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The 693rd Intelligence Group, previously subordinate to the 70th Intelligence Wing at Fort Meade, Md., was reassigned to the 480th Intelligence Wing at Langley Air Force Base, Va., during a July 23 ceremony at the Nightingale Theater on Ramstein.
The ceremony was the last step in transferring three overseas Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency groups as part of an Air Force-wide movement to consolidate a globe spanning ISR effort under one wing.
Among the other new editions to the 480th IW were the 692nd Intelligence Group at Hickam Air Base, Hawaii, and the 694th IG at Osan Air Base, Korea.
The realignment will allow the AF ISR Agency to optimize the use of limited AF resources, provide the capability for dynamic global ISR processing, exploitation and reallocation, and significantly improve the ability to meet current and future ISR challenges.
Col. John Stauffer, 70th IW commander, passing the 693rd’s guidon, transferred the group to Col. James R. Marrs, 480th IW commander, in a culmination of months of effort to seamlessly transfer ownership and operations between the two wings.
“You are in good hands with Colonel Marrs, who is truly a visionary, and he will raise the bar for operational reconnaissance,” said Colonel Stauffer to the assembled Airmen about their new commander.
“Air Force ISR operations are an advantage to help our nation navigate through strategic times,” said Colonel Marrs. “Colonel Stauffer is a great leader and has laid a foundation for great things to come and helped to make a dream of mine come true.”
With the merger complete, everyone was eager to push forward with the mission.
“I’m excited to be joining my four fellow theater ISR group commanders in a single wing that delivers theater-focused ISR capability to our air components,” said Col. Meg Czapiewski, 693rd Intelligence Group commander. “The ISR transformation milestone that we’ve executed today is key to meeting this theater’s dynamic ISR needs,” she added.
In the end, this ceremony was about more than passing flags, but strengthening the Air Force’s ability to deliver timely and lifesaving intelligence to the warfighters and decision makers around the globe. The group’s letterhead may have changed, but the 693rd IG’s Airmen will continue to do their part in America’s War on Terror.
