614th Space Intelligence Squadron < br > The United States Air Force ' s 614th Space Intelligence Squadron was a unit located at Vandenberg AFB , California . It was inactivated on June 18 , 2007 when the 614th Space Operations Group was redesignated the 614 Air and Space Operations Center . Mission . The 614th Space Intelligence Squadron is the first squadron in the USAF that has been designed to protect satellites belonging to the military . This squadron is stationed at Vandenberg Air Force Base . During Operation Iraqi Freedom the US was using ten times the satellite capability it had in 1991 . Before the second invasion of Iraq , the space shuttle " Endeavour " used its radar to make a map of Iraq ; this map was used to make targets for the invasion . Satellites have provided and still do provide reliable pictures and information to the US and its allies . Satellites not only provide photographs , but are crucial when it comes to launching and guiding missiles . The US is not the only country that uses satellites for a military advantage , Australia and Great Britain are two countries that put them to use as well . The 614th Space Intelligence Squadron is essential to the survival of not only the US military , but to the US economy which relies heavily on assets in space , the 614th Space Intelligence Squadron could be tasked with protecting those assets in the future . For now the unit ' s duties are limited ; high ranking government officials and experts have pointed out that the next terrorist attack could potentially be a space " Pearl Harbor " following the publication of a report in 1999 . The world has changed dramatically since the end of the Cold War . New threats have emerged and the US has realized that its satellites are very vulnerable to attacks even though such attacks have not yet happened . That is why the 614th Space Intelligence Squadron was created so that they could protect the majority of space assets . The military depends heavily on smart bombs and GPS and those two things are vulnerable to being disrupted by commercially available " jammers " . If those two things were to be interfered - with , the US military would have no more smart bombs ; a majority of their firepower would be taken away . If their GPS was taken away many of their mapping systems would fail . The 614th Space Intelligence Squadron has been tasked with preventing such attacks from happening . The 614th Space Intelligence Squadron will be dealing with only Air Force Space Command satellites such as Milstar : a series of advanced military communications satellites invented to provide global jamming resistant communications for the military . They will alsö be dealing with GPS and the Defense Support Program : a reliable satellite - borne system that incorporates infrared detectors to find heat from missile plumes against the background of the earth . They are also to detect space launches , missile launches and nuclear detonations . However , the 614th Space Intelligence Squadron has made clear it is only responsible for US Air Force satellites . It is not in charge of national security satellites such as top secret spacecraft launched for spy use . Nevertheless , the 614th Space Intelligence Squadron will eventually have more duties including : working with space - based infrared satellites and space - based radar . The 614th Space Intelligence Squadron includes a vast variety of personnel . The unit will include computer analysts and intelligent experts . It has somewhere between 20 and 88 members . They are located in an existing headquarters building . They know their job is very important because they know that no one wants to go to war in today ’ s world of modern technological warfare . They also know that if someone wants to take on the United States , they have to take them on in space as well . That is why their job is so important ; they need to protect assets in space so the US war machine can function effectively . The 614th Space Intelligence Squadron has the help of many other US agencies . The NSA ( National Security Agency ) , Defense Space and Missile Analysis Center , CIA ( Central Intelligence Agency ) , and the National Aerospace and Intelligence Center will give information to the 614th Space Intelligence Squadron to help identify potential threats and the ways to respond to those threats . The 614th Space Intelligence Squadron is a very important part of the US military . Without them the US would be way more susceptible to attacks on its space assets . History . The 614th Space Intelligence Squadron was formed on Tuesday November ? 22 , 2003 and assigned to Vandenberg Air Force Base . The purpose of this squadron was to defend navigation , weather , communications and missile warning satellites from enemy attacks in space and on the ground . When the squadron was first formed the commander , Lieutenant Colonel Earl White , had this to say during a short ceremony ; " Everybody in the world has been watching this Iraq war , and the Gulf War before that . And they know what space does for the US military . That is a key enabler . Without space , we ' re back to World War II . Anyone who wants to take on the United States knows they ' ve got to handle us in space . " This statement shows how important space is to the US military . In the past two Iraqi conflicts , satellites in space , have been used extensively . Satellites are what give the US the edge over its enemies . Before the Gulf War in 1991 , the US was alerted to the large presence of Iraqi troops on the border of Kuwait by satellites in space . This allowed the US to prepare a successful counter - attack that eventually wiped out the invading Iraqi forces and made them retreat back into Iraq . Many people have said that military satellites are the key to US military power . This makes perfect sense seeing that many of the missiles that the US has in its arsenal depend on the help of GPS ( global positioning system ) , which in turn depend and can only function in conjecture with satellites in space . So without satellites the US military will lose a huge advantage and will have to fight their battles in a different manner . Location . Vandenberg Air Force Base is located between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the " Central Coast " . It is located on a site . The base is operated by Air Force Space Command ’ s 30th Space Wing and has a spaceport . A spaceport is an installation for testing and launching spacecraft . The base , originally named Camp Cooke , was renamed Vandenberg Air Force Base in 1957 when the US Air Force took control of the site . Vandenberg Air Force Base is nicknamed " VandyLand " by the people who work there . Some of the duties upheld at the base include : responding to global contingencies , operating the Western Range and conducting and supporting missile and space launches .