Speech by BGen Jim Grant, USAF (ret.)

548 RTG Reunion Dinner, 10 July 2010

Aloha!

It is wonderful to be back on an Air Force base together and have our reunion dinner here in the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. What a great setting!

I am honored to be your speaker tonight, and I will try to give voice to the strong feelings of camaraderie and pride we have shared this weekend.

Before I go further, I would like to attend to two orders of business.

Please join me in a warm round of applause for those who have worked long and hard to make this reunion a reality. In particular we owe a great debt to Bill Forsyth, the prime force behind this event.  Thanks also to Bill’s grandson, Josh for his hard work helping his granddad. We are also very grateful to Cecil Brown and Larry and Sirima Benson who have done a great job setting up the program in Dayton, and we thank Ken Kelly for his MC role tonight. Finally, let us thank those folks who have accepted their elections today as officers of the 548 RTG Association. We pledge our full support to all of you. 

I also ask for a moment of silent reflection and prayer for two very special groups of people: first, those past comrades of the 548^th and their family members who have passed on but are here in spirit; secondly, let us remember and honor the men and women of our armed forces who are fighting in distant lands to protect our freedom and security. We pray that they receive the full measure of support they need to succeed in their mission and come home safe and sound.

We have many reasons to celebrate the 548 RTG and remember fondly the time we spent in Hawaii.

First, we are part of a proud history of 548^th Recce units that have served our country for over half a century and counting, from WWII and Korea to the battles in Afghanistan and Iraq today.

Colonel Lee Schatzley, a patriot and warrior who flew combat missions in Europe in WW II and then provided critical intelligence to US forces in Asia, did an outstanding job earlier today recounting our 16-year heritage in Asia and the Pacific, as well as our initial transition to Hawaii, where he served as the 2^nd 548 RTG commander. We learned much about the 6^th Photographic Technical Squadron and the 548^th Recce Tech Squadron from him. We need to preserve these recollections as an indispensible part of the record of our early days, and sir I hope you will provide a copy of your presentation as well as any additional reflections you have on this period for our Association archives and our web site.

One thing is very clear: Our focus on the mission and the warfighter was burned into our culture from the very beginning. We have always gone the extra mile in support of the troops because their lives and US mission success depend on it. Everything else flows from that.

I was also struck by the fact that the same basic challenges and principles present in the beginning of our history have been with us throughout our existence. These tenets include: expertise, not rank, is the key discriminator in delivering the best possible intelligence; intelligence practitioners must always tell truth to power, no matter how difficult that task; we must always be creative and imaginative and look for answers below the surface - using all the information available; most bright ideas in any organization don’t come from senior leadership, but from those nearest to the tip of the spear; and effective organizations must be prepared to reinvent themselves whenever necessary to meet emerging conditions and requirements. These lessons endure despite great changes in technology and the continually evolving aspects of modern warfare.

Our time in Hawaii accounts for a little over half of the 548^th Recce’s existence. The 548th RTS was reactivated at Hickam in 1965 in support of PACAF, and it became a Recce Tech Group in 1967.  In 1971, the 67^th RTS in Japan was disestablished, and the 548^th assumed its mission. Many of its outstanding people joined us, adding greatly to our capabilities, passion and professionalism.

During this period, we had many opportunities to serve, met many challenges and recorded many accomplishments. Among the highlights, we processed, exploited and assessed imagery from SR-71, U-2, RF-4C and drone missions flown over Southeast Asia, Korea, and other locations in Asia and the Pacific. Beginning in 1965, we began to exploit overhead imagery as well. We conducted operations at Osan AB in Korea to support imagery exploitation and targeting efforts in that theater, and we deployed some of our finest to Southwest Asia to support Operation Desert Storm in 1990-91.

In July 1991, the 548^th RTG was disestablished and we became part of the core capabilities of the Joint Intelligence Center, Pacific (JICPAC). It was tough to see a great Air Force unit swallowed up within the Joint world, but our folks knew that the only real issue was continued support to the warfighter, and we watched with pride as the mission focus, professionalism and dedication of 548^th RTG folks never wavered.

However, nothing could keep one of the finest Air Force intelligence units down for long! The 548th re-emerged as an Air Force intelligence unit at Langley AFB, VA for 2 years in the early 90s. It was then re- activated in 2003 at Beale AFB, California and has been there ever since.

The 548th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group headquartered at Beale has a superb record of service and achievement. It has both active duty and Reserve personnel providing all-source intelligence to US troops around the world as well as to federal and state agencies at home. It has state of the art exploitation, analysis and dissemination capabilities and a global mission. The 548^th is part of the 480^th ISR Wing, which oversees an extensive Air Force intelligence enterprise supporting Joint military forces and other US security operations globally.

We note with particular pride that the unit patch of this great organization retains the 548th RTG heraldry and our beloved code of honor:” Duty our Privilege, Service our Objective.” The 548th ISR Group also honors our heritage of campaign streamers from World War II, service streamers from Korea, and ten Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards. They are obviously very proud of their lineage, and we are very proud of them. We will continue to cheer them on from the sidelines and wish them every success.

Let’s step back and talk a bit more about our quarter century in Honolulu. What made our time there such a productive, memorable and rewarding experience?

Being in Paradise did not hurt!  We lived in a beautiful, gentle land with a relaxed way of life. What made it extra special is that we enjoyed it together at every opportunity. Paradise could have been a distraction to our mission, but it never was. Polynesian Paralysis was left at the door. The other challenge was staying connected while sitting thousands of miles away from our most important customers. It was clear however that our mindset was focused on them, no matter where they were.

We had a great mission – take the pulse of the Pacific as the preeminent imagery intelligence organization in the largest US military theater in the world, and get the information to key decision makers and troops in harm’s way. 

We pulled together the all-source intelligence and targeting information needed for military plans and operations in Korea, Japan, and the Philippines. We supported senior commanders and unit-level operations. We also had world class expertise in subjects such as underground facilities that made us a major player in the national intelligence community. We adjusted very effectively to the added challenges of overhead sensors, provided critical cruise-missile support, and deployed when needed to support CENTCOM operations in Desert Storm. As an Air Force unit, we ran a united multi-Service and multi-national intelligence team that excelled in every task assigned.

Our exceptional accomplishments were reflected in an almost unbroken string of “Outstanding” ratings from Air Force inspectors and evaluators, the honors our men and women regularly received at professional military education graduations, solid promotion rates, and other base and local awards. No unit at Hickam AFB received more honors than the 548 RTG. Our most valued measures of success, however, were the regular plaudits and continuing trust of those we served.

One of our greatest coups was arranging to have the mayor of Honolulu and the governor of Hawaii present awards to outstanding 548 RTG performers on a quarterly and annual basis. These were great events but ones we did not advertise around Hickam because I am sure HQ PACAF or the Base Commander would have found a way to take over the program if they got wind of it. However, we intelligence guys knew how to keep important secrets!

What were the keys to the great success and high morale of the 548^th?

First, we took our legacy very seriously. Nobody in the unit wanted to see our record of excellence end on their watch, and we took the time to point our successors in the right direction.  We were given the “Big Mo” and we kept it going. It has been, and continues to be, a truly remarkable run.

We were blessed by the fact that to a very large extent we were a self contained unit with all the talent and expertise needed amongst ourselves to get the job done right.  Every part of the unit was essential, and we respected the unique contributions each section and individual made to successful mission accomplishment.  This mutual trust and total team commitment gave us exceptional responsiveness, versatility and flexibility, and we were able to concentrate forces and structure ourselves with ease when mission requirements demanded it.

We also recognized fully that we were in the knowledge business, and people gained influence and respect by the quality of their contributions to our intelligence production. Bill Forsyth was a prime example. He wanted nothing more than to be the best analyst in the business and to mentor young troops learning their trade. I tried more than once to promote him to more senior management positions, but he very respectfully but firmly said no.  He was right, of course. His selfless devotion to analytical excellence set an exceptional example for all of us. His leadership in making this reunion a reality reflects the same passion he has applied to every task he has ever taken on.  

With few exceptions, commanders and First Shirts at the 548th spent their time ensuring our troops had the top cover and resources they needed to do their jobs, rather than having to focus on discipline or motivational issues. We had our share of characters and mavericks - and they are well represented here this weekend, as we have already seen. They made life interesting and fun on and off duty, but there was no question that everybody pulled their load when duty called. Ultimately, we looked for and nurtured free thinkers ready to challenge the conventional wisdom. The culture we built and maintained reflected our view that Athens, not Sparta, was the ultimate model for the intelligence business.

Off-duty time provided many other opportunities for us to display “Recce” pride and camaraderie. Our sports teams were always highly competitive and we won more than our share of championships. Of  very special importance to us, our athletic, social, and fund raising efforts received tremendous support from our families, whose love, support, and sacrifices had a great deal to do with our success on and off duty. I know everyone here has fond memories of a wide variety of athletic contests, running events, golf tournaments, horseshoe games, chili cook offs, car washes, bed races, luaus, concession booths, Christmas parties, Halloween parties, beach parties at Bellows and elsewhere, Mongolian barbeques, social events at such elegant locales as the 10^th Puka and the Lagoon Lounge, and many other truly enjoyable moments together. It may sound trite, but we truly did enjoy each others’ company, and this closeness reinforced the unified effort and trust that powered our exceptional mission success in Hangar 3.

Let me close by noting again with great pride that our “recce” tradition continues, with the 548^th ISR Group burnishing our reputation magnificently in their outstanding work around the globe.

Much of their technology is indeed light years ahead of what we enjoyed, all put to great advantage in support of our troops. Their world and that of their counterparts in the intelligence business is filled with a multiplicity of sensors and other sources of information, ubiquitous collaborative networks, immediacy of collection and reporting, tailored delivery and support, shared IT services via cloud computing and other architectures, new rigor and structure to analytical techniques, and much more attention to a global C4I enterprise than existed in our day.

These technological differences do not obscure the continuing bond that remains among all who have served under the 548th Recce banner. This bond is based on unbroken commitments to excellence and professionalism, attention to detail, flexibility and inventiveness, and complete dedication to the troops and the mission.

So sit back, now and in the future, reflect on your achievements, and enjoy the full measure of mutual pride and satisfaction you deserve for what you and your families accomplished together when you answered the call to serve in the 548^th RTG in Hawaii. In your time, you set new standards of productivity and service, providing information of vital importance to US forces in Asia, the Pacific and around the world.  As a creative, dedicated, unified and highly effective team, nobody surpassed you in supporting the mission and our warfighters.

I am immensely proud to be associated with you, and I salute each and every one of you for your patriotism and your service.

God bless you all, God bless our troops, and God bless America.

This is the internet photography display site for the 548th RTG Reunion in Dayton, Ohio July 2010

Post-production is complete!

Images will be posted in a gallery which will be uploaded Thursday

and ready for viewing on Friday morning. We hope you enjoy them!

Click here to see the images online and to order prints and gifts

Photography from this event will be displayed here later this week. Please reload the page to see our progress.

The page background will be blue when the gallery is in place. The Memory Book order form is linked below.

Memory book orders will be taken through August 31st before going to print.

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You will have the opportunity to see and purchase photos

and gifts online here in the weeks following the reunion.

Click here to download the order form for the

548th RTG Reunion Memory Book

Order your memory book now! It will contain each unique photo from the event

in an attractive and collectable book. Orders for the book will be taken through

August 31st and then the book will go to print.