PAT

T h e G e o s p a t i a l I n t e l l i g e n c e 

HFINDER

M a g a z i n e

M a r c h / A p r i l 2 0 0 8

t h e n a t i o n a l g e o s p a t i a l - i n t e l l i g e n c e a g e n c y

Q ua d G E O I N T B e n e f i ts 

t h e D I G O M i s s i o n

G E O I N T Pro d uc ts A i d 

D i sa st e r R ecove ry i n 

L at i n A m e r i c a

Vol. 6 No. 2

S e r v i n g t h e F r o n t L i n e

S t r e n g t h e n i n g N G A

A r o u n d t h e W o r l d

PA R T N E R S H I P S
On My Mind

International Partnerships Make the GEOINT 

Difference

The Director of National Intelligence recently issued guidance and emphasized the need “to enlist the 

cooperation and assistance of foreign partners.” The Intelligence Community, as a whole, must collectively 

strengthen our foreign intelligence relationships and expand collection and analytic collaboration. NGA’s 

Focus Area to “build new and enhance enduring international partnerships” demonstrates the importance 

we have placed on this issue. We are leveraging the expertise and capabilities of our foreign partners as 

force multipliers to meet global security challenges. Finding new ways to expand existing partnerships, as 

well as establishing new relationships, broadens our analytic capabilities, deepens our expertise and adds 

valuable context and perspective to various programs.

Enhancing Enduring International Partnerships

Our collaborative relationships with our Commonwealth allies—Australia, Canada and the United 

Kingdom—have always been strong and are continuing to grow. Bringing our best practices and different 

viewpoints together to the analytic part of our business gives us each a richer understanding of specific problems and threats. This collaboration offers both NGA and our Commonwealth partners analytic options and 

surge capabilities to complement in-house resources in times of national crisis. Some of our more successful 

endeavors have been in the areas of disaster response, homeland security and special security events.

A recent success story is the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit held in Sydney, Australia 

in 2007. Over twenty heads of state attended the conference, requiring a multinational security response. 

NGA deployed seven personnel to assist the Defence Intelligence Geospatial Organisation (DIGO) staff in 

using the PalanterraTM Common Operating Picture to provide more seamless situational awareness. GEOINT 

support packages were produced for protective operations for President Bush and other delegates’ visits to 

the summit. This collaboration and the exchange of GEOINT methodologies were viewed as a “hallmark of 

collaborative success” and will be used as a model for similar future events.

Building New International Partnerships

NGA is investing in developing new international partnerships that can augment NGA analysis and 

increase our flexibility to focus more resources on the hardest targets. This investment has become increasingly more important due to the growth of coalition activities in response to changing world situations, 

evolving international threats and the expanding globalization of GEOINT.

Last year NGA hosted approximately 300 foreign visitors from 25 to 30 different countries at NGA facilities 

and at the same time reached out to numerous foreign partners. With the rapid expansion in GEOINT applications across the globe, the more we can share the data burden, the more we reduce duplication of efforts. 

Multinational cooperation increases the return on data investments for all, developing a mutually beneficial 

collaborative environment. For example, U.S. forces can receive enhanced GEOINT, such as more accurate 

place names, resulting from co-production agreements. Conversely, a foreign partner can be better prepared 

to respond to any contingency through the use of data gained through a partnership with NGA.

International partnering is making a critical difference in the ongoing war against violent extremism as well 

as in disaster and humanitarian relief efforts. NGA is at the forefront establishing standards and providing 

leadership in shaping this “global GEOINT community.” These efforts on data standardization and sharing by 

NGA and its allies ensure that our intellectual output can be applied for the collective good of this international GEOINT community. This raises the readiness for national security for all of our partnering nations.

 Robert B. Murrett

Vice Admiral, USN

Director
Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008 ›› Vol. 6 No. 2

1 Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008

Contents

2 Letter to Our Readers

3 Guest Column: Benefits That Quad GEOINT Brings 

to the DIGO Mission

5 Up Front: Collaborating With a World of Partners

›› F E A T U R E S

7 Vice Adm. Murrett hosts Maj. Gen. Cobelens of 

the Netherlands

8 NGA and Mongolia Map New Horizons

10 Norway Demonstrates World-Class GEOINT

12 GEOINT Products Aid Disaster Recovery in Latin 

America 

13 Assistant Secretary of State Commends NGA for 

Annapolis Support

15 NGA Supplies Digital Aeronautical Data Access for 

Foreign Partners

16 NGA Forges Support for USAFRICOM

›› D E P A R T M E N T S

18 Partnerships: NGA Welcomes New German 

Geospatial Liaison

19 Working for NGA: Keeping an Eye on GPS Station 

Ecuador

21 Our Heritage: Commonwealth Friendships Stand 

the Test of Time

23 In Closing: Pathfinder Editor Moves On

8 19

5

On the Cover

The continents on the map stretch into the distance, indicating the worldwide scope of NGA’s international partnerships. The two-dimensional map 

gives way to crests and valleys suggesting the Earth’s varied topography 

and how geospatial intelligence reaches above and below the planet’s 

surface. The edge of the map represents the ever-expanding edge of 

geospatial knowledge—just as archaic views have evolved to an ever-fuller 

appreciation of the Earth’s dimensional breadth. This issue of the Pathfinder 

highlights how NGA’s valuable foreign partners play an integral role in 

expanding geospatial understanding, from the Commonwealth to Latin 

America and across the globe. Vincent Gaines designed the cover.
2Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008

PATHFINDER

Published by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

Office of Corporate Communications

Internal Communications Branch (OCCEI)

4600 Sangamore Road, Mail Stop D-54

Bethesda, Maryland 20816-5003

Telephone: (301) 227-7388, 

DSN 287-7388, or

In St. Louis: (314) 676-9082, 

DSN 846-9082

E-mail: pathfinder@nga.mil

Director

Vice Adm. Robert B. Murrett

Deputy Director

Lloyd Rowland

Office of Corporate Communications, Director

Paul Weise

Principal Deputy Director

Kimberly A. Thompson

Deputy Director for Geoint Communications 

Art Haubold

Strategic Communications Branch, Chief

Louis Brune

Editor

Jason K. Michas

Managing Editor

Jennifer Harris

Visual Communications Branch, Chief

Armand Boyd

Graphic Designer

Carmella Bender

Contributing Authors

Chuck Boyer

Gail Cherochak

April Choi-Pawlowski

Heather Cox

Dawn Eilenberger

Eduardo Elinan

Juanita Hartbarger

Jack Hild

Margaret Jorgensen

Mike Kieswetter

Clive Lines, Director, Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation

Melissa Planert

Sharon Stanish

Randall Taylor

John Tomasovich

Dr. Gary Weir

Heidi Whitesell

GETTING PUBLISHED

All members of the geospatial intelligence community are welcome to submit articles of community-wide interest. Articles are 

edited for style, content and length. The copy deadline is the last 

Friday of the third month before publication. For details on submitting articles, send an e-mail to pathfinder@nga.mil.

The Pathfinder is the medium with which the National GeospatialIntelligence Agency enhances and promotes public awareness 

and understanding of the discipline 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 they are reproduced, please 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.

Letter to Our Readers

Strengthening Partnerships Around 

the World

As the importance of geospatial intelligence 

(GEOINT) expands throughout the world, the 

security of our nation and of our allies is well 

served by our foreign partner relationships. 

By “strengthening partnerships around the 

world,” the theme of this issue, NGA reinforces 

the ability of the United States and its allies to 

protect freedom around the globe. Several of 

the agency’s foreign partnerships are explored 

in these pages.

In a guest column, Clive Lines, Director of 

Australia’s Defence Imagery and Geospatial 

Organisation (DIGO), discusses several of the GEOINT benefits that our Commonwealth relationships provide. Our collaboration with the Multinational Geospatial 

Co-production Program and our cooperation on responding to Hurricane Katrina 

are two examples that illustrate the value of our relationship with DIGO. “Our 

Heritage: Commonwealth Friendships Stand the Test of Time” adds further historical references to these longstanding relationships.

Dawn Eilenberger, Director of NGA’s Office of International Affairs and Policy, 

shares her perspective on our international partnerships and their significance to 

our country’s national and international interests. As she explains in “Up Front: 

Collaborating with a World of Partners,” the global expansion of GEOINT and the 

resulting burden sharing of GEOINT responsibilities increases our ability to support mission-critical objectives.

“Norway Demonstrates World-Class GEOINT” ably describes the solid GEOINT 

contributions of this Scandinavian partner, which reach from pole to pole. 

“GEOINT Products Aid Disaster Recovery in Latin America” details many of NGA’s 

significant efforts to mitigate suffering in that region.

As illustrated by “NGA Forges Support for USAFRICOM,” the agency’s establishment of a team augmenting the recent standup of the U.S. Africa Command 

reflects our nation’s pledge to bolster our country’s African partners. “NGA Welcomes New German Geospatial Liaison” provides dynamic evidence of how the 

agency continues to invigorate our vital international partnerships.

Finally, in this issue we express our warm respect and best wishes to Paul 

Hurlburt upon his retirement in 2007 from the position of Pathfinder editor. For 

25 years, he capably served readers, significantly shaping the Pathfinder and its 

predecessor publications. His contributions will be missed. 

Our May/June issue will focus on the contributions of GEOINT and NGA’s leading role within the broader Intelligence Community.

Paul R. Weise

Director, Office of Corporate Communications
Guest Column

Benefits That Quad GEOINT Brings to the DIGO Mission

By Clive Lines, Director, Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation 

3Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008

Editor’s Note: The Defence Imagery and Geospatial 

Organisation (DIGO) is the lead geospatial and imagery 

intelligence organization in the Australian Department 

of Defence. DIGO provides geospatial intelligence, from 

imagery and other sources, in support of Australia’s 

defense and national interests. The United States, 

Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, which form 

the Quadripartite (Quad) Committee, share unique and 

special relationships concerning the sharing of geospatial 

intelligence (GEOINT). The Pathfinder invited Mr. Clive 

Lines, Director, DIGO, to share with our readers his insight 

on the Quad relationships.

DIGO was formed under an Australian Government 

directive on Nov. 8, 2000, by joining three agencies: the 

Australian Imagery Organisation, the Defence Topographic 

Agency, and the Directorate of Strategic Military Geographic Information. Each of these organisations already 

had well-established relationships within the Quad. These 

relationships have continued to grow and strengthen, particularly as the Quad Governance framework has matured. 

So, while DIGO as an organisation has only just celebrated 

its seventh birthday, our functions, and particularly our 

Quad relationships, have a long and rich history dating 

back many years. 

One of the most tangible outcomes of our Quad membership is our involvement in the Multinational Geospatial 

Co-production Program (MGCP). The MGCP’s aim is to 

produce high-resolution geospatial data around the 

world. While 28 nations are involved in MGCP, the Quad 

members are four of the 11 lead nations in the project. As 

lead nations, the Quad will have access to all the data that 

is produced. In addition to the 

obvious benefits of the MGCP, 

our involvement also provides opportunities for 

collaborative analytical 

engagement both with 

the Quad and other 

MGCP members. 

MGCP is just the tip 

of the iceberg as far as 

collaborative engagement with the Quad is concerned, 

though. Other engagements include daily updates with 

our 24/7 watch facilities, regular analyst-to-analyst liaison 

and, where practicable, meetings in person, as well as 

conference and seminar participation. The benefits to all 

Quad members include the sharing of knowledge with 

regard to sources and methods, as well as the sharing of 

tradecraft and training.

Training is one of the greatest benefits DIGO achieves 

from our Quad relationships. In 2007 DIGO commenced 

its inaugural in-house imagery training program. This 

program could not have been realized without the support of our Quad partners. Our training team drew on 

the experience of all the Quad members in developing 

the program, and our Canadian partner very generously 

loaned us an instructor for the inaugural course. We have 

just completed our second course, and the feedback from 

students and managers has been very positive.

Photo courtesy of DIGO

Clive Lines, Director, DIGO
4Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008

Recent collaboration for the Asia-Pacific Economic 

Cooperation (APEC) 2007 meetings is another great 

example of the benefits of the Quad relationships. APEC 

2007 culminated with the APEC Economic Leaders Week, 

which was held in early September 2007 in Sydney. With 

20 heads of state attending, there was much work done 

to prepare for the events. DIGO support to APEC was a 

multinational effort, including seven NGA personnel who 

were deployed in support of the joint operation. NGA staff 

assisted DIGO in demonstrating the PalanterraTM Common 

Operating Picture. With so many state and federal agencies conducting their own discrete operations simultaneously, it is essential to maintain situational awareness 

during these events. Traditionally, this is achieved through 

exchange of reports and face-to-face briefings at various 

times of the day. PalanterraTM was developed by the NGA’s 

Special Security Events team to assist in providing more 

seamless situational awareness. As a web-based technology, PalanterraTM can be modified to meet the specific 

needs of commanders and operators providing special 

security support to events such as APEC. PalanterraTM

was so well-received by Australian security and defence 

organisations that it is now the subject of formal capability 

development efforts.

DIGO was also able to assist NGA in its response to 

Hurricane Katrina through the provision of an analyst for a 

month. DIGO’s analyst drew on his experience in working 

on the Australian Government’s response to the devastating Southeast Asian tsunami in December 2004. 

We have separately contributed a range of unique Australian capabilities to the partnership. Our close proximity 

to the Defence and other government agencies in Australia 

also enables us to trial and demonstrate new collaborative 

techniques and products. Some of those unique products 

include facility maps, shipping watch reports, wide-area 

maritime surveillance (in collaboration with the United 

States and Australia’s Defence Science and Technology 

Organisation), and a rapidly expanding array of products 

providing context to other agency reporting. P

Devastation in Indonesia attests to the destruction of the 2004 Southeast 

Asian Tsunami. DIGO analysts assisted Australia’s response to the disaster.

DoD photo by PH1 Alan D. Monyelle, U.S. Navy
Up Front

Collaborating With a World of Partners

By Dawn Eilenberger

Forging relationships with foreign partners has 

become more important as the globalization of geospatial 

intelligence (GEOINT) changes the way the United States 

responds to a wide array of situations on the world stage. 

From coalition forces fighting the war on terror to first 

responders supporting disaster relief, it is clear that NGA’s 

relationships with its international partners support core 

mission requirements.

Collaboration in a coalition environment is one avenue 

of support, but it must be emphasized that our international partners have a tremendous wealth of assets to 

provide against a spectrum of intelligence issues. 

From agreements to share commercial imagery, 

to the ability to enhance NGA 

analysis, the agency is literally spanning the globe in 

collaborative efforts.

A Changing Global 

Landscape

The world of GEOINT 

has never been 

larger, more 

dynamic or 

more complex. Each passing month sees a news headline 

announcing that another country has broken into the satellite imagery collection arena. The past decade has seen 

an explosion in the number of countries that have entered 

into what was once a near-U.S. monopoly in 

imagery collection and analysis. 

5Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008
6Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008

Commercial space systems are also on the rise, adding a 

new dimension to the way we can view the world around 

us. The new reality is that NGA is not alone as a collector, 

provider and analyst of GEOINT. 

Agreement Expansion and Increased 

Opportunities

The expansion of GEOINT can be seen in virtually every 

corner of the globe. NGA has entered into formal arrangements with over 120 countries worldwide—equating to 

over 400 agreements. NGA is working in every region of 

the world to forge partnerships that can build capacity 

to enable international partners to operate in coalition 

environments, transform and modernize their defense 

structures, and protect common interests.

This new and robust GEOINT environment gives NGA 

and the nation increased opportunities to support critical 

mission areas. Burden sharing of GEOINT responsibilities is a win-win relationship for foreign partners and 

the United States. As NGA strives to improve the quality, 

timeliness and cost of GEOINT products, data and analytic 

exchanges enhance and add different insights and texture 

to common problems.

Nowhere is the value of shared geospatial responsibility 

more apparent than within the Multinational Geospatial 

Co-production Program (MGCP)—an agreement among 28 

member nations to produce digital vector data over some 

very important regions of the world. Each country individually benefits from data sharing, and the stipulation to also 

share with NATO allows NGA to bring a unique arrangement to bear that supports U.S. national security interests.

Benefits and Risks

While the number of relationships with international 

partners continues to grow, NGA must weigh the benefits 

and the resources required to support a relationship with 

the return that can be gained from such an investment. As 

part of the NGA Focus Area on building new international 

partnerships, an effective approach was developed that 

applies a set of evaluation criteria in deciding whether to 

pursue a new partnership initiative.

The ability to provide key source data or to support 

production and analysis in critical mission areas weighs 

heavily in evaluation decisions. The evaluation criteria 

also address contributions to broader foreign policy objectives. Coupled with considerations of costs and potential 

risks, the criteria ensure that NGA senior leaders share 

a common vision for a particular country, as well as for 

the support that NGA has agreed to provide as a result of 

that formal relationship. Each decision must be carefully 

weighed to ensure consistency with the international 

priorities of the Director of National Intelligence and Department of Defense.

The Payoff for International Collaboration

Examples of collaboration are not hard to find. In 2007, 

the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit was 

held in Sydney, Australia. This event required the combined 

efforts of mission partners in Australia along with NGA 

to produce the GEOINT support packages for protective 

operations for President Bush’s visit to the summit. The 

results of this collaboration and the exchange of GEOINT 

methodologies were viewed as a hallmark of success.

Our Commonwealth partners (Australia, the United 

Kingdom, and Canada) have contributed people who 

have been integrated into NGA production and who are 

working towards increased collaboration and analysis 

against hard problems. It is always important to bring best 

practices and different views to the analytic component 

of our business. When we exchange these different 

insights and challenge our perspectives with new thought 

processes, we gain a richer understanding of a particular 

problem or threat. Additionally, we are advancing toward 

an environment where common operating procedures help 

streamline the way we do business and enhance production in instances where we must operate in a coalition 

environment with our international partners.

The contributions of NGA’s international partners are so 

diverse. Partnering with foreign experts in GEOINT not only 

makes good sense, it helps us expand the way we confront 

challenges and understand the world around us. P

Dawn Eilenberger

is the Director of 

NGA’s Office of International Affairs and Policy.
Vice Adm. Murrett Hosts Maj. Gen. Cobelens of the 

Netherlands

By Melissa Planert and Mike Kieswetter

Building international rapport is vital to establishing 

enduring partnerships. These partnerships benefit the 

United States and its allies by allowing each country to 

bring its strengths to the table to accomplish mutual 

goals. One way to encourage these relationships is via 

counterpart visits. In December 2007, NGA Director Vice 

Adm. Robert B. Murrett, U.S. Navy, hosted Maj. Gen. Pieter 

Cobelens, the Director of the Defense Intelligence and 

Security Service (DISS), Kingdom of the Netherlands. Lt. 

Col. Peter Loukes, Maj. Bonnette Hunting van Zuijlen, and 

Capt. Minne Ayzo Boelens accompanied Gen. Cobelens on 

his visit.

The Netherlands Ministry of Defense is considering the 

establishment of an “NGA-like” organization to combine 

geospatial and imagery specialties into geospatial intelligence 

(GEOINT). NGA has been a leader in GEOINT and felt honored 

to provide information to help this key ally achieve its goal. 

The Netherlands is an important partner in the Global 

War on Terror. Among its many contributions is its strong 

support to the war in Afghanistan. It has taken an active 

leadership role commanding Regional Command South 

and providing troops to assist with security and reconstruction. NGA welcomed the opportunity to learn from the 

Netherlands’ experiences and to thank its officials for their 

country’s steadfast commitment to the war effort. The visit 

also showed NGA that there are opportunities for further 

discussion and cooperation on a global scale between the 

DISS and NGA. 

The five-day visit included office calls with the Under 

Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, the Principal Deputy 

Director for National Intelligence and the Directors of the 

Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, 

National Security Agency, and NGA. This provided the 

U.S. Intelligence Community with a superb opportunity to 

strengthen ties and discuss mutual goals and concerns.

The NGA Office of International Affairs and Policy (OIP) 

hosted several days of orientation at both NGA East and 

West sites. Discussions centered on the mission, organization, and unique products and services NGA provides to 

support multiple domestic and international partners. 

NGA shared the growing pains experienced in establishing 

GEOINT as a discipline over the last decade and the benefits that have come as a result. The extraordinary diversity of the NGA mission was showcased, and examples of 

support to the warfighters were emphasized.

Finally, NGA spotlighted the important partnerships with 

corporate partners DigitalGlobe and GeoEye. Both companies provided an orientation to their operations and information on their agreements with NGA. Another highlight of 

the tour was a visit to Ball Aerospace, providing the delegation with the opportunity to see satellites in production. 

Spending the entire week with the director of a foreign 

intelligence service was a tremendous opportunity to gain 

fresh perspectives and insights into a wide variety of issues 

as seen though the eyes of a close international partner. As 

NGA goes forward to strengthen ties with the Netherlands, 

this successful visit renewed and enhanced the understanding of each other’s missions and goals. Most importantly, NGA has built a bridge between the senior leaders 

of two organizations that will serve well in a partnership 

focused on support to the warfighters of both nations. P

7 Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008

Melissa Planert and Mike Kieswetter

are Staff Officers in NGA’s 

Office of International Affairs 

and Policy.

Photo by Rob Cox

NGA Director Vice Adm. Robert B. Murrett presents a map of the Netherlands 

to DISS Director Maj. Gen. Pieter Cobelens.
NGA and Mongolia Map New Horizons

By Margaret Jorgensen and Chuck Boyer 

Due to Mongolia’s strategic location, NGA’s 

geospatial requirements in the region, and the Department of Defense’s increasing activity in the region, NGA 

has been actively working with the young democracy 

for the exchange of geospatial products and services. 

Since NGA first entered into an exchange and cooperative 

agreement with Mongolia in 2004, its relations with their 

government have grown to include Mongolia’s Ministry of 

Construction and Urban Development, the General Staff 

of the Armed Forces of Mongolia, the National Emergency 

Management Agency, and the Border Protection General 

Board of Mongolia. 

Mongolia is considered by some to be a vibrant, if fragile, democracy that has accomplished much in the past 

two decades since its almost 70 

years under communism. 

With its large land mass, 

small population, and 

numerous natural 

resources, Mongolia’s 

economy grew at 

an annual rate of 8.6 percent last year. It is strategically 

positioned between Russia and China and is touted as 

an outstanding global citizen, as evidenced by its status 

as a nuclear weapons-free zone and strong support of 

international peacekeeping efforts. Mongolia provides 

peacekeeping support in Afghanistan and Iraq, and 

since 2002, also regularly rotates its troops to United 

Nations missions in Africa (Sierra Leone) and the Balkans 

(Kosovo). Furthermore, Mongolia continues to host the 

Khaan Quest, an annual multinational peacekeeping 

exercise that has up to 30 different countries participating 

or observing.

How NGA Benefits

Detailed gravity and elevation data over Mongolia are 

helping NGA’s GEOINT Sciences Office develop a highly 

accurate geoid model, the vertical reference surface that 

closely approximates mean sea level over the continents. 

In addition to conducting airborne gravity surveys in 

Mongolia, an absolute gravity survey of five diverse sites 

throughout the country was conducted that assisted NGA 

in maintaining World Geodetic System 84, the global horizontal reference system. All of these efforts work together 

to provide improved geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) 

support to NGA’s customers, especially in the areas 

of precision inertial navigation and low-earth orbit 

modeling. NGA has also received Mongolia’s geographic names database and copies of the latest 

1:50,000-scale map products of the Five Hills Training Center in Mongolia, which were created using 

NGA source data.

8Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008

At 90 feet tall, a gold-plated Buddhist statue towers 

within a monastery in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Photo by Tim Bramstedt
Payoff for 

Mongolia

A precise geoid 

model benefits the 

Mongolians, too, 

as it allows them to 

properly reference 

vertical feature data. Furthermore, four Mongolian agencies received loaned geographic information system (GIS) 

workstations from NGA that will give them a basic digital 

geospatial analysis and exploitation capability. Additional 

training will aid them in creating products that meet NGA 

standards and specifications.

In June 2007, Chuck Boyer, an International Affairs 

and Policy staff officer, led an NGA delegation of seven 

employees to Mongolia. They met with NGA’s four most 

recent agreement partners plus Mongolia’s National Defense University, the State Police, the General Intelligence 

Agency, and the Civil Aviation Authority. Accomplishments 

of the visit ranged from discussing additional cooperative 

projects, checking on the status of the GIS workstations that are on loan from NGA, conducting GeoNames 

(geographic names) training, and holding initial discussions about a safety of flight navigation Memorandum of 

Understanding. A highlight of the visit, and one that shows 

the value the Mongolians place on their relationship with 

NGA, was the presentation of the “Leading Expert in Land 

Affairs in Mongolia” award to Steve Kenyon, of NGA’s 

GEOINT Sciences Office, by Mongolia’s Minister of Construction and Urban Development. This was the first time 

this award was ever bestowed on a foreign national.

Margaret Jorgensen and Chuck Boyer

are Staff Officers in the Office of 

International Affairs and Policy.

What’s Next

In fiscal year 2008, NGA plans to conduct a gravity survey in an extremely remote and void 

area of northern Mongolia, which will continue to improve 

the geoid and provide improved topographic modeling 

of the country. Other potential projects being considered 

include geographic names and training. NGA’s relations 

with Mongolia continue to progress, coinciding with 

Department of Defense and State Department increased 

activities in the area. P

9Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008

A replica of a 13th century village evidences Mongolia’s proud heritage.

Photos by Tim Bramstedt

A reproduced Buddhist spirit ring surrounds a center prayer area.

Guard Towers overlook a model 13th century Mongolian village.
Norway Demonstrates World-Class GEOINT

By Jack Hild

Latitude 79° north. Just an imaginary line in an 

ancient cartographer’s head, and yet, as NGA representatives crossed it, all eyes were glued to their GPS display. 

This visit to the geodetic ground station in Ny-Ålesund, 

Norway, in the Svalbard Archipelago, was the last day of 

a 2007 “winter in August” trip that included nearly every 

aspect of geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) demonstrated 

by NGA’s Norwegian partners.

Members of NGA’s Office of International Affairs and 

Policy, Source Operations and Management Directorate, 

and Commercial Remote Sensing Program began the trip 

in Oslo with a review of NGA’s bilateral and co-production 

activities that support the National System for Geospatial 

Intelligence (NSG) and the requirements of our allies. 

Norway supports its deployed forces and, like NGA, gives 

them top priority.

Norway also acts as the procurement executive on 

behalf of Denmark, Sweden and Finland for the Nordic 

contribution to the Multinational Geospatial Co-production Program (MGCP). In that role, they are the largest 

producer in the MGCP community and an influential leader 

of the program. With funding, standards and a production plan in place, these Nordic countries are extracting 

geospatial content over priority areas extending from the 

Arctic Ocean to Afghanistan.

Time Dominant Operations

Heading two hours north to Tromsø (69° N) on the 

second day of the trip, the NGA representatives visited the 

headquarters of Kongsberg Satellite Services, or KSAT. 

Owned by the Norwegian government and Kongsberg 

Defence and Aerospace Acquisition System, KSAT provides 

ground station services for over 30 government and 

private sector polar orbiting satellites that include communication, weather and imaging sensors.

In addition to operating ground stations, KSAT provides 

time-dominant services for oil spill, ice and ship detection. 

These commercial applications of GEOINT analysis are 

evidence of a growing demand for near-real time support. 

In their oil spill detection service, KSAT analysts review 

commercial synthetic aperture radar imagery for possible 

oil slicks and, upon detection, notify law enforcement and 

environmental authorities within 30 minutes of imaging. 

This service is available throughout European coastal 

waters. Emphasizing their sense of urgency in this mission, 

their motto is “No one is interested in yesterday’s oil spill.”

A second time-dominant service being offered is ice 

tracking in Arctic and North Atlantic waters. Using low 

bandwidth communication, KSAT disseminates near-real 

time imagery to fishing and shipping fleets to provide 

situational awareness of ice conditions.

Location, Location, Location

Traveling two more hours north, the NGA visitors arrived 

at the Svalbard Archipelago. There, the town of Longyearbyen (78° N) hosts the majority of the KSAT antennas. 

Operating 24/7 year-round, this station downloads data 

and uploads instructions 14 times per day per satellite. Owing to its location, climate and professional staff, KSAT has 

not missed an operation in 10 years, a remarkable record 

of providing quality service. To illustrate the importance of 

location, KSAT has just opened an additional site in Troll, 

10Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008

A survey antenna in Ny-Ålesund, Norway, accents the imposing landscape of the Svalbard Archipelago.

Photo courtesy of OIP
Antarctica, almost due 

south of Longyearbyen, 

giving them pole-to-pole 

coverage as well as sig-

nificant growth opportuni-

ties as the polar orbiting 

constellation grows.

The Lesson

Overall, the NGA visitors took 

away three key points. First was 

the professionalism and commit-

ment of their Norwegian hosts who 

briefed and demonstrated high-end 

GEOINT capabilities. Some may consid-

er Norway a geographically small nation, 

but their diverse competencies in GEOINT 

and related fields are world-class. Second 

was the performance record of KSAT—a 

highly efficient, no-frills operation 

achieving outstanding results. Third 

were the commercial applications 

for time-dominant GEOINT. 

Only time will tell how 

widespread this use of 

GEOINT will become, and 

it will be interesting to observe the evolution. As this visit 

to Norway demonstrated, one thing is certain: the next 

generation of NGA GEOINT analysts will exist in a vastly 

different professional environment. It will be global, it will 

be technical and it will move fast. P

Jack Hild

a former NGA cartog-

rapher, is currently serv-

ing as Deputy Director of 

the Source Operations 

and Management Direc-

torate.

11Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008
NGA responds when disaster strikes, locally or 

globally, and is the world’s leading agency of its kind, with 

international partners circling the globe. 

Partnerships with counterpart organizations in Latin 

America since the early 1940s allow NGA and its partners 

to operate efficiently within the geospatial disciplines. 

Partnership, however, can grow to be more than adherence to the agency’s legal obligations as stated in the 

Basic Exchange and Cooperative Agreements that NGA 

maintains with its partners in Latin America. An example 

of collaboration is how NGA responded to assist in mitigation of a wide range of natural disasters in Latin America. 

Throughout 2007, NGA was presented with numerous 

requests for prompt and responsive support to facilitate 

planning and mitigation of natural disasters in Latin 

America. Agency products assisted the response during last year’s hurricane season, which affected Central 

America and the Caribbean. Other products mitigated fires 

in Mexico, floods in Panama, and earthquakes in Peru. 

Requests originated from both U.S. representatives in the 

impacted region and from NGA’s foreign partners. In other 

cases, NGA’s regional offices in the United States and 

abroad requested that the Office of International Affairs 

and Policy (OIP) inform disaster-stricken partners that 

NGA is prepared to assist them. 

In August, NGA swiftly coordinated the release of 

commercial imagery and geospatial products with the 

Netherlands, the United Kingdom and France in an effort 

to assist a vast number of Caribbean countries affected by 

Hurricane Dean. Also, in August 2007 the agency quickly 

collected imagery to assist disaster responders after an 

earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale destroyed 

much of Ica, a town in southern Peru. 

NGA provided Nicaragua with commercial imagery identifying entire towns that were isolated when bridges and 

roads collapsed from the force of Hurricane Felix in early 

September 2007. At the request of the U.S. Defense Attaché 

Office in the embassy in Managua, NGA also provided FalconLiteTM software and training to the host nation’s armed 

forces to enhance their capacity to respond to the situation. 

In December 2007, NGA responded to a request for 

commercial imagery from the Dominican Republic following devastation from Hurricane Olga. This storm formed 

during the last week of the hurricane season, extending 

the requirement for NGA’s support.

OIP closely coordinates with elements throughout the 

agency in response to commercial imagery requests from 

the U.S. Embassy in country as well as NGA’s regional 

offices in Guatemala, which covers Central America and 

the Caribbean, and in Peru, which also covers Bolivia and 

Ecuador. Critical information coming from NGA’s Integrated Watch gives the agency a first alert advantage in 

responding to natural disasters. 

As ever, NGA remains committed to its support to its 

partners in their time of need. NGA’s response to domestic 

natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina demonstrated 

the range of assistance the combat support agency and 

member of the Intelligence Community can provide to those 

charged with reacting to disasters. The efforts to assist in 

similar situations outside the United States illustrates that 

NGA’s concerns and ability to assist those in disaster situations are not bound by international borders.P

GEOINT Products Aid Disaster Recovery in Latin America

By Eduardo Elinan 

Eduardo Elinan

is a Staff Officer in 

the Office of International Affairs and Policy.

12Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008

Hurricane Felix devastated parts of Nicaragua in September 2007. NGA support assisted recovery efforts.

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Zachary Borden
Assistant Secretary of State Commends NGA for 

Annapolis Support

By Heather Cox

As if helping football stars, presidential candidates 

and firefighters weren’t enough, NGA recently supported 

a historic meeting that brought longtime enemies Israel 

and Palestine to the peace table. The meeting, known as 

the Annapolis Conference, took place at the U.S. Naval 

Academy (USNA) during Nov. 23–24, 2007. It resulted in 

an agreement to start negotiations leading to the eventual 

establishment of a Palestinian state and the realization of 

Israeli-Palestinian peace.

NGA’s involvement began just a month earlier, in the 

midst of assisting with the California wildfires operation, 

the Super Bowl, and preparing for the 2008 Republican 

and Democratic National Conventions. Ultimately, the hard 

work and overtime paid off.

Greg Starr, Assistant Secretary of State for the Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS), said, 

“The Annapolis Peace Conference was an unqualified 

success, and we owe a great deal of thanks to the many 

federal, state and local law enforcement and security 

agencies. Among those providing superb support was the 

NGA contingent, who provided us with up-to-the minute 

geographic photo and mapping 

support linked to security site activities, which provided 

DS agents and other security and law enforcement with a 

new level of situational awareness.” 

History

The request for NGA’s involvement came in via the 

Department of State NGA Support Team (NST) on Oct. 25, 

2007, from the Department of State’s Major Event Coordination Unit (MECU). The order was tall: maps of Annapolis 

and surrounding roads, a 3-D model of the USNA, and a 

command center to monitor the activity. 

In general, the Homeland Security Division (PMH) takes 

care of special events within continental United States. The 

regional Analysis and Production Directorate office and the 

Office of Counterterrorism usually support events outside 

the continental United States like the Olympics, Pan American Games, and the Cricket World Cup. The typical level of 

support for preparation for the event consists of providing 

A 3-D model features the USNA (top center). NGA produced the model in 

support of the Annapolis Peace Conference.

Photo by Heather Cox

13Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008
14Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008

the latest geospatial foundation data, identifying the local 

fire and law enforcement locations and emergency medical services, performing a counterterrorism analysis of 

critical infrastructure susceptible to a terrorist attack, and 

identifying any foreign or domestic threats that may target 

the event. PMH reached out to additional internal offices 

to obtain support, given the complexities of this event in 

addition to the current special event workload and the 

crisis support for the California wildfires. 

According to PMH staff, this was a good example of an 

NGA federated approach for collaboration of a National 

Security Special Event. NGA offices provided support to 

the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, the lead federal agency 

for the event, and to various other agencies including the 

following: 

» the Department of State’s Mobile Security Deployment Office for protection of Dr. Condoleezza Rice, 

Secretary of State, and visiting foreign dignitaries

» the Department of Homeland Security for domestic 

threat analysis

» the FBI 

» the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command 

(SPAWAR) for communications support

» the Defense Threat Reduction Agency for hazard 

plume model analysis

» the Secret Service for protection of the president of 

the United States within the USNA

» local law enforcement officials from Anne Arundel 

County, Prince George’s County and the National 

Capital Region. 

In addition, it was estimated that over 1,000 law enforcement officials supported the event.

NGA participated in the Annapolis Interagency Command Center (ICC). The ICC was organized by the Bureau 

of Diplomatic Security. There, NGA staff monitored the 

complicated network of activity surrounding the two days 

of events. NGA’s on-site event team, the office of SPAWAR, 

the FBI NST, and Office of Global Support (OGS) technical 

representatives provided on-site geospatial intelligence 

(GEOINT) support, communication connectivity, and situational awareness capability to all agencies involved.

Products and Services

NGA supported the conference in many ways. Various 

offices created pocket maps for drivers; Route 50 flip 

books; GEOINT event books, including depictions of 

points of interest with relevant analysis; hardcopy and 

softcopy GeoPDF® contingency and mission-planning 

graphics; and the latest 2007 Orthorectified Commercial 

Imagery Base for Annapolis. In addition, NGA provided 

geospatial foundation data to the ICC and helped to set up 

communication support for the deployment team.

NGA representatives reported that the security aspects 

of the event went well, and Department of State officials 

were very pleased with NGA’s support in preparation for it. 

The 3-D Annapolis model, in particular, from the GEOINT 

Solutions Division, was used heavily. The MECU used it as 

both an orientation and training tool during its briefings 

to both federal and local law enforcement agencies. The 

model, milled from a block of polyurethane, generally 

would take between six and eight weeks to produce, but 

given the urgency of the international situation, the production staff created the model in 30 days. The model will 

continue to be used at the USNA for training and tabletop 

simulation purposes and is a permanent symbol of NGA’s 

support of an international landmark in time. P

Heather Cox

is a Staff Officer in 

the Office of Corporate 

Communications.
Timely and accurate aeronautical data is critical to 

safe and efficient global flight operations. Prior to Oct. 

1, 2006, the Digital Aeronautical Flight Information File 

(DAFIFTM), Flight Information Publications (FLIPs), and 

other aeronautical datasets were available to the public 

on NGA’s World Wide Web site, www.nga.mil.

On Oct. 1, 2006, NGA was required to remove this data 

from the Web to protect the copyrighted aeronautical 

information that originated from foreign partners and had 

been incorporated into NGA’s aeronautical datasets. Not 

having access to these datasets would introduce significant risk for the U.S. Department of Defense, other federal 

and state agency users, general aviation, commercial 

airlines and vendors who profited from these datasets. 

In addition, NGA’s foreign partners also rely on this data 

to support their various air platforms purchased from the 

United States, such as F-16s, F-18s and C-130s, for operations and safety of flight.

NGA’s foreign partners provide invaluable aeronautical 

data through various types of agreements, typically informal Memorandums for Record (MFRs) recording verbal 

arrangements or annexes to formal, signed, legally binding Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreements (BECAs). 

To allow continued and uninterrupted access to NGA aeronautical datasets, NGA’s Office of General Counsel crafted 

a solution based on the principle contained in the 1947 

Convention on Civil Aviation (the “Chicago Convention”), 

Annex 15, paragraph 3.4. Under this provision of the Chicago Convention, a party receiving copyrighted material 

may use or disseminate that material on the condition 

that all recipients are advised that the material is copyright protected and that the product is so annotated.

Under the above approach, as long as NGA indicates 

the datasets are copyrighted, this data can be shared with 

other countries for the safety of aviation. To implement 

this, NGA decided on a two-pronged process. Administrative protections were created by modifying existing or 

creating new agreements to add binding language protecting copyrights, while technical protections were created by establishing a secure Web site on the Web. Until 

a permanent technical solution was in place, NGA used a 

protected site on the Web as an interim stopgap effort for 

digital access. 

The staff officers in the Office of International Affairs 

and Policy (OIP) and the Aeronautical Services representatives in the Office of Global Navigation led the effort to 

modify the BECAs and to convert the MFRs to more formal 

signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs), respectively. There are over 40 BECAs and 120 MOUs. 

The new technical solution for making digital aeronautical datasets available for access by NGA’s foreign partners 

will be dissemination on the Defense Security Cooperation 

Agency (DSCA) Security Cooperation Information Portal 

(SCIP). The SCIP enables foreign partners to access a 

variety of security assistance features gathered into “communities.” NGA will be a new “community” on SCIP. Using 

SCIP to disseminate the aeronautical products is new for 

SCIP and is enthusiastically supported by Vice Adm. Jeffery A. Wieringa, U.S. Navy, Director, DSCA.

Digital aeronautical data, especially the DAFIFTM, is 

critical to safety of flight for foreign partners as well as to 

the Department of Defense for mission planning. Partnering with DSCA to continue to make this data available to 

NGA’s foreign partners saved the U. S. government significant resources by not having to develop a parallel system 

to serve a multinational customer set. Through this joint 

problem-solving approach, which involved entities inside 

and outside NGA, national security objectives continue to 

be met while saving taxpayer dollars. P

15Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008

NGA Supplies Digital Aeronautical Data Access for 

Foreign Partners

By April Choi-Pawlowski and Sharon Stanish

April Choi-Pawlowski and Sharon Stanish

April Choi-Pawlowski is the 

NGA Foreign Military Sales 

Program Director working in the 

Office of International Affairs and 

Policy (OIP). Sharon Stanish is a 

Staff Officer with OIP’s International 

Support Team. The Office of General 

Counsel and the Office of Global 

Navigation contributed to this article.

An F-16 takes wing. Foreign partners rely on aeronautical data to support 

various air platforms purchased from the United States.

DoD photo by Capt. Tana R. H. Stevenson
NGA Forges Support for USAFRICOM

By Juanita Hartbarger

On Feb. 6, 2007, President George W. Bush directed 

the establishment of the U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM 

or AFRICOM) and set as its goal to “...strengthen our security cooperation with Africa and help to create new opportunities to bolster the capabilities of our partners in Africa.”

NGA Director Vice Adm. Robert B. Murrett determined 

that NGA would become an important part of AFRICOM 

from its beginning with a team of analysts and experts 

inside the command’s footprint. An NGA Support Team 

(NST) would actively partner with AFRICOM. The timeline 

was short, so NGA moved quickly to rearrange resources 

and stand up its presence inside the command.

In December 2006, the president made the initial decision to launch the command. On May 23, 2007, three 

months after AFRICOM was established, NGA created an 

AFRICOM NST planning group to determine how best to 

support this new command and then translate its decisions 

into action. By September 2007, NGA had assigned one of 

its senior executives, Peter Lund, as NST Chief. In October 

2007, AFRICOM reached initial operating capability.

What is AFRICOM?

The creation of AFRICOM unifies Department of 

Defense responsibilities for 53 countries under one command—responsibilities that had been distributed among 

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16Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008

Previously divided among three U.S. commands, responsibility for Africa was recently unified 

with the establishment of AFRICOM. Responsibility for Egypt is shared with CENTCOM.
the European Command (EUCOM), the Central Command 

(CENTCOM) and the Pacific Command (PACOM). On the 

African continent, only Egypt does not fall entirely under 

AFRICOM; responsibility for Egypt is shared between AFRICOM and CENTCOM.

AFRICOM is currently a sub-unified command subordinate to EUCOM and is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. It is scheduled to become a unified command and 

reach full operating capability (FOC) by Sep. 30, 2008. 

AFRICOM’s draft mission statement defines its goal: to 

enhance “a mutually supporting stable, secure, and prosperous African environment through sustained U.S. government engagement with African, national, and international 

partners” and to conduct “military operations as directed.”

NGA’s Mission and Achievements

Lund, with more than 25 years of experience in the 

Intelligence Community in both analysis and management, 

was the first senior official from a combat support agency 

to arrive in Stuttgart. At present, he and his deputy lead a 

small team, but that doesn’t affect the long-term vision.

“The focus of the command,” according to Lund, “will 

be on a non-kinetic mission set, including humanitarian 

assistance programs, disaster relief, resource development, construction projects and overall nation building. 

These mission sets are in addition to the more traditional 

ones such as peacekeeping and counterterrorism. GEOINT 

has much to offer in the execution of these missions, particularly in providing the sociocultural context where these 

missions will be conducted.”

Lund’s observation about the role of geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) at AFRICOM is more than just an exercise 

in rhetoric. In less than six months, the NST has accomplished a great deal. In addition to putting its leadership in 

place, the NST has:

» Developed a GEOINT Concept of Operations for the 

Command

» Developed a comprehensive transition plan for NGA 

personnel from the CENTCOM and EUCOM NSTs to 

staff analytic positions at AFRICOM

» Continued the accelerated development of GEOINT 

information systems and infrastructure for the Command as initiated by the EUCOM NST—a collaboration between NGA’s Enterprise Operations Directorate 

and a senior, on-site representative from NGA’s 

Acquisition Directorate

» Fully and seamlessly integrated itself into the command structure and daily activities, including participation in meetings with AFRICOM Commander Gen. 

William E. Ward and the senior staff

The Way Ahead

Lund stresses the importance of ensuring that NGA’s 

systems and architecture are successfully established 

and that analysts are in place to provide support to AFRICOM in Stuttgart when it reaches FOC, as well as to the 

headquarters staff when it moves to its future home on 

the African continent. In addition, according to Lund, “We 

need to educate the command on the value of GEOINT 

in supporting their mission set. One of the greatest challenges will be to continue to secure foundation geospatial 

data to enable us to generate tailored products.” 

Lund sees the AFRICOM NST as a unique opportunity for 

NGA to lend its voice, its expertise and its resources as a 

partner—“to participate in the shaping of a new command 

from the ground up.” P

Juanita Hartbarger

 is a Public Affairs 

Staff Officer in the 

Office of Corporate Communications, Internal 

Communications Branch. 

Peter Lund contributed to 

this article.

17Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008
Partnerships

NGA Welcomes New German Geospatial Liaison

By Heidi Whitesell

NGA has a long-standing geospatial informationsharing relationship with Germany, the primary partners 

being the German Federal Ministry of Defense (FMOD) and 

the Bundeswehr Geoinformation Office (BGIO). Germany 

has been a reliable partner in the Global War on Terror 

and in other key areas of concern to the U.S. Department 

of Defense and several federal agencies. In particular, 

the NGA geospatial cooperation with the BGIO is one of 

its most valuable and fruitful partnerships; the recent 

establishment of a BGIO liaison officer to NGA promises to 

strengthen an already robust relationship. 

The BGIO serves as the central institution for the 

Bundeswehr Geoinformation Service (BGIS). BGIS was 

established by merging the Bundeswehr Geographic Office, the German Military Geophysical Office, the German 

Geophysical School, and elements of the German Army 

Topographic Service, as well as elements of the German 

Air Force and Navy into a single organization. The BGIO is 

the sole provider of geospatial information to the German 

Military Forces. The organization maintains a worldwide 

geodatabase that it uses to produce a range of products, 

including Image City Maps (ICMs) (German version), Topographic Line Maps (TLMs), aeronautical products, digital 

data sets, and meteorological planning and forecast materials for the German Military and NATO. To accomplish 

its tasks, the BGIO works with many military agencies, 

civilian authorities, scientific institutions and international 

companies, as well as foreign partners.

NGA and BGIO’s geospatial exchange and co-production 

arrangements are extensive and varied. The two organizations exchange topographic, aeronautic, and hydrographic 

data in hardcopy and digital formats. They also enjoy a 

co-production arrangement that satisfies both nations’ 

military requirements and deployments. BGIO is a partner 

in the Multinational Geospatial Co-production Program 

(MGCP), which is designed to coordinate high-resolution 

vector data production. The topography co-production 

arrangement with the BGIO and its MGCP production commitments currently focus on the North African region. NGA 

also has aeronautical product and data exchange arrangements with the German Air Force Traffic Safety Office and 

with the civilian equivalent.

Director of the 

BGIO, Brig. Gen. 

Walter SchmidtBleker, is also 

the Director of 

BGIS and as such 

is responsible for 

all geoinformation matters 

within the FMOD. 

Schmidt-Bleker 

has long been a 

strong supporter 

of the U.S.–German relationship. In June 

2007, NGA Director Vice Adm. 

Robert B. Murrett confirmed to Schmidt-Bleker NGA’s 

support of the establishment of a German NGA–BGIO 

liaison position.

The NGA–BGIO liaison officer, Maj. Ole Fraehmke, will 

be located at and under the administrative control of the 

Commander, German Armed Forces Command (United 

States and Canada) in Reston, Va. Fraehmke has worked 

with NGA for a number of years on geospatial matters. It 

is anticipated that his areas of responsibility as the NGA–

BGIO liaison will include the coordination of NGA–BGIO 

programs existing under the aegis of the U.S.–German 

Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement, as well as 

helping coordinate joint training programs for work processes of joint production at German and U.S. facilities. 

Fraehmke arrived in Reston in fall 2007 and will formally 

begin in his new role in 2008. NGA looks forward to welcoming 

Schmidt-Bleker to NGA for the official ceremony in spring 2008 

establishing the NGA–BGIO geospatial liaison position. P

Heidi Whitesell

is the Chief of the 

Germany Team in the 

Office of International 

Affairs and Policy.

18Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008

 Photo courtesy of BGIO

Maj. Ole Fraehmke, NGA-BGIO liaison officer
Working for NGA

Keeping an Eye on GPS Station Ecuador

By John Tomasovich and Randall Taylor

Vern Perdue has a small but important job with 

NGA. He is the NGA point of contact (POC) for the Global 

Positioning System (GPS) satellite tracking station in 

Quito, Ecuador. The Quito site is one of 11 unmanned GPS 

stations located in such exotic locales as Buenos Aires, 

Argentina; Papeete, Tahiti; Pretoria, South Africa and Wellington, New Zealand. 

NGA’s GPS monitor station network supplies accurate 

geodetic measurements for the 

agency’s geospatial 

intelligence (GEOINT) 

mission. NGA 

supplies realtime data from 

its GPS stations to 

the U.S. Air Force, 

which operates the 

GPS satellites and 

manages the daily 

task of calculating 

fresh GPS satellite 

orbital parameters. Over 

half the data 

used for GPS 

satellite accuracy comes 

from NGA. Telecommunications, 

weapons systems support, plate 

tectonics studies and navigation 

are among the diverse commercial, 

military, scientific and recreational 

applications of GPS technology 

worldwide. 

The Quito GPS station is located in the Instituto Geográfico 

Militar (IGM), Ecuador’s military 

mapping agency and one of 

NGA’s longest international partners. 

The IGM facility, on 

a hill overlooking 

north Quito, is 

an outstanding location for the station. It resides at an 

approximate elevation of 2850 meters above sea level and 

20 kilometers south of the equatorial latitude that gives 

Ecuador its name. 

Navigation satellite tracking operations in Ecuador 

began in 1967, when Special Mission Tracking Program 

(SMTP) Station 30121 was established north of Quito. 

Initially, one Inter-American Geodetic Survey (IAGS) technician and two IGM technicians operated the station 24 

19Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008

Vern Perdue inspects the GPS station

in Quito, Ecuador.

Photo by John Tomasovich
hours a day on rotating shifts. In the 1980s, SMTP evolved 

into GPS, and the station eventually evolved to unmanned 

operations. Although the NGA stations are managed 

remotely from NGA’s network station control center in St. 

Louis, on-site POCs are needed to troubleshoot and provide hands-on assistance when needed to ensure smooth 

and accurate operations. 

As POC, Perdue is on call 24/7 and visits the station 

weekly to visually inspect and clean the GPS instruments, 

check them for anomalies, and swap out equipment when 

necessary. He also acts as NGA liaison to the IGM and 

tracks the monthly expenses related to the station. Normally, the biggest problem at the site is dust. Perdue may 

also be called in to ensure GPS components are up and 

running correctly after an electrical outage. 

In the event of more serious problems, a technical team 

from the NGA Office of GEOINT Sciences, GPS Division, 

notifies Perdue. By his account, the technicians are very 

patient, walking him through the tangle of wires, sockets 

and circuits to troubleshoot problems, sometimes by trial 

and error. Two years ago the weather/humidity sensor 

and sending unit needed to be replaced, requiring Perdue 

to stand on a small, elevated platform and reach up to 

unscrew the device. Later, a lightning bolt struck the IGM, 

and he was called on to replace the GPS antenna mounted 

on a tower above the elevator shaft on the IGM roof. Not 

bad for a guy who recently turned 82 years young.

 Perdue’s career has closely tracked the growth of the 

geodesy field as it developed into NGA’s current operations. He began his career in 1951 at the geodetic training 

school in Panama as a triangulation observer on Escudo 

de Veraguas Island. Perdue soon moved to Colombia as 

part of a team running a geodetic level line between Cali 

and Cartagena, walking the entire round-trip distance of 

roughly 650 miles in a 10-month period. In 1953 Perdue 

was assigned to IAGS in Cuba, where he spent five years 

surveying and collecting tide data in Cuba, Jamaica and 

the Cayman Islands. This work was to establish basic 

horizontal and vertical control for U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers mapping projects under way in the Americas. 

Perdue was later hired by the Aero Service Corporation 

in Amman, Jordan, serving as project manager for a U.S. 

government contract to map the Kingdom of Jordan. Here, 

Perdue participated in building the control network required for mapping the cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. 

In 1964, Perdue returned to South America to stay. As chief 

of geodesy for IAGS Peru, he helped complete the first 

geodetic survey of the lowlands east of the Andes, in the 

Peruvian Amazon. In 1969, he moved to Quito as project 

engineer and was responsible for the full range of cooperative mapping, charting and geodetic programs in Ecuador. 

One highlight was the 1985 publication of the first bilingual 

topographic line maps produced under the U.S. Southern 

Command Topographic Augmentation Mapping Program. 

After 41 years in the field, Perdue declined an offer to move 

to the agency’s site in Bethesda, Md., and retired from 

the Defense Mapping Agency in 1992. At that time, the 

Ecuadorean government honored him with the “Medal of 

Atahaulpa,” a presidential decoration awarded to foreigners for contributions benefiting the Republic of Ecuador.

For Perdue, working as POC is a labor of love, allowing 

him to visit his old stomping grounds at the IGM, remain 

in touch with friends at NGA and add to his lifelong legacy 

in geodesy. Originally from Eugene, Ore., Perdue and his 

high school sweetheart, Millie, married before moving to 

Panama and celebrated their 61st anniversary together 

last year. Amid their travels, they raised six children who 

were born across the western hemisphere in the United 

States, Colombia, Cuba and Peru. 

Reflecting on GPS technology, Perdue marvels that what 

took IAGS engineers years to achieve can now be accomplished in months. “GPS was only a dream at that time,” 

he says, but, “While it would have eliminated the difficulties, it would have eliminated all the adventure”—like the 

time Millie’s flight from Quito was hijacked to Cuba, or 

evenings along the Jordan and Saudi Arabia border with 

a young Peter O’Toole and others on the set of “Lawrence 

of Arabia.” Perdue has no intention of slowing down. “If 

there is no age limit, I’d like to stay as POC for the Quito 

GPS station, at least until a new technology replaces it.” P

John Tomasovich and Randall Taylor

John Tomasovich is Chief of 

the NGA Regional Office in Lima, 

Peru. He is assigned to the NGA 

Support Team to the U.S. Southern 

Command and is responsible for 

NGA co-production programs in Peru, 

Ecuador and Bolivia. Randall Taylor 

is the Technical Team Lead for the 

GPS Monitor Station Network Control Center, where he leads the 

technical and logistical command and control for NGA’s 11 globally 

dispersed tracking stations.

20Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008
Our Heritage

Commonwealth Friendships Stand the Test of Time

By Dr. Gary E. Weir

We must never allow our friendships to fade into the

haze of daily routine. We need to celebrate these associations and always remember their importance. The NGA 

Museum in St. Louis will do just that in June 2008 with a 

very special exhibit devoted to our productive association 

with the Commonwealth partners. 

While true friendship often seems 

elusive, its effect is unmistakable. When I 

visited Australia for the first time in 2005, 

I had occasion to make a presentation 

on the historical significance of combined 

naval operations to an audience in Perth. At 

the reception afterward, while I was talking 

about World War II with a retired Australian 

Army officer, he departed from our theme to 

recall inviting American servicemembers to his 

home as part of a program to give them a brief 

respite from the war in Vietnam. The kindness 

of his family to our warfighters immediately 

reminded me of a colleague in Canada, a historian with whom I have worked for many years. 

Just after the war in Iraq began, he called me and, 

while fully understanding and appreciating the position 

of his government, lamented that Canadian forces would 

not join us. During the 20th century we had always fought 

together, and to do otherwise seemed to him quite unnatural. Can we find better friends anywhere?

Naval component commander Australian Commodore 

James Stapleton drew on the same kind of affinity to ensure 

the success of the United Nations coalition in East Timor in 

1999. In my interview with him in 2004, he recalled,

[I had people] from each country on my staff. 

And I was trying to replace the Australians with 

internationals....This became a problem for me 

then about classification, and what I could leave 

lying around and what I couldn’t leave lying 

around. Issues like that. And what was privileged information, and what wasn’t....It does 

make problems, but if you don’t manage it, and I 

didn’t have those guys and girls on my staff, for 

sure, then the coalition thing doesn’t work.

Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of 

Staff, electrified many of our allies around the world with 

his “1,000 

Ship Navy” speech 

at the U.S. Naval War College in 2005. In that presentation he 

addressed the need to keep the sea lanes of the 

world open against all manner of threats, including terrorists. He proposed combined fleet operations, taking advantage of the capabilities of allies who shared his vision of a 

free and peaceful ocean. Hosted by the Royal Navy in the 

United Kingdom the following year, the admiral found that 

our oldest, trusted Commonwealth friends became the first 

allies to step forward with support and commitment. 

These experiences and people bring home to all of us 

the value of the friendship and close alliance we have with 

our Commonwealth colleagues. Since the Great War of 

1914 -1918 the United States, Canada, Australia and Great 

Top: British forces used 

“L” cameras to map 

Turkish territory during 

World War I.

Left: The British used the 

Wild Autograph Model 

A5 to derive 3-D imagery 

from pairs of aerial 

photographs. 

Bottom: Sketch of a 

Spitfire shows four 

camera fitting locations. 

Photos provided by the 

Medmenham Society 

Collection

21Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008
Britain have relied upon one another to some degree in 

nearly every major conflict as well as the occasionally hot 

Cold War with the former Soviet Union.

At NGA we shall explore and celebrate well over a century of this very productive and satisfying partnership with 

an exhibit that will take up most of the first floor in the 

NGA Museum in St. Louis. For six months, the museum will 

play host to artifacts, stories, personalities and insights 

from the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, the Medmenham Society in the United Kingdom, the Australian War 

Memorial, the Royal Australian Navy, NGA’s own historical 

collections, and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery 

in Hobart. American light tables and imagery analysis will 

live next to a portrait of Australian reconnaissance pioneer 

Sidney Cotton and the high-altitude optical advances of 

Tasmanian physicist Gavin Hills. Canadian cartographic 

achievements will offer insights into a tradecraft that 

helped establish the Distant Early Warning Line in the far 

north to alert the west to Cold War threats incoming over 

the North Pole. The British Medmenham collection traces 

imagery analysis back to the dark days of 1914 and the 

Dr. Gary E. Weir

is the NGA Historian.

efforts of the Royal Flying Corps to collect intelligence 

in Europe and the Near East. The Medmenham Society 

possesses one of the best imagery intelligence historical 

collections in the world, and some of that resource will 

appear in our exhibit. 

We shall not only celebrate individual national 

achievements but also explore the frequent intersection 

of specialties, people and techniques. The exhibit will 

demonstrate combined efforts against Cold War adversaries, instruments in common, shared information collection 

techniques and collaborative analysis. 

Should you be visiting NGA St. Louis between June and 

December 2008, come out to the museum and join us in 

exploring a welcome relationship of very long standing 

essential to NGA’s mission. P

22Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008

Photo provided by the Medmenham Society Collection

British analysts use a Wild Autograph Model A5 during World War II.
Gail Cherochak

is a contractor Communications Specialist 

working in the Office of 

Corporate Communications.

As NGA’s geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) magazine, 

the Pathfinder plays a starring role in promoting the 

public’s understanding of GEOINT. Given the complex 

technical nature of GEOINT, this mission isn’t always as 

easy as it might seem because the more technology has 

developed, the more difficult GEOINT has become to 

describe in plain English. 

The job of making GEOINT understandable has fallen 

to dozens of communications professionals, but only one 

has lived through every generation of news publishing at 

the agency. From 1982 through 2007, editor and public 

affairs specialist Paul Hurlburt kept the Pathfinder and 

preceding agency flagship publications on course through 

reorganizations, staffing shifts and technology changes. 

But on Dec. 31, after 25 years of keeping the agency’s 

news afloat, Hurlburt departed to write a new chapter in 

his own story: retirement.

As the lead Pathfinder editor, Hurlburt skillfully managed the magazine’s production process, edited and 

wrote articles, and coached many authors through the 

techniques of news reporting. Known for his thoughtful 

advice and enthusiastic support, he had a knack for fitting 

the news into the context of the agency’s GEOINT mission 

and history to tell the NGA story.

Just as GEOINT has developed with technology, so has 

the Pathfinder. Hurlburt’s experience spanned an era of 

agency publishing that started with newspapers printed 

in black ink on white paper and ended with softcopy 

files of color pixels. And while technology improved the 

flexibility, speed and quality of publishing, it brought new 

challenges in software, file formats and image resolutions. Like GEOINT processes, the Pathfinder publishing 

continues to evolve.

The January/February 2008 

Pathfinder was Hurlburt’s 

last issue as editor. Like other 

retirees, Hurlburt is looking forward to 

reading the Pathfinder so he can keep up with the latest 

GEOINT news. Keeping in touch with his NGA teammates 

is on his long list of planned activities, as well as traveling. 

When he meets people who haven’t heard of GEOINT, he’ll 

know exactly what to tell them. P

In Closing

Pathfinder Editor Moves On

By Gail Cherochak

23Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008

PATHFINDER T h e G e o s p a t i a l I n t e l l i g e n c e M a g a z i n e

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24Pathfinder ›› March/April 2008

4th Annual 

Technology Days 2008

A unique opportunity for government, 

industry and academia to showcase 

the latest GEOINT capabilities and 

technologies!

Produced in cooperation with the United States 

Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) and the 

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)

NGA Tech Day

Mission and industry partners are wel-

come to tour NGA office exhibits and 

discuss collaborative efforts. (Classified) 

Wednesday, May 14

NGA Headquarters

Bethesda, Md.

Industry Tech Day and Vendor Fair

USGIF members display the latest and 

greatest technologies. (Unclassified)

Thursday, May 15

Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner

Vienna, Va.

For more information, please visit 

http://www.usgif.org/Events_TechDays.aspx

www.nga.mil