NGA Aeronautical Navigation Plays a Critical Role in Crisis Response Worldwide

U.S. Air Force Col. Aaron Miner, AERO director, briefs 2024 NGA Aero Week attendees in St. Louis (Photo by NGA).

While all of AERO supports crisis events in some capacity, the office has developed an intel-team who pause their daily work to tackle crisis response when the need arises.
"The difference for the intel-team providing crisis support for escalating world events is a shift from our routine 28-day cyclic tempo to a compressed timeline to meet the needs of the customer," said Weatherford.

DOD mission managers, Combatant Commands, military services and intelligence community agencies contact AERO via a myriad of methods with requests for information when a crisis is imminent, and the intel-team gets to work.

The team combines their expertise to deliver key data and leads coordination across AERO branches to get the customer exactly what they need, when they need it, 24/7. Depending upon the need and type of event, AERO monitors and provides analytical reports throughout the crisis, as was the case during Hurricane Dorian. For sudden events, such as earthquakes or tsunamis, analysts carefully review before and after imagery.

AERO analysts employ a suite of tools and resources to assess the damage, condition and accessibility of airfield surfaces, such as runways and taxiways, and infrastructure, such as terminal buildings, hangars and fuel farms, as well as navigation aids such as instrument landing systems. Additionally, the team looks at changes in airfield elevation or any vertical obstructions that might impact flight patterns.

Along with operability assessment of the airfield, analysts convey key information including runway length and width, along with the type of airfield surface material, to help mission planners know what size and type of aircraft the airfield can safely support.

AERO also creates enroute charts, among other products and data essential to piloting safely.

Storm clouds gather as Hurricane Dorian approached Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, Sept. 6, 2019. Residents were evacuated from base housing on and around the installation (Courtesy of USAF Airman 1st Class Sarah Dowe).

"The load out, build up and onward movement of people, equipment and supplies to forward locations is the tricky part for the planners and the logisticians," said Knowles. "We want to make aviation the easy part by giving them foundational GEOINT from fence line to the runway at the location of embarkation and from the runway to the fence at the location of debarkation."

While the primary customer for AERO is DOD aviators, crisis customers are "big picture" decision makers, according to Weatherford; evaluating broader needs than getting from one point to another.

"Leaders in every organization across the spectrum want information on airfields in times of crisis or emergency," said Weatherford.

Storm clouds gather as Hurricane Dorian approached Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, Sept. 6, 2019. Residents were evacuated from base housing on and around the installation (Courtesy of USAF Airman 1st Class Sarah Dowe).

A recent focus for the Intel-Team has been a global sporting event. AERO provided specific aviation products and airfield reviews to support DOD preparedness and protection efforts of U.S. Citizens.

The Intel-Team stands ready and remains watchful as a crisis can emerge anywhere the world at any time.

"Our goal is to be ahead by monitoring the global situation, to include weather and other environmental factors," said Knowles. "We do this by reviewing our holdings and update anything that has changed or been impacted by a crisis event."

This is achieved with the help of well-established relationships with NGA Teams at the Geographic Combatant Commands and USTRANSCOM.

"As a Combat Support Agency, the DOD has relied upon NGA, and its predecessors, for timely, relevant and accurate aeronautical geospatial information for over 80 years, and we've continued to deliver in good and bad times," said Miner.