WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo.,- -- Sitting behind his computer screens, collecting and analyzing, he waits for a sign. He is watching over Whiteman's security with his blanket of knowledge. If a threat arises, he will be the one spreading the message.

He is Staff Sgt. Brandon Benton, 509th Operations Support Squadron NCO in-charge of operations intelligence.

Operations intelligence performs and manages intelligence and functions including developing, evaluating and providing intelligence information to leading decision makers. Their work here is obtaining, analyzing and spreading the knowledge of possible threats to Whiteman, its aircraft and their operations or deployed personnel.

"We brief current world intelligence to the wing commander and other leadership, Sergeant Benton said. "Basically, we track anything going on around the world that has the potential to affect Whiteman operations or personnel."

His team watches other countries on a daily basis to keep up-to-date on current events and threat systems.

"If there is an overseas threat, we try to figure out exactly what that threat is and how it will affect [Whiteman]," he said. "All the other intelligence career fields are the gatherers and pass the information they gather to us. We put all the information together, analyze it, find out how it could affect us and pass it on to the commander, or other decision makers."

Along with briefing each other on base threats, they conduct threat of the day briefings to the pilots that are in training, informing them of every limitation, ability and system that their specific aircraft, and their possible enemy's aircraft, has to offer.

"We focus on the capabilities of foreign aircraft and ground based defense systems," said Master Sgt. Daniel P. Lauseng, superintendent of operations intelligence. "We let them know what is out there and how to mitigate the situations, or basically how to use their aircraft against other aircraft."

Sergeant Benton's team brings awareness of possible Surface-to-Air Missile systems to the pilots, and depending on where an aircraft is flying, threats posed by ships.

"We study how to best overcome a situation that could endanger a pilot or the mission, whether by land, sea or sky," said Sergeant Lauseng.

Operations intelligence requires a variety of skills and experiences to be successful and ensure threats are accurately evaluated and neutralized.

"We need to be a jack-of-all-trades in our career field. Many analysts must shift their focus areas with each permanent change of area," Segeant Lauseng said. "We switch analysts between weapons school, wing intelligence and other squadrons to give them broad experience in the intelligence realm."

With experience in developing, evaluating and gathering information, operations intelligence provides the advantage of knowledge before a threat is active, keeping Whiteman, its aircraft and deployed personnel safe.