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Col. Jeffrey Kruse (left), 480th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing commander, passes the 693rd ISR group guidon to Col. Jason Brown to symbolize the assumption of command of the group.
The 693rd Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group held a change of command ceremony June 26 at Ramstein High School.
Col. Jason Brown assumed command of the 693rd ISR GP from Col. Kurt Gaudette. Col. Jeffrey Kruse, 480th ISR wing commander, presided over the ceremony. He praised Gaudette’s leadership style and courage to take measured risks, which resulted in the 693rd standing out among ISR groups.
“With (Gaudette) at the helm, the 693rd really reached remarkable, unprecedented performance levels, executing more than 6,000 ISR missions in the last couple years, doubling their (signals intelligence) capacity, quadrupling their full-motion video capacity, producing more than 70,000 intelligence reports that went out to the folks that needed them most, and probably most importantly, saving countless American coalition lives in the combat zone.”
Kruse welcomed Brown and presented his charge: “The bar is high, and I expect you to exceed every expectation. The mission is hard, and I expect you to execute with perfection. Your mission partners are demanding, and I expect you to never let them down. Your people — I expect you to take care of them as if they’re your own brothers and sisters,” he said.
During the course of the ceremony, Gaudette was presented with the Legion of Merit for his outstanding service as the 693rd ISRG commander. After receiving the guidon, Brown presented a pledge to Gaudette.
“The amazing job you’ve done in the last two years commanding the 693rd ISRG is obvious. I’ll do everything I can to keep the 693rd on this upward trajectory you’ve established,” Brown said.
As commander, Brown will lead five ISR squadrons and be responsible for 900 military, civilian and contractor personnel. He will also control operations of Distributed Ground System 4, a core site of the Air Force’s Distributed Common Ground System.
“I’m looking forward to working again with a team of Airmen performing a mission. Undoubtedly, there is no better team than the 693rd,” Brown said.
Brown was previously the military assistant to the deputy under secretary of defense (intelligence), Joint and Coalition Warfighter Support, in Washington, D.C., and the commander of the 13th Intelligence Squadron at Beale Air Force Base, Calif.
