding 

Women of NGA Award” in honor of Parish. The NGA 

award recognizes women who have advanced the 

NGA mission through their leadership, organizational and community involvement, educational 

accomplishments and service to others. NGA will 

announce this year’s awardees in May. 

Parish, who was Deputy Director of Acquisition, 

died in a vehicle accident Feb. 9. She began her 

career in 1971 and spent most of her time working in contracting. For seven years, she served as 

the senior procurement executive and director of 

contracts at NGA. She was a champion of personal 

interaction and mentoring at all levels. 

NGA IN THE NEWS

The National Geospatial-Intelligence 

Agency marked its latest East campus 

milestone with the first work force 

deployments to the agency’s north 

building in April. 

“Although NGA Campus East has been 

built in record time, completing construction with its final touches will continue 

for some time,” said Tom Bukoski, Assistant Program Manager for Design 

and Construction in NGA’s Campus East 

Program Management Office.

“The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and 

NGA work very closely and cooperatively with the Fort Belvoir fire chief, 

fire marshal and garrison staff to ensure 

that NCE is safe, complies with all of 

the fire codes and can safely move its 

work force,” said Bukoski.

The National Geospatial-Intelligence 

College, composed of the School of 

Geospatial-Intelligence and the James 

R. Clapper Jr. School of Leadership and 

Professional Development, formerly 

located at Ft. Belvoir’s south campus, 

also relocated to NCE’s north building 

in April.

Agency employees began moving into 

the south building, one of the campus’ 

two main buildings at Fort Belvoir’s 

North Area in Springfield, Va., in midJanuary. NGA is midway through its 

move to its new headquarters, which 

will be completed in September 2011. 

The consolidation of the agency’s 

facilities in the Washington, D.C., 

metropolitan area to a single location 

is a result of 2005 Base Realignment 

and Closure requirements.

Pathfinder Staff Solicits Reader

Feedback 

We want to hear from you! Please give us your views 

regarding the Pathfinder’s content, format and frequency of publication. Interested readers can find a 

brief, 11-question online survey at 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TXDR7SV

through May 31. Survey responses are anonymous 

and will help determine the magazine’s future.

Anyone who reads Pathfinder can take the survey; 

results will be available upon request to pathfinder@nga.mil. 

Vol. 8 No. 6

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

Vol. 9 No. 1

NGA Illustration NGA Photo by Larry Franklin

NGA Photo by Rob Cox

Sharon R. Parish
Implementing the Vision—NGA Poised to 

Strengthen Relationship With In-Q-Tel 

By Reishia Kelsey, Public Affairs Officer, Office of Corporate Communications

In order to achieve the National GeospatialIntelligence Agency’s vision of taking GEOINT to the 

next level, Letitia A. Long, Director of NGA, pledged 

to make a more substantial investment in In-Q-Tel.

Launched in 1999 as a private, independent 

organization, In-Q-Tel’s mission is to identify and 

partner with commercial companies developing 

innovative technology solutions that serve the 

national security interests of the United States. 

“To help with the implementation of our vision, 

we need In-Q-Tel,” said Long. “I believe in the 

In-Q-Tel model; it has brought us Keyhole (Google 

Earth), Perceptive Pixel and iMove, among other 

innovations, and we need and want the solutions 

In-Q-Tel can broker to help us realize our vision of 

‘Putting the Power of GEOINT in Your Hands.’” 

In November, Long defined the two main parts of 

NGA’s vision: providing online, on-demand access 

to GEOINT knowledge and broadening and deepening NGA’s analytic expertise.

“We need to change our business processes and 

our business model toward being a service provider 

and broker of GEOINT and a purveyor of our understanding of the world,” said Long. “To that end, I 

intend to make the changes that are necessary to 

take GEOINT to the next level and to keep NGA relevant and competitive in an ever-changing world.”

Since 2003, In-Q-Tel has received more than $17 

6Pathfinder ›› May/June 2011

MotionDSP Image

MotionDSP enables users to increase the value of video collected and acquired from a variety of sources.
investments on behalf of NGA of which 11 technology 

capabilities have been deployed, and 30 have been 

or currently are being operationally tested as pilots.

“In-Q-Tel has helped us effectively and efficiently 

access leading-edge technology for new and 

improved capabilities,” said David K. White, NGA 

liaison with In-Q-Tel.

In-Q-Tel’s core functions are to:

» Tap into “ready soon” commercial technologies for innovation

» Serve as a “translator” between private sector 

startups and the U.S. Intelligence Community

» Focus on “adoptions and technology impact” 

versus financial returns

“Working together, we can take the next step 

toward helping our customers use GEOINT to 

‘Know the Earth . . . Show the Way and Understand 

the World,’” said Long. 

7 Pathfinder ›› May/June 2011

million in funding from NGA. On average, for every 

$1 NGA spends, In-Q-Tel leverages $37 dollars from 

the venture capital community and the larger U.S. 

Intelligence Community, ultimately providing NGA 

more technology innovation for its investment.

In-Q-Tel invested in Keyhole on behalf of NGA to 

share geospatial data easily and accurately among 

its trusted customers, more specifically to support 

the conflict in Iraq in 2003. Today, Keyhole, and its 

successor Google Earth, has become the standard 

for portrayal of Web-based geospatial data for 

NGA, the U.S. Intelligence Community and the 

Department of Defense infrastructure.

“Our goal is to tap into emerging technologies 

that are already in development and leverage that 

innovation to meet the needs of our IC partners,” 

said Christopher Darby, president and CEO of InQ-Tel. “Our partnership with NGA ensures that we 

have greater insight to their specific technology 

challenges—resulting in mission-critical solutions.”

To date, In-Q-Tel has made 39 total technology 

NGA investments through In-Q-Tel:

Adapx: Faster field intelligence capture with Capturx® digital pens. www.adapx.com

Digital Reasoning: Complex large-scale unstructured data analytics. www.digitalreasoning.com

GeoIQ (formerly FortiusOne): Rich, dynamic visual intelligence. www.geoiq.com

GATR: Inflatable, deployable satellite communications systems. www.gatr.com 

Geosemble: Solution for integrating location-based content. www.geosemble.com

iMove: Immersive visual solutions for mission-critical security and geospatial surveillance.

www.imoveinc.com

KZO Innovations: Interactive video platform. www.kzoinnovations.com

MotionDSP: Unrivaled video enhancement software. www.motiondsp.com

Perceptive Pixel: Advanced multi-touch displays. www.perceptivepixel.com

Pixim: Advanced image capture sensors and capabilities. www.pixim.com

Signal Innovations Group: Video analytics and event detection technology. www.siginnovations.com

SitScape: Creates dynamic dashboard mashups without programming. www.sitscape.com

Teradici: Transmission of quality graphics and multimedia on virtual desktop. www.teradici.com

TerraGo Technologies: Geospatial collaboration (mobile PDF) software. www.terragotech.com

 VSee: Real-time video communication and application sharing. www.vsee.com
Burial at Sea Charts—A Unique NGA Service

By Sandra F., Supervisory GEOINT Analyst, and Leslie K., Enterprise Operations Directorate Corporate Communicator 

Burial at sea is an age-old tradition for sailors;

in 1996 the National Geospatial-Intelligence 

Agency began honoring this tradition by using 

NGA-distinctive talents: technology and data. 

In partnership with the U.S. Navy, NGA provides 

a unique version of its 

hydrographic maps 

of the coastlines and 

oceans: burial at sea 

charts. The charts 

mark the location of 

the deceased service 

member’s burial at sea 

and include information about the ship 

providing the service 

and the deceased’s 

service record. The 

charts provide a oneof-a-kind memorial for 

families. 

“Families have 

always praised the 

charts; many have 

them framed and 

placed on the wall with 

the deceased’s picture 

and the shadow box 

with the burial flag,” 

said Robert Cullingford, Burial at Sea 

Coordinator for the 

Mid-Atlantic Region 

Naval Medical Center, 

Portsmouth, Va.

“The charts NGA 

provides are a great contribution to the Navy’s 

Burial at Sea program and assist the families with 

closure in their time of loss,” added Cullingford. 

The charts are presented to the families of those 

who select burial at sea for their funeral arrangements and meet one of the following criteria:

» Honorably discharged veterans;

» U.S. civilian Marine personnel of Military Sealift Command; or

» Citizens the Chief of Naval Operations determines eligible by virtue of notable service or 

other contributions

According to the Remote 

Replication Service analyst at MacDill Air Force 

Base, Tampa, Fla., the 

Navy was introduced to 

RRS capabilities in 1996 

when they first became 

available. Capabilities 

included scanning, enhancing and reducing 

full-size hydrographic 

charts, as well as customization and printing. Previously available technology 

required an hour to load 

and scan one large-format 

hydrographic chart on 

huge tangent drum scanners. Adobe PhotoShop® 

software was used to 

enhance the product, and 

3M Scotchprint® graphic 

software was used to 

reduce the size during 

printing on the old electrostatic printers. Analysts 

manually added information 

about the deceased, along 

with Navy and ship seals, 

after printing. 

Today a library of digital 

hydrographic charts and ship seals from various 

vessels, as well as high-end geographic information 

workstations and plotters, have further streamlined 

the creation of these charts as compared to earlier 

practices. 

8Pathfinder ›› May/June 2011

Burial at sea charts mark the location of the deceased service 

member’s burial at sea and include information about the ship 

providing the service and the deceased’s service record. 

Fictitious chart provided for illustration purposes only
and date of the burial, the name of the deceased, 

his or her service and rank, and the Navy and ship 

seals in the margin of the chart. The RSS analyst 

provides prints and mails up to three copies of the 

chart to the Naval Ministry Group for delivery to the 

families. 

Eligible personnel who would like to request 

burial at sea should indicate so in a will or other 

legal document. The executor or executrix of their 

estate will need that written documentation as well 

as the following:

(1) a photocopy of the death certificate;

(2) the burial transit permit or the cremation 

certificate; and

(3) a copy of the DD Form 214 military discharge 

certificate or retirement order. 

The executor or executrix of the estate can 

contact the Navy-Marine Corps Mortuary Affairs 

Office at (866) 787-0081 during funeral planning. 

Additional information can be found at the Navy 

Personnel Command casualty assistance Web 

site, at: http://www.persnet.navy.mil/CommandSupport/CasualtyAssistance/MortuaryServices/

Burial+At+Sea.htm. 

9Pathfinder ›› May/June 2011

Navy personnel perform the burial at sea ceremony during deployments. The captain slows the 

ship to minimum speed at a select location, and 

the officer of the deck calls all hands to bury the 

deceased. The flag is lowered to half-mast, and the 

crew stands at parade rest in preparation for the 

service. The honor guard drapes the coffin with the 

American flag and carries it to a stand on deck. 

The ceremony includes military and religious 

portions based on the deceased’s request. After 

the ceremony, the firing party presents arms, and 

the burial party removes the flag from the coffin 

as it slides gently into the ocean. For cremated 

remains, the burial party places an urn in the sea 

or scatters the ashes in the wind. The firing party 

then fires three volleys, and the bugler plays taps. 

The ceremony ends with the folding of the flag, and 

the ship resumes course. The Navy informs family 

members of the time and location of the burial and 

provides photos of the ceremony. 

NGA receives requests for Burial at Sea Charts 

for approximately 40-50 deceased personnel 

per month between the two RRS sites at Norfolk 

Naval Base, Norfolk, Va., and Hickam Air Force 

Base, Honolulu, Hawaii. After receiving the burial 

coordinates from the ship’s commanding officer, 

RRS analysts in Norfolk and Honolulu note the 

location on the chart and mark it with a picture of 

the American flag or a red cross. They add the time 

DOD Photo
10Pathfinder ›› May/June 2011

NGA and Army Civil Affairs—A Natural Evolution of 

Fused Civil Intelligence By Andrew R., staff officer, Army National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Support Team

A National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency-Army 

civil affairs partnership in an operational environment is a natural and necessary evolution of the 

intelligence process and the capabilities of each 

entity. 

For months the U.S. Army had searched for 

a certain high-value target within a Baghdad 

neighborhood. They had no description, no known 

residence and absolutely no starting point to begin 

the search. 

During this timeframe, the HVT walked into 

a local business, threatened the manager and 

demanded protection money. He left his cell 

phone number so he could be contacted when the 

extortion money was ready. Because of ongoing 

business efforts in the community by U.S. Army 

civil affairs units, the manager called the local CA 

unit when the HVT walked out of his office. Within 

30 days the HVT was in custody. 

Although CA units are not traditionally active intelligence collectors, the information they collect and 

the local relationships they develop result in civil 

intelligence that can be essential in assisting the 

maneuver commander in operating and saving lives.

One of the lessons learned from the Iraq and 

Afghanistan wars is that conflict-changing information, the “winds of change,” moves up from the 

baker, rug weaver, goat herder or even the regular 

everyday unemployed citizen standing on the 

street corner. The winds of change—be they for 

better or worse—might not be felt as even a slight 

breeze inside the Washington, D.C., beltway or a 

corps headquarters, but on the street, at ground 

zero, they might be an irreversible gale force wind. 

Operating daily and performing civil military operations in the middle of those hurricane-strength 

winds of change are CA soldiers. 

Soldiers of the 353rd Civil Affairs Command discuss business 

operations with local mechanics at a garage near Baghdad.

Photo by Army Sgt. Eddie Torres, 353rd Civil Affairs Command
11Pathfinder ›› May/June 2011

The CA mission is defined as “the interaction of 

military forces with the civilian populace to facilitate military operations and consolidate operational objectives.” The mission allows these military 

forces constant contact with the local population 

to include community and business leaders within 

their own environment, far from the intimidating 

pressures of a U.S. base camp. Breaking it down 

even further, these soldiers assist local populations 

with reestablishing basic needs and services, local 

government structure, a functioning economy and 

educational opportunity. 

Throughout U.S. history, these soldiers have 

been on the ground working hand-in-hand with the 

civilian population. Though few in number (approximately 8,000, with 96 percent of them reservists), 

this force brings its civilian expertise to the battlefield and serves as a force multiplier to the active 

component units to which they are assigned.

When your ranks are composed of and relied on 

to provide the expertise of a banker, police officer, 

teacher or doctor, it is difficult to be recognized as 

a warfighter; your mission is to assist, advise and 

eventually rebuild while the overall role of the U.S. 

Army is to destroy the enemy. This sometimes leads 

to confusion when CA soldiers are assigned to 

combat units. 

Since Bosnia, CA has begun to reassert itself as a 

true force multiplier; CA soldiers became so critical 

to post-kinetic operations that the Army commissioned an active duty brigade. Today it is nearly 

impossible to find a reserve CA soldier who has not 

deployed multiple times; this creates a large pool 

of experience and knowledge.

On a recent deployment, CA soldiers tasked an 

NGA support team analyst stationed in Baghdad 

to search for and identify advertising billboards 

in Baghdad, a large and mundane task. To a CA 

commander, however, the ability to identify and 

use a billboard that may assist in influencing a 

neighborhood, or may promote a business or even 

an individual, becomes invaluable. Such an operation that might take soldiers on the ground years to 

accomplish took an NGA analyst—who concurrently 

accomplished other daily mission requirements—

less than a month.

Some independent CA brigade headquarters 

constantly produce civil intelligence, the fusion of 

political, economic and social data derived from 

not only the brigade teams but also subordinate CA 

units throughout the area of operations. Many of 

the reports and white papers are passed to specific 

medical, weapons of mass destruction, human intelligence and document exploitation offices within 

national agencies. Unfortunately the interaction 

between CA soldiers and NGA geospatial support 

teams is limited at best. 

According to CA Intelligence Officer Army Col. 

Mark Calabrese, “For CA the main role of the NGA 

support team was route assessments, overlays, 

trends and predictive intelligence that CA teams 

were not getting elsewhere.” 

NGA provided critical intelligence for CA teams, 

but the civil intelligence still did not make its way 

back to the NGA teams.

More and more NGA products in theater require 

this on-the-street civil intelligence data, and the 

reality is CA units that have this knowledge and 

expertise need someone to request and emphasize 

the importance of the information they have. The 

Army NST has begun to engage more actively CA 

and reserve soldiers on a whole. Like the NGA 

deployed analyst, the CA soldier is everywhere. The 

civil intelligence that a CA soldier possesses could 

very well assist in early detection of possible flash 

points or in identifying the winds of change prior to 

their getting out of control, ultimately saving lives. 

Editor’s note: Andrew R. deployed as an Army reservist and 

intelligence officer for the 304th Civil Affairs Brigade. 
12Pathfinder ›› May/June 2011

Supporting the African Continent with GEOINT

By Rich M., Geospatial Analyst

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

plays a vital role in providing geospatial support 

to the military’s humanitarian efforts on the 

African continent. 

The Department of Defense established the 

Combined Joint Task Force–Horn of Africa in 2002 

to provide regional security and stability in the 

East Africa region. Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, is 

the headquarters of CJTF-HOA and has become 

an important military installation for the United 

States and its mission partners in East Africa. 

CJTF-HOA’s early missions were proactive and 

focused on counterterrorism activities. 

Initial objectives were to disrupt rogue organizations and deny safe haven to terrorist activity. 

In 2008 Camp Lemonnier was U.S. Africa Command’s first military installation on the continent. 

The U.S. Navy operates this former French Foreign 

Legion military barracks and supports a diverse 

range of U.S. and coalition military missions. The 

primary mission of CJTF-HOA matured into building stable relationships with partner nations and 

securing strategic objectives. Long-term regional 

stability is now achieved through civil-military 

operations, humanitarian and medical assistance 

projects and military-to-military operations. 

Task force activities include building schools, 

clinics and hospitals and drilling wells. 

NGA’s geospatial support team at Camp Lemonnier enables that mission, providing image-based 

and geospatial products, including maps and 

analysis for operations in the HOA area of responsibility. The area of responsibility includes forwarddeployed bases throughout the African theater and 

the U.S. embassies in Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya 

and U.S. Army civil affairs, U.S. Navy construction 

and Sudan referendum activities. 

The U.S. Army Reserve 418th Civil Affairs Battalion from Belton, Mo., was the first civil affairs 

battalion to arrive in the HOA. According to team 

leader U.S. Army Maj. Michael Guiles, the battalion actively engaged in opportunistic activities 

to improve the harsh living conditions of the 

Djiboutian people. His team’s main focus was to 

improve the schools and public infrastructure of 

Djibouti City. The team identified domestic projects 

beneficial to the local community, such as drilling 

wells, upgrading medical facilities and renovating 

schools and public infrastructure. Guiles coordinated priorities with local and regional political 

leaders to strengthen the overall stability of the 

Djibouti government. 

“Image maps are a problem solver in this type 

of work,” said Guiles. “Without them, effective 

communication would be difficult. We come from 

a different culture and speak a different language, 

but we understand their issues and concerns when 

the maps get rolled out.” 

Establishing trust and personal friendships with 

the village elders was a high priority for the CA 

soldiers. NGA-produced commercial image maps of 

a village conferred prestige upon a village and the 

elders who received them. 

The Seabees, the U.S. Navy’s civil engineers, are 

well-known for conducting operations in hostile 

environments. Their task is to execute military and 

civilian critical infrastructure construction projects 

for the CJTF-HOA mission. Critical infrastructure 

includes the assets essential for the functioning of a society and economy. The Seabees’ 

humanitarian-focused missions include construction and maintenance of schools, medical facilities 

and communication centers. Teams are assigned 

sectors along the coastal region. Initial missions 

were for the reconnaissance of the lines of communication required to plan logistics activities 

necessary for supplying the projects with material 

and resources. 

The Seabees often operate in unfamiliar terrain 

and require geospatial support not normally available to them in remote locations. Often, these reconnaissance missions require an extensive use of 

civilian thematic maps. Fortunately, the NGA GST’s 

inventory of digital geospatial products quickly met 

their needs. NGA analysts provided thematic maps 

of geology, soil, vegetation, slope and population 
13Pathfinder ›› May/June 2011

density and a littoral analysis of the Kenyan coastline. The analysis indicated few beaching areas 

and numerous navigational hazards and obstacles 

for watercraft. After the Seabees completed their 

reconnaissance missions, the Global Positioning System data was collected, processed and 

provided in hard-and softcopy format for the next 

phase of their mission planning.

In January 2011, the Sudan referendum became 

the task force’s main priority. Several staff sections (including intelligence, operations, logistics, 

air operations and civil-military operations) 

provided their critical information requirements 

for NGA analysts to produce a planning map that 

consolidated their specified themes into a common operational picture. Obsolete or unavailable 

feature layers hindered initial data collection. 

However, data mining on United Nations-affiliated 

Web sites provided the most current data layers 

for the expected refugee crises. 

Key to the success of this product was the constant interaction between the customer and the 

analyst as new or updated data were added 

to the feature list. For example, initial transportation infrastructure was obtained from standard 

NGA data holdings. Later, this data was replaced 

with very detailed and well-attributed supply 

route data collected by U.N. sources from previous crises in the country. The map provided a 

current situational awareness of logistics issues 

and transferred the corporate knowledge of the 

infrastructure, terrain and refugee population to a 

much larger customer base.

NGA personnel are an integral part of the task 

force supporting the AFRICOM mission. The customer base is broad and diverse, and each day 

brings unforeseen challenges and new experiences. GST personnel discover the task force’s mission 

is an invigorating and rewarding experience as they 

continue to get the right information to the right 

people at the right time. 

Providing direct geospatial support to civil 

affairs, civil infrastructure and humanitarian missions demonstrates NGA’s commitment to working 

closely with its military partners. 

An NGA geospatial support team member, at right, reviews maps provided to military members of the Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, 

contracting office. The office’s regional desk officers process and manage all contracts for projects throughout the Combined Joint 

Task Force-Horn of Africa area.

NGA Photo by James S.
14Pathfinder ›› May/June 2011

Army GEOINT: Engineering and Intelligence 

Communities Join Together

By Army Lt. Col. Jason Strickland, Military Executive, Army GEOINT Office

What’s happening with U.S. Army geospatial 

intelligence? The engineering and intelligence 

communities are together at last. While some are 

skeptical, many professionals are celebrating the 

long overdue union of these two disciplines.

Regardless of perspective, accomplishments 

and advancements made in the Army GEOINT 

enterprise in the past year are numerous 

and tangible. 

Last fall the Army formally 

redesignated its operational 

imagery intelligence battalion from the 3rd Military 

Intelligence Center to the 

Army GEOINT Battalion. 

This organizational 

move officially recognized the emerging 

mission of this unique 

command as a GEOINT 

producer and an official 

contributor to unified 

GEOINT operations. What 

the battalion now holds as a 

new name also reflects the mission it executes on a daily basis. 

“Delegating GEOINT production responsibility baseline target analysis to the Army GEOINT 

Battalion allows us to align more with the newly 

developed Southern Command joint intelligence 

staff unified government operations directive,” 

said Ezell Powell, Integrated GEOINT Division Chief 

at the 470th Military Intelligence Brigade.

The battalion now has more than just military 

and civilian imagery analysts; a civilian geospatial analyst and a military geospatial engineer 

now work alongside their imagery intelligence 

partners. Additionally, efforts are under way to 

include additional GEOINT disciplines within the 

battalion. Through the foundry program, and in 

collaboration with the National Geospatial-Intelligence College, the battalion’s GEOINT Sustainment 

Training Facility provides an adaptable, relevant 

curriculum for soldiers heading to theater. It ensures proficiency in the most recent and applicable 

GEOINT methodologies.

Next, the Army is in the process of institutionalizing GEOINT cells from brigade combat teams 

to Army service component commands, 

integrating imagery intelligence and 

geospatial engineering disciplines. The GEOINT cell will 

synchronize unique and 

complementary capabilities to meet the needs of 

the commanders at 

each echelon without a 

manning increase. This 

structural change, along 

with GEOINT support 

teams at deployed locations and NGA support 

teams at stateside Army 

garrisons, gives tactical 

commanders a multifaceted 

approach to leverage all aspects of the National System for 

Geospatial Intelligence. Meanwhile, 

the Army and NGA are reviewing the line of 

demarcation to determine how to best complement 

the capabilities of each organization. 

Efforts are also under way for geospatial engineers and imagery analysts to train together at the 

U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence at Fort 

Huachuca, Ariz., by replicating a GEOINT cell in a 

training environment. The Joint Intelligence Combat 

Training Center conducts live environmental and 

situational training exercises to challenge soldiers 

to find creative solutions to intelligence problems. 

With the assistance of the NST at Fort Huachuca, 

the center drafts scenarios that mirror the complexities and environment of the current battlefield.
15Pathfinder ›› May/June 2011

The first is the creation of a service GEOINT element to integrate GEOINT-related activities and 

military service functions among the Army, NGA and 

the National System for Geospatial Intelligence. 

With the second, the Army is exploring training 

and education opportunities for field grade officers within the NSG. In addition to the required 

five-week training course at Fort Huachuca, greater 

immersion in national-level GEOINT will provide 

necessary exposure to our future Army leaders. This 

initiative is currently being introduced to the NSG 

through the Community GEOINT Training Council.

The marriage of geospatial engineering and 

imagery analysis within the Army is long overdue; 

the developing model will hopefully lead to future 

GEOINT successes within the enterprise. 

Many more initiatives in the Army demonstrate

the progress of GEOINT. These include:

» Publication of Training Circular 2-22.7, Geospatial Intelligence Handbook;

» The merger of enlisted imagery analysts and 

common ground station operators into one 

military occupational specialty; and

» The materialization of integrated GEOINT divisions at military intelligence brigades around the 

globe and at the Army Space and Missile Defense 

Command/Army Forces Strategic Command.

While this marriage of GEOINT in the Army is 

moving forward, there are still initiatives that must 

be addressed to maintain momentum. Two specific 

topics are areas for further development.

An Army imagery analyst (in uniform) 

works on an imagery work station during 

Exercise Empire Challenge, an annual 

intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance demonstration led by U.S. Joint 

Forces Command at Ft. Huachuca, Ariz.

Photo by Army Sgt. Catherine Long 
16Pathfinder ›› May/June 2011

The Ground Truth—Putting the Power of GEOINT in 

the Hands of the Warfighter By Army Capt. Edward Major, Executive Officer, Director of Military Support Staff

Editor’s note: Following is an opinion piece based on the author’s experience as a deployed military engineer.

Simply put, the “where” is what ties everything

together. Geospatial intelligence helps provide the 

all-important context and depth to other intelligence disciplines. Only when fused together is the 

power of imagery intelligence, signals intelligence 

and human intelligence fully revealed. Among the 

emergent capabilities to bring the intelligence 

disciplines together is GEOINT. 

Warfighters are dependent on the geospatial 

depiction of fused intelligence and need a single, 

comprehensive system to bring it together below 

the brigade level.

I saw the power of GEOINT firsthand on my 

deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. My unit, the 

4th Engineer Battalion, conducted route clearance 

operations—finding deadly improvised explosive 

devices before they found us. We operated in 

Baghdad, Iraq, in 2009 and across Regional Command–South in Afghanistan in 2009 and 2010. 

Because of our size and dispersal, our battalion 

intelligence section was unable to help everyone 

all of the time. Because virtually all deployed 

analysts work at brigade level or above, there is a 

resulting scarcity of GEOINT the closer one gets to 

the fight. However, warfighters below the brigade 

level need GEOINT capabilities as well. 

Thanks to newly available GEOINT tools such as 

the Tactical Ground Reporting Network, Combined 

Information Data Network Exchange, GeoQuest and 

Google Earth, I analyzed, customized and personalized the intelligence I used with my platoon. With 

them we prepared for the threats we faced, such as 

IEDs. We more efficiently searched for our enemy 

and targeted specific areas. The tools also gave us 

a limited ability to connect with other people working in our area and share impressions and trends 

in our enemies’ behavior. 

Leveraging these capabilities, however, was far 

more difficult than was necessary. First, these tools 

are painfully slow; most required an application 

download every time we accessed them. Second, 

redundant reporting plagued the systems. This 

skewed searches for activity and wasted time. 

Third, incomplete information was plentiful, but 

comprehensive and useful information was not. 

Fourth, some of the best information was poorly or 

not at all captured because of difficulties in inputting data into the systems. These important losses 

meant that the fusion could not share the pieces 

that would most help others on the system. Fifth, 

these parallel systems communicate minimally and 

cannot be searched in tandem. Moreover, because 

of the lack of interoperability, units often declare 

one system the unit’s official system and post updates on one at the expense of the others. Finally, 

I lacked the understanding of other tools I could 

leverage to give my unit a better picture of the 

battlefield. All these difficulties together turned a 

great idea into several splintered and cumbersome 

systems that failed to measure up.

As incredible as the capabilities of GEOINT are, 

they are currently neither meeting the needs of the 

end user nor living up to their potential. Deployed 

analysts from the National Geospatial-Intelligence 

Agency do amazing work with units but cannot be 

everywhere. No one system fully meets the needs 

of junior combat leaders. The tools are out there, 

but there is palpable disappointment in the ability 

to get that fused intelligence down to the lowest 

levels. We can neither afford unnecessary redundancy nor support programs that do not fulfill their 

intended purpose. A single system must assume 

the work and purpose that these disparate and 

duplicative programs currently occupy. Otherwise, 

we run the risk of losing all the value added in 

GEOINT-fueled intelligence fusion in the hands of 

the end users.

Enter the National System for Geospatial Intelligence, which manages GEOINT in all forms from 

cradle to grave. As the NSG’s functional manager, 
To be effective, this tool must have the following 

characteristics:

» Be able to upload, download and edit layers of 

data to and from a central cloud architecture

» Allow the display of terrain and data from multiple viewing angles

» Include an intuitive user interface tailored to 

warfighters

» Be a program that remains on users’ computers or handheld device without having to 

download prior to each use

» Standardize templated data entry to facilitate 

better indexing

» Allow the ability to connect with other users 

working in the same field or geographic area

» Incorporate a search engine that can display 

data graphically and textually at the same time

» Define an active data manager who ensures 

accuracy of the system’s data

» Provide mobile access to soldiers in the field 

from handheld devices

Pushing the ability to use GEOINT to the end 

user is an eminently worthy ideal. This may mean 

letting some projects go and endorsing a new 

tool that some may see as a threat. Even with the 

benefits that a replacement promises—a better, 

unified GEOINT-based intelligence fusion system 

that replaces several stove-piped, inadequate 

systems—it may be difficult to bring everyone 

onto the same page. That is why NGA must fulfill 

its chartered leadership role as functional manager of the NSG. If it uses its influence responsibly, NGA can be a catalyst to bring everyone 

in the right direction. If not, we fail our users by 

arming them with a confusing array of systems 

that cannot do what they need. Success will look 

like keeping the warfighter one step ahead of 

our enemies, and putting the power of GEOINT in 

their hands is a step in that direction. 

17Pathfinder ›› May/June 2011

NGA must bring the NSG together to cull the ineffective, disparate systems and promote a single, 

unified program that will better meet the GEOINT 

needs of our users. The future of GEOINT lies in giving people access to do their own work in an online 

community environment. This community must allow users to tailor their products to their own needs 

and to connect and share work and ideas with 

similarly interested individuals. 

Fortunately, a program that puts the ability to 

analyze and customize at the lowest level is already 

in line with NGA’s goals. Unveiled at the GEOINT 

Symposium in 2010, NGA’s vision is to “Put the 

Power of GEOINT in Your Hands.” By placing our 

focus on getting analytical abilities down to the end 

users, small unit leaders will be able to give their 

units a better appreciation of the battlefield without 

the in-depth training analysts undergo. 

Tools that put GEOINT into the hands of the user 

are one way to improve that support. Three things 

stand out about such a course of action. First, it has 

the capacity to increase the pool of experts who participate in intelligence operations at a low cost to 

NGA and bring together these specialists to broaden 

and deepen our collective expertise. Second, 

implementing such a system will actually increase 

the intelligence that makes it into the hands of end 

users because it makes more and better intelligence 

available to more people. Lastly, with proper system 

design, training and equipping, we may be able to 

scale back our forward commitment to some of our 

deployed operations. This direct, personal support 

was superior service, but with limited resources, we 

may not always be able to support everyone who 

needs it. However, with a better designed system 

that connects GEOINT to the end user, NGA may be 

able to mitigate some of those gaps.

A great deal of thought must be put into our intelligence fusion system in order to learn from the 

mistakes of the past and effectively engage users. 
18Pathfinder ›› May/June 2011

The Freedom of Information Act and You

By Helen Chapman, FOIA Program Manager

We’ve all seen them—documents from the

federal government shown on television with parts 

redacted. The viewer wonders what the government is hiding behind those blacked-out portions. 

What does the requester seek in a Freedom of 

Information Act request? Is he or she looking for 

information on UFOs or additional information on 

Watergate? Maybe the requester is looking for images from World War II. 

Whatever the topic, the documents in question were probably located because of a FOIA 

request. While some requests are controversial, 

most are not.

As NGA is a Department of Defense Agency, the 

NGA FOIA Program Office works closely with the 

DOD Freedom of Information Policy Office and DOD 

sister agencies. In fiscal year 2010, the NGA FOIA 

Program Office processed over 300 FOIA requests. 

“We have noticed a steady increase in the 

number of FOIA requests we receive each year,” 

said Cynthia Ryan, General Counsel for NGA. “We 

believe that this increase is inevitable and a good 

thing. The more the public learns about the mission of NGA, the more questions they will have for 

us. NGA is committed to providing as much information as it can to the public while protecting the 

information that necessarily must be withheld. It is 

a balancing act between the public’s right to know 

and the protection of national security.”

The Freedom of Information Act grants U.S. 

citizens, foreign nationals, libraries, universities 

and the media, among others, the right to request 

records from the government. The United States 

was the third nation, after Sweden and Finland, to 

implement such a law.

Beginning in 1955, the media, working with 

Rep. John Moss of California, led efforts to have 

Congress pass a Freedom of Information Act. 

After much negotiation and over the objections of 

many federal agencies and departments, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the act into law 

on July 4, 1966. 

As Johnson said at the time, “This legislation 

springs from one of our most essential principles. A 

democracy works best when the people have all the 

information that the security of the nation permits.”

Successive administrations have expanded the 

role of FOIA, most recently in the Open Government 

Act of 2007 and President Barack Obama’s memorandum to heads of the executive departments and 

agencies, dated Jan. 21, 2009. 

In his memorandum Obama stated, “In our 

democracy, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 

which encourages accountability through transparency, is the most prominent expression of a profound national commitment to ensuring an open 

government. ...the Freedom of Information Act 

should be administered with a clear presumption: 

in the face of doubt, openness prevails.”

The attorney general and the U.S. Department 

of Justice have oversight of the FOIA program. 

According to the DOJ Web site, in fiscal year 2009, 

over 500,000 new FOIA requests were submitted 

to the federal government, with the Department 

of Homeland Security and the Social Security 

Administration receiving the most requests in their 

respective categories. 

In FY 2009 the government spent over $382 

million on FOIA. Agencies recoup approximately 3 

percent of the cost of FOIA through fees charged to 

the requesters.

How to File a FOIA Request

Several government agencies provide excellent 

resources to assist in filing FOIA requests: the 

Department of Justice (www.justice.gov); the State 

Department (www.state.gov); the Department of 

Defense (www.defense.gov) and the National Archives and Records Administration (www.archives.

gov). Also, every agency has on its Web site the 

process and contact persons for filing a FOIA request with that specific agency. 

With the vast amount of information now on 

the Internet, it is recommended that you do as 

much research as you can prior to filing your 
(b)(5) – Internal records that are deliberative in 

nature and part of internal decision making 

process that contain opinions and recommendations

(b)(6) – Records that if released would result in a 

clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy

(b)(7) – Investigatory records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes

(b)(8) – Records for the use of any agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of 

financial institutions

(b)(9) – Records containing geological and geophysical information (including maps) concerning wells.

NGA exemptions usually fall within categories (b) 

(1), (2), (3), (4) and (6).

Right of Appeal

If an agency denies your request, you have the 

right to appeal the decision. Appeals should be in 

writing and sent by the requester to the agency’s 

address stated in the denial letter. Appeals must 

be received within 60 calendar days from the date 

of the denial letter.

Summary

The Freedom of Information Act was enacted 

to allow us to access the information that the 

United States government has, and within certain 

constraints, the information will be provided. Take 

the time to research the FOIA sites throughout the 

various agencies. See what they have to say and if 

need be, request information. It is your right.

For further information, contact the NGA FOIA 

Program Office at (571) 557-2987 

19Pathfinder ›› May/June 2011

FOIA request. An often overlooked, but excellent, 

resource for information is an agency’s reading 

room, also located on an agency’s Web site. Once 

you determine that a FOIA request is your best 

avenue to obtain the information you seek, go to 

the agency’s Web site and follow its guidance for 

submission of your FOIA request.

The FOIA office will need to know your requester 

category in order to properly assess fees. An 

estimate of fees can be provided before they 

undertake the search, and you can state a limit up 

front on what amount you are willing to pay. The 

fee categories are:

» Commercial - Willing to pay all fees for search, 

review and duplication.

» Educational, non-commercial scientific and 

news media - The first 100 pages are provided 

free of charge. Agencies may waive fees if they 

determine the request is in the public interest.

» Other - All requesters who do not fit in the 

above categories are considered “other;” most 

are seeking information for their own use. The 

“other” category receives two hours’ search, 

all review costs and the first 100 pages of 

duplication free of charge. The public normally 

falls into this category.

FOIA Exemptions

Sometimes the information must be withheld from 

release under strict guidelines using the following 

FOIA exemptions (5 U.S.C. § 552) as summarized in 

the “DOD Freedom of Information Handbook”:

(b)(1) – Records are currently and properly classified in the interest of national security

(b)(2) – Records related to internal personnel 

rules and practices

(b)(3) – Records protected by another law that 

specifically exempts the information from 

public release

(b)(4) - Trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a private source 

that would cause substantial competitive harm 

to the source if disclosed (proprietary)
20Pathfinder ›› May/June 2011

NGA Leads the Way in Its Commitment to Work Force 

By Laura Lundin, Public Affairs Officer, Office of Corporate Communications

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency 

has dedicated a full-time senior executive to help 

increase the diversity and equality of its work force 

and advocate for NGA’s employees. As the only 

member of the Intelligence Community to follow 

this model, NGA has seen positive improvements 

in the diversity—and commitment to diversity—of 

its work force as a result. 

Created in 2007, the equality executive position focuses on three core areas: 1) advocate and 

advance equality and diversity 2) assess and address work force concerns and 3) provide executive leadership and communication at all levels of 

the agency.

“My main role is to look at diversity and equality 

at NGA on behalf of the director, as well as to make 

sure the work force understands that we are committed to the idea of diversity and equality from a 

leadership perspective,” said Fred Faithful, NGA’s 

equality executive. 

“I also try to keep my finger on the pulse of 

the work force,” Faithful said. “I exist to help the 

employees of NGA work through the system if they 

need help, and I also make sure we as an agency 

react to the more long-term strategic initiatives—

like career development—that have a significant 

impact on our mission readiness.”

By interacting with the NGA work force either 

on an individual basis or in small groups, Faithful 

seeks to understand the work force’s needs and, as 

a result, help improve inefficiencies by advocating 

for policy and procedure changes on their behalf. 

In 2006, NGA stood up the Office of Diversity 

Management and Equality Employment Opportunity based on an independent study that 

recommended the agency move its diversity and 

equality functionality out of the agency’s Human 

Development Directorate. 

What was lacking, according to NGA leadership, 

was a focus on diversity and the very specific 

Equal Employment Opportunity mandates the law 

requires. “By pulling the function out of the Human 

Development Directorate, NGA was able to focus 

more on the diversity piece,” Faithful said. 

The equality executive position was then tasked 

to oversee the integration of certain HD and ODE 

functions, ensuring those functions focused on 

people and reinforced the agency’s commitment to 

diversity and equality. 

“Having the senior position of equality executive 

has provided significant advantages for NGA employees,” said Karen Mullet, deputy director of NGA’s 

Human Development Directorate. “The equality 

executive has been an invaluable partner in building 

awareness about NGA’s commitment to the professional and personnel success of our work force.”

“Overall, the NGA work force is more diverse 

today than three to four years ago,” said Allene 

Mikrut, director of diversity outreach and training. 

“By the end of fiscal year 2009, NGA had increased 

its representation of minorities and women.”

NGA leads the IC in representation of African 

American employees, with 13.1 percent compared 

Members of the Defense Privacy and Civil Liberties Program Office brief Equality 

Executive Fred Faithful (at far left). The office implements the Department of Defense 

Privacy and Civil Liberties Program through advice, monitoring, official reporting and 

training.

NGA Photo by Rob Cox
mission partners and NGA team members alike. 

The plan also focused on other cultural characteristics like developing a more fun and friendly work 

environment, creating a learning and teaching 

environment, developing professional trust and 

demonstrating more accountability both from a 

leadership and work force perspective. 

An additional focus developed from that initiative—the NGA core values of excellence, accountability, respect, teamwork and honesty, otherwise 

known as E.A.R.T.H. 

“When it comes to the culture and core values 

initiatives, my most dedicated and passionate support has come from the work force,” Faithful said. 

Faithful and the employees involved in these 

initiatives “help everyone at NGA understand the 

basic values the agency has—the benchmarks we 

are looking for in our employees—to help make the 

agency more efficient and help us succeed in our 

mission,” Faithful said. 

The agency has seen real progress in the areas of 

team work and excellence, but “we still have work 

to do in the areas of accountability and respect,” 

added Faithful.

To better develop accountability and respect 

among the NGA work force, Faithful established 

a core values action group comprising NGA team 

members mandated to recommend how to instill 

these core values in the NGA culture. 

By giving NGA employees a champion for work 

force issues, NGA leadership demonstrated they 

value the tremendous talent of NGA’s employees 

and are committed to maintaining a firm foundation on which the work force can grow and 

prosper professionally.

The creation of the Office of the Equality Executive demonstrates the agency’s pledge to its 

people, who in turn have dedicated themselves 

to the GEOINT mission in support of the warfighter, its mission partners, foreign allies and 

U.S. policymakers. 

21Pathfinder ›› May/June 2011

to 11.6 percent across the IC, and in the representation of people with disabilities, with 7.1 percent 

compared to 5.7 percent across the IC. 

“We still have much work to do, especially in 

attracting more minorities and women to both our 

current and future work force,” Mikrut said. 

While these statistics show the positive results 

of NGA’s commitment to its people, Faithful looks 

to his other role as key to NGA’s success as an 

agency. “It is the position’s broader focus on 

people, which I really take seriously,” Faithful said. 

As a result, Faithful has taken on several initiatives 

aimed at improving the professional environment 

for NGA’s work force. 

“Our agency is leading the way in action planning by really attempting to understand what the 

work force has said through the Employee Climate 

Survey,” Faithful said. “We sort though some of 

the issues that the work force raises—all from an 

agency level and with a more holistic approach.” 

Another significant initiative was the equality executive’s involvement in preparing for the 

agency’s move to NGA Campus East, under way and 

scheduled to be completed by September 2011. In 

the design of the new campus, NGA really looked 

at how a facility could foster the culture needed for 

2011. It was important for NGA not only to create 

a better place for its employees but also a more 

efficient place for NGA operations in support of 

the GEOINT mission, fostering a culture that would 

increase collaboration not only within the agency 

but across the IC. 

A cross-agency team met to define the cultural 

attributes important to NGA’s future. The result was 

the culture integration and implementation plan, 

which guided the design of the physical space 

and created the basis for NGA transition. NGA 

leadership authorized the plan in 2007; it had very 

specific recommendations on how to transition to a 

2011 culture. 

According to the plan, NGA needed to reinforce 

cultural changes like increasing collaboration with 
Caudry successfully challenged suggestions to 

sanitize the operation by removing any American 

markings from them or the aircraft. They did not 

care to become part of the CIA’s complement of 

operational aircraft in Southeast Asia, Air America. 

They also found the briefings on local culture 

given by a missionary expelled from the target 

region a bit unsettling; they had no plans to visit 

the local villages. 

While the briefings occurred at Clark Air Force 

Base in the Philippines, Field Goal would take 

place from Udorn Royal Thai Air Base because of 

its proximity to Laos. The RT-33 in question would 

carry a 12-inch nose-mounted oblique camera, 

six-inch right and left oblique cameras, with one 

six-inch vertical. The support team, along with 

Muesegaes, flew to Udorn from Clark in a C-130 

transport aircraft, while Caudry flew the RT-33. 

Destined to become one of the busiest air bases 

in the Southeast Asia conflict, in early 1961 Udorn 

had a 7,500-foot runway, a large shed and a Marine 

air base battalion living in tents.

Support at the air base proved minimal, and 

takeoff usually took place in a cloud of dust. For 

their part, Muesegaes and Caudry accomplished 

their flights into Laos by dead reckoning. They did 

not have nearly enough map coverage for their 

22Pathfinder ›› May/June 2011

Our Heritage

Remembering Vietnam 2: Early Days in Laos and 

Vietnam 

Dr. Gary E. Weir, Chief Historian

On the 50th anniversary of the first direct

American military involvement Vietnam, the Department of Defense has called upon our country 

to remember with respect and gratitude those 

who served in Southeast Asia. This series of six 

articles—of which this is the second—will illuminate 

the significant role played in Southeast Asia by 

people in the tradecraft communities that now 

comprise NGA. 

At the behest of President John F. Kennedy, in the 

spring of 1961 the U.S. Air Force sought to continue 

the Eisenhower administration’s assistance to Royal 

Laotian forces against the Pathet Lao and the North 

Vietnamese. As a pilot qualified in both the RF-101C 

reconnaissance aircraft and the RT-33 reconnaissance aircraft, Fred Muesegaes of the 45th Tactical 

Reconnaissance Squadron found himself speaking 

with his commanding officer about a highly classified activity called Project Field Goal. As it turned 

out, Muesegaes seemed the logical choice. Of the 

four pilots in the 45th TRS so qualified, he alone 

had yet to marry. He doubted that the project had 

anything to do with friendly territory. 

Along with Robert Caudry of the 15th TRS, Muesegaes went through a series of intelligence and 

political briefings on Laos and the current military 

conditions in the country. In the process, he and 
23Pathfinder ›› May/June 2011

intended targets, and the RT-33 had to find holes in 

the cloud cover to descend. Only when they came 

down through the clouds did they have an opportunity to determine their location. On the return 

leg, the air base beacon had only a 25-mile range, 

and upon touchdown the RT-33 had to slow rather 

rapidly due to the lack of an arresting gear and the 

presence of a large ditch at the end of the runway. 

Upon landing they took the film with them to an 

H-34 helicopter for the trip to Vientiane, the Laotian 

capitol, for the first-phase review. During Field Goal 

the pilots themselves assisted the photo interpreters within the first phase. They would bring the film, 

work on the interpretation for as long as it took, 

and then find their way back to Udorn on any flight 

available. The H-34 was dedicated to the film, not 

to them. In one case they hoped for a return ride on 

the H-34, but had to wait. To their consternation, 

the pilot shut the aircraft down. However, when the 

Marine aviator climbed out of the cockpit, they saw 

the makeshift tourniquet and realized he had completed the flight to Vientiane after having received a 

bullet in his leg from ground fire.

On his first mission out of Udorn, Caudry himself 

took some anti-aircraft fire. He flew north to Dien 

Bien Phu and over the Plaine des Jarres at 20,000 

feet, taking images with his vertical camera before 

proceeding down Highway 13 to the intersection 

with Highway 7 employing the oblique cameras. At 

that point he observed the source of small caliber 

anti-aircraft fire near Vang Vieng: quad 50-caliber 

machine guns mounted on Dodge trucks firing 

way off the mark. The weapons probably came as 

spoils from the Pathet Lao victory over the Laotian 

government at the Plaine des Jarres on Jan. 1, 1961. 

Unfortunately, the anti-aircraft fire intensified over 

time and improved greatly. To make matters worse, 

in 1961 the Army believed it spotted the first MiG 

aircraft to take to the skies in that area. 

In these early years, critical reconnaissance 

focused on roads, communication links and the 

movement of the enemy. Routes leading from China 

and Vietnam into Laos proved especially important 

because of the absence of detailed local maps, 

which the Army Map Service began to address. 

Field Goal provided the United States and the 

Laotian government with a great deal of valuable 

intelligence data and some excellent first-and 

second-phase interpretation. As the 1960s 

progressed, the work became more intense, the 

stakes higher, and the photography and interpretation even more professional. 

RT-33 reconnaissance aircraft

Lockheed Martin photo
www.nga.mil

Commemorating

 the 

Anniversary of the Vietnam War

50th