614th Space Intelligence Squadron - History

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.