Video

Video by Senior Airman Kevyn Allen, Staff Sgt. Jourdan Barrons, Airman Tia Herring, Tech. Sgt. Duncan McElroy, Jon Zanone

12 Space Warning Squadron personnel run through a training scenario

2D Audiovisual Squadron

Sept. 19, 2022 | 23:54

12th Space Warning Squadron (SWS) personnel run through a training scenario sequence. The 12th Space Warning Squadron (12 SWS) operates the Upgraded Early Warning Radar (UEWR), formerly the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) - Site 1, at Thule Air Base, Greenland. 12 SWS is part of the Integrated Tactical Warning and Attack Assessment network, which provides early warning of ballistic missile launches to National Command Authorities via the Missile Warning Center and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). The 12 SWS has three missions: missile warning, missile defense, and space domain awareness. A 3-member crew executes the missile warning and missile defense missions by detecting and providing assessment data on Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) and Sea-Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs) threatening the United States and/or Canada, in support of the Department of the Air Force Arctic Strategy and the National Defense Strategy. The 12 SWS secondary mission provides space surveillance data on earth-orbiting objects to the 18th Space Control Squadron at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, in support of United States Space Command's space control missions. Additionally, the unit also provides data to the National Space Defense Center (NSDC) and the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC).