The group will have 49 weekend reservists and 11 full-time civilian positions, according to the Air Force. The unit is expected to begin operations sometime in the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.
“It will probably take at least a year to stand up the unit and have it running,” he said. “A lot of that depends on the availability of recruiting and who you have available to do the job.”
The center’s analysts specialize in identifying foreign air, space and cyberspace threats, according to the NASIC website.
NASIC spokesman James Lundsford said the new unit is a reponse to continuing demands for aerospace intelligence.
“Unfortunately, for sensitivity reasons, I can’t get into specifics on the types of mission they will be doing, but I can tell you they will be a part of creating intelligence that will enable military operations, force modernization and policy making,” Lundford said in an email to the Dayton Daily News.
The president, Congress and military leaders use NASIC’s intelligence findings to determine defense policy, among other services the agency provides.
NASIC also has 18 active-duty squadrons and a longstanding relationship with the Ohio Air National Guard, according to Lundsford.
Also at Wright-Patterson, the Joint Reserve Intelligence Center hosts 22 reserve units which use NASIC facilities for their own missions across the Air Force, Navy, Army and Marine Corps.
The Air Force Reserve boost is part of a restructuring of 3,000 positions to grow jobs in intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, cyber warfare, nuclear, space and training missions. The reserve force will cut 900 positions elsewhere.
In Ohio, the Youngstown-Warren Air Reserve Station will lose 97 part-time Air Force Reserve and 33 full-time air reserve technician/civilian positions.
The 910th Airlift Wing at the base will retire six C-130H transport aircraft and replace them with four newer C-130s.
Wright-Patterson also is home to more than 2,000 reservists assigned to the 445th Airlift Wing.
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