Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Dodge City) and Congressman Todd Tiahrt (R-Goddard) today welcomed expansion of the current manpower at the McConnell Air National Guard Intelligence Squadron in Wichita, KS.

The National Guard Bureau informed Kansas Adjutant General Tod Bunting that the Intelligence Squadron is expected to roughly double in size, increasing the division to around 400 personnel. This announcement is a culmination of a tremendous amount of work starting in 2001 when the Kansas Congressional Delegation secured the Intelligence Mission. In 2003, Congressman Todd Tiahrt secured $7.4 million for the construction of the facility that houses this mission. In 2005 and 2006, Congressman Tiahrt and Senator Pat Roberts secured $10.6 million to purchase equipment required for the mission.

Senator Roberts said, "Facing new and emerging threats, with terrorists and other extremists conducting insurgency warfare on our service men and women, we must bring all of our intelligence and military assets and capabilities to bear to enhance the eyes and ears, and battlefield awareness, of our troops on the ground. This new mission leverages McConnell’s unparalleled intelligence capability, along with state-of-the-art facilities and equipment Congressman Tiahrt and I partnered to secure, to ensure our troops receive the support necessary to accomplish the mission. Working together with Todd for several years to bring new and robust missions to McConnell and the Kansas Air National Guard, I am pleased this is now a reality."

Congressman Tiahrt said, "The men and women of the 184th have consistently proven they will excel at whatever task they are asked to perform. This important new mission expansion is recognition by the Pentagon that the 184th plays a significant role in our national defense. In this day and time in which we live, it is imperative that our intelligence units are functioning at the highest capacity. This increase in manpower will help further that goal."

Colonel Randy Roebuck, Wing Commander, has indicated he will attempt to fill new positions with local talent.

*Background *

The Distributive Ground System (DGS) mission processes multi-sensory intelligence support to the men and women conducting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and elsewhere overseas.

The DGS mission is an important component of our battlefield combat and intelligence support architecture.

Bringing the Intel missions to McConnell in 2001 laid the groundwork for these new missions.

 *Mission*

The new DGS will allow Kansas Guardsmen to analyze UAV data collection and provide vital intelligence to war fighters around the world.

The 161st Intelligence Squadron will support every phase of operations by providing extremely versatile intelligence information that can be used for a variety of military applications: planning air strikes, reducing and assessing collateral damage and enhancing force protection

Our people can serve locally while supporting the fight on terror globally.

Distributive Ground Systems give combatant commanders distinct information superiority by allowing us to achieve objectives in minutes versus hours or days.