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Moseley: Air Force needs to bolster intelligence cadre

By Staff Sgt. C. Todd Lopez

WASHINGTON (Oct. 20, 2005) -- The Air Force can do a better job training and maintaining the Airmen that gather, process and distribute military intelligence, the Air Force chief of staff said.

Gen. T. Michael Moseley said there are not enough Airmen working in military intelligence. And the Air Force must do a better job ensuring the intelligence troops it has are equipped to work in multinational and joint environments.

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When it gets the right people to fill intelligence jobs, the general said the Air Force must ask itself if it has matched the right conditions to the skills needed. This is an area in which the service can improve, he said.

General Moseley said the Air Force should focus on developing the regional and operational skills in all its intelligence Airmen.

"I believe we can do better in our languages. And I believe we can do better on experiences," he said. "And I believe we can do better inside the interagency and in the joint world to grow intelligence officers that are more flexible and adaptive in this global war on terrorism."

The general said moving Airmen -- like between operational, staff and joint positions -- would better prepare them to become leaders in their career fields. This would best prepare them for working in combined and joint environments.

Military intelligence is critical to military operations, General Moseley said.

Military intelligence Airmen gather information about America's enemies during peacetime and wartime. They analyze and package the information for military leaders, commanders and war planners. This helps them develop military operations or policy.

"Intelligence today is an incredible force multiplier,” the general said. “Because with good intelligence, almost all things are possible."

The military cannot afford bad intelligence, he said. So the future of this vital community depends on the Air Force being able to develop a cadre that is something beyond “where we've been in the past,” he said.

To do that, the service must be able to teach, mentor, expose and develop its people.

“That's one of the challenges that I'm working real time to make happen," the general said.

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