After assuming command of the 82nd Reconnaissance Squadron at Kadena Air Base in Japan in 1998, I experienced the challenges of flying operational missions thousands of miles away from the U.S. In the early days of my flying career, paper maps and charts were the primary means for aviators to plan and execute missions. By the late 1990s, the squadron used digital imagery and geospatial information, now known as geospatial intelligence (GeoInt), for mission planning. Many early attempts at digital mission planning fell victim to the tyranny of distance and the realities of operating in the field. Toward the end of my command, our unit received a new Air Force Mission Support System. While the mission-planning software for the KC-135 tanker was complete, the software for the reconnaissance version of the plane, the RC-135s flown by our squadron, was still in development. We discovered that the communications bandwidth was not adequate for us to access much of the digital GeoInt we required, so some of it was mailed to us on CDs. Our mission planners continued to use the old software.
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