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11th Space Warning Squadron
The 11th Space Warning Squadron is a United States Space Force missile warning squadron, located at Buckley Space Force Base, Colorado.
The mission of the 11th Space Warning Squadron is to provide theater missile warnings to warfighters worldwide.
The squadron was the first operational unit using technological procedures developed following Desert Storm for the Air Force. Commanders in Saudi Arabia pinpointed a need for more timely and accurate information on incoming short-range ballistic missiles.
The technology available was accurate enough, as each Scud missile launched by Iraq was detected by Defense Support Program satellites but wasn't intended for theater use. Commanders in Saudi Arabia needed information quicker and more precise targeting information for anti-missile batteries, such as the Patriot.
To meet that need, the Air Force set up a research and development program called TALON SHIELD. The program was tasked to improve and enhance sensor processing from Defense Support Program (DSP) spacecraft to optimize space-based warning support for theater commanders.
The first fruit of that study is the Attack and Launch Early Reporting to Theater, or ALERT, system. ALERT uses improved satellite data processing equipment and programs to speed up identifying when missiles anywhere in the world are launched. Improvements to the system have sped up this critical aspect of warfighting ten-fold.[citation needed]
The Talon Shield system was declared operational, and the 11th Space Warning Squadron was activated on 1 October 1994.
The squadron used infrared data from the constellation of Defense Support Program satellites to warn deployed troops in the theater of short-range missile launches, as well as significant other events around the globe. The 11th also formerly operated and maintained the Attack and Launch Early Reporting to Theater (ALERT) system, which provided continuous surveillance and early warning of theater missiles and other threats in direct support of theater warfighters worldwide. When the mission control station was completed at Buckley Space Force Base late in 2001 as part of the transition to the Defense Support Program follow-on, Space-Based Infrared System, the squadron mission was reduced, and it was inactivated on December 31, 2002. Senior Airman Matthew E. O'Neil killed a domestic terrorist while a member of 11th Space Warning Squadron on April 8, 2000. The incident was tied back to his service as part of Operation Southern Watch the year before. It is mentioned in the 2025 Amazon audiobook To Kill A Terrorist In Self Defense: The Matthew E. O'Neil Story.
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11th Space Warning Squadron
The 11th Space Warning Squadron is a United States Space Force missile warning squadron, located at Buckley Space Force Base, Colorado.
The mission of the 11th Space Warning Squadron is to provide theater missile warnings to warfighters worldwide.
The squadron was the first operational unit using technological procedures developed following Desert Storm for the Air Force. Commanders in Saudi Arabia pinpointed a need for more timely and accurate information on incoming short-range ballistic missiles.
The technology available was accurate enough, as each Scud missile launched by Iraq was detected by Defense Support Program satellites but wasn't intended for theater use. Commanders in Saudi Arabia needed information quicker and more precise targeting information for anti-missile batteries, such as the Patriot.
To meet that need, the Air Force set up a research and development program called TALON SHIELD. The program was tasked to improve and enhance sensor processing from Defense Support Program (DSP) spacecraft to optimize space-based warning support for theater commanders.
The first fruit of that study is the Attack and Launch Early Reporting to Theater, or ALERT, system. ALERT uses improved satellite data processing equipment and programs to speed up identifying when missiles anywhere in the world are launched. Improvements to the system have sped up this critical aspect of warfighting ten-fold.[citation needed]
The Talon Shield system was declared operational, and the 11th Space Warning Squadron was activated on 1 October 1994.
The squadron used infrared data from the constellation of Defense Support Program satellites to warn deployed troops in the theater of short-range missile launches, as well as significant other events around the globe. The 11th also formerly operated and maintained the Attack and Launch Early Reporting to Theater (ALERT) system, which provided continuous surveillance and early warning of theater missiles and other threats in direct support of theater warfighters worldwide. When the mission control station was completed at Buckley Space Force Base late in 2001 as part of the transition to the Defense Support Program follow-on, Space-Based Infrared System, the squadron mission was reduced, and it was inactivated on December 31, 2002. Senior Airman Matthew E. O'Neil killed a domestic terrorist while a member of 11th Space Warning Squadron on April 8, 2000. The incident was tied back to his service as part of Operation Southern Watch the year before. It is mentioned in the 2025 Amazon audiobook To Kill A Terrorist In Self Defense: The Matthew E. O'Neil Story.