ESC security system keeps in-theater war fighters safe in global locations

  • Published
  • By Monica D. Morales
  • 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
HANSCOM AFB, Mass. --  It's not every day that the phone rings with urgent need calls from Army, Navy and Marine Corps war fighters looking for help in theater.

But for the 642nd Electronic Systems Squadron this is all in a day's work thanks to its Tactical Automated Security System's ability to continue saving the lives of sailors, soldiers, Airmen and Marines in locations around the world.

"Our primary mission is to support the Air Force Security Forces, but this effort has grown to the point now where we're supporting every other service with TASS systems," said Lloyd L. Corricelli, 642 ELSS director of acquisition.

The intrusion-detection system protects a military installation by using thermal imaging cameras, radars and even mini-unmanned aerial vehicles to detect threats along its perimeter. Information is relayed to a centralized tower and then fed to a computer at the base defense operations center, where operators pinpoint a threat's exact location and decide how to act upon it.

The squadron's mission doesn't just stop at Hanscom's gates or contractor facilities. The squadron regularly deploys personnel to locations all over the Middle East conducting site surveys and meeting with its war fighting partners to determine how to best support missions first hand.

Most recently Mr. Corricelli, Lt. Col. Ken Ribler, the squadron deputy director, Capt. Steve Smith and Master Sgt. Amy Hatcher traveled to Al Asad Air Base in Iraq's Al Anbar province to support the United States Marine Corps.

The ESC squadron has had a successful history with the Marines, one which a May 10 e-mail to center Commander Lt. Gen. Ted Bowlds, highlighted. In the e-mail, Marine Col. Jeffry Butter of Marine Corps Forces Central Command praised the work of the 642 ELSS' TASS and the delivery of its first expeditionary kit to arrive in Afghanistan.

"This system will be employed by Marines on the frontier, in direct contact with our enemies," Colonel Butter wrote. "The efforts of the 642 ELSS have made a difference to young warriors on the ground, and have opened a new door in the Marine Corps' operational capability."

In addition, Colonel Butter noted that the squadron went through the "concept-to-order-to-delivery process [in] less than six months."

The squadron's initial involvement with the Marines came when Marine officials expressed an urgent warfighter need for the system at Al Asad in 2005. Squadron specialists delivered the contract in less than six weeks and the system itself in less than 90 days, a departure from the sometimes year-long process. Within weeks the system was installed, days ahead of schedule and under cost.

Col. Terry Feehan, ESC vice commander, said that the work of the 642 ELSS not only has an immediate and critical impact on war fighters that come in direct contact with enemy forces, but also on the larger global picture.

"The work of the 642 ELSS saves countless lives and, ultimately, is vital to America's success in the War on Terror. Success in this war will come from winning the hearts and minds of indigenous peoples in remote areas of the world. The TASS allows our forces to more safely operate at these remote sites, far from main operating bases," he said.

In yet another example of this, the Base Expeditionary Targeting and Surveillance System-Combined Joint Urgent Operational Needs Statement, an effort led by the Army in support of CENTCOM, led the service to call upon the 642 ELSS recently. The squadron is now set to offer its expertise and aid in acquiring $200 million in TASS capabilities for this critical tasking.

In the JUONS's first phase, the TASS systems will be integrated in Afghanistan for Army units, while its second phase takes the systems out to Iraq and various other deployed locations.

"When we get these calls, we recognize that we can provide added security capabilities to war fighters and, by extension, we're doing millions of dollars worth of equipment and services contracts in theater," Mr. Corricelli said. "It's a good feeling knowing we have a direct and immediate impact on the mission of OIF and OEF and the capabilities we provide give our war fighters a much better chance of coming home safely to their families."

In addition, the squadron's ventures have also led to collaboration with other acquisition wings right here at Hanscom. For example, it is also working with the 350th Electronic Systems Wing to provide a more secure facility to the Combined Air and Space Operations Center in Southwest Asia.

"Rarely does an acquisition organization have the opportunity to have as immediate and direct an impact on the day-to-day lives of our Airmen, sailors, soldiers and Marines as the TASS program has had," said Patrick Marr, 642 ELSS director. "It speaks volumes when other services call upon the squadron to provide a joint, interoperable force protection capability to keep all war fighters safe."