Missile Defense: Ready to protect

U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Trent Due, 1st Air and Space Communications Operations Squadron collateral systems administrator, demonstrates operating and maintaining the Global Command and Control System at the 1 ACOS GCCS Work Center at Ramstein Air Base, July 16. The 1 ACOS uses mechanisms such as the GCCS to monitor, transmit, and communicate missile defense data. 

The 1st Air and Space Communication Squadron participated in an Integrated Air and Missile Defense exercise at Ramstein Air Base, July 1-2.

The 1 ACOS provides Theater Ballistic Missile Warning data to the United States Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa Nuclear Operations Center and seven regional command posts by ensuring missile threat data is communicated effectively. This enables mission operations supported by U-A.

“IAMD exercises focus on the rapid response to air and missile threats,” said Gloriel Pia, 1 ACOS global command and control operations chief. “The ability to detect, track, warn, and defeat a threat enables U.S. and allied combat power in Europe. The 1 ACOS provides uninterrupted access to critical networks at extremely low latency, which enables a rapid response.”

The 1 ACOS rapid response capabilities to missile threats allows the generation of combat power to address and prevent future attacks within the European theater.

“Deterrence is the key to protecting European and U.S. sovereignty,” Pia said. “By supporting this event, the 1 ACOS helps shape how U-A deters threats and how we respond.”

IAMD operations involved major theater exercises, such as Austere Challenge, Astral Knight, and Formidable Shield.

Coordinating with multiple units provides the 1 ACOS a unique opportunity to combine the efforts of geographically separated units. Master Sgt. Shimir Bishop, 1 ACOS GCCO section chief, attributes his team’s success to continuous flexibility, as well as consistent training programs, which maintain readiness and efficiency.

“We have become stronger as a unit and built our training to withstand breaks in continuity,” Bishop said. “These changes have made our team closer and function more like a family to maintain morale within our section while executing the mission at a high level. This is why we stay cohesive and successful.”

U.S. Air Force Airmen and U.S. Space Force Guardians assigned to the 1st Air and Space Communications Operations Squadron gather at Ramstein Air Base, July 16. The 1 ACOS provides advanced battlespace situational awareness and missile warning data to key decision makers to safeguard European and U.S. sovereignty.

 

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Allison Pecaut, 1st Air and Space Communications Operations Squadron collateral systems technician, right, explains the features of the Windows Deployment Server to U.S. Air Force Airman Dominic Hogan, collateral systems technician, left, in the 1 ACOS GCCS Work Center at Ramstein Air Base, July 16.The WDS automates the configuration and installation of GCCSs on multiple workstations in one day as opposed to one workstation per day.

 

U.S. Air Force Airman Macey Zimmerschied, 1st Air and Space Communications Operations Squadron collateral systems administrator, demonstrates how to add more memory on a GCCS-Joint workstation at the 1 ACOS GCCS Work Center at Ramstein Air Base, July 16. The workstation will operate faster with increased memory.