This year marks the fifth anniversary of the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF). It is hard to believe that it was only in 2004 when USGIF was founded as a not-for-profit, educational organization committed to promoting the geospatial intelligence tradecraft and building a stronger GEOINT community.

“I am amazed and proud of the foundation’s accomplishments over the years,” said K. Stuart Shea, USGIF chairman and CEO. “In five short years, USGIF, its board of directors and its membership have achieved so much and created a truly unique organization that continues to be a key player in the tradecraft’s continuous growth and success.”

In 2003, a group of leading authorities realized an inherent need for a unified vision and approach to promoting the geospatial intelligence tradecraft after the success of the GEO-INTEL 2003 conference, the predecessor to the annual GEOINT Symposium. The hard work of this small group resulted in the official establishment of USGIF.

Being the first and only organization of its kind, USGIF has helped to advance the tradecraft through its many events and programs, such as the highly acclaimed GEOINT Symposium and technology focused TECH DAYS. The foundation currently has 156 sustaining member organizations supporting and assisting in executing the foundation’s objectives. USGIF has also made education a top priority, exemplified by its scholarships, college and university accreditation programs, grants to underprivileged K-12 schools and other initiatives.

USGIF President Keith J. Masback, who joined the foundation in March 2008, said, “The remarkable partnership that makes up the foundation has accomplished so much in its first five years, and I’m absolutely thrilled with the opportunities that I see for us in the coming five years and beyond. I especially look forward to increasing the foundation’s educational outreach, and we are all excited about the future as we continue to foster the community and further establish GEOINT as the foundation for all intelligence disciplines.

“Finally,” Masback concluded, “I’d like to take a moment to thank our small staff and to recognize the many volunteers from our member organizations, as together they epitomize the essence of what makes not-for-profit organizations like USGIF special, and without whom we wouldn’t have accomplished so much.”

Young Professionals Group Kicks Off

The foundation recently launched a young professionals group aimed at bringing together junior GEOINT professionals from across the communities. The first YPG event was held on February 10 at the Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery in Arlington, Va. Expecting only 30 or so young members of the community, USGIF was elated when about 60 of the community’s finest came out to take part in what is sure to be a great forum for the next generation of the community’s leadership.

As the community continues to grow, the foundation felt it important to increase the involvement of future leaders in the direction of the tradecraft. The group was developed after the interest and success of the young professional’s breakout track at the GEOINT 2008 Symposium. A similar track for GEOINT 2009 is currently in development.

The purpose of the YPG is to not only unite young GEOINT professionals, but also provide them with the tools to fulfill their needs and wants to advance in their careers. USGIF will offer events and programs based on the demands of the group that parallel the foundation’s mission of promoting the tradecraft. Along with this, the group will continue to evolve by creating a young professionals group subcommittee that will utilize the unique dynamics of the membership’s young professionals by giving them an influence in events like GEOINT and TECH DAYS.

If you would like to become involved with the USGIF Young Professionals Group, please contact USGIF at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 1-800-MY-USGIF.

Foundation Welcomes New Members

Now at 155 sustaining members, USGIF recently welcomed the addition of Dell Inc., RadiantBlue Technologies, Woolpert Inc. and 21st Century Systems Inc.

Dell is the No. 1 PC provider in the United States and ranked No. 2 worldwide. As the visionary outcome of a true entrepreneur (http://content.dell.com/us/en/corp/d/bios/michael-dell-bio.aspx), Dell is committed to helping small and medium businesses (http://www.dell.com/smbserviceslaunch) solve their technology challenges, ease business pain points and draw greater value from IT.

RadiantBlue Technologies is a small business and a specialized provider of information technology development, consulting and program support services for the national security, counterterrorism and U.S. intelligence community. Founded in 2005, RadiantBlue is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo., with an office in Chantilly, Va.

Woolpert is a design, engineering and geospatial firm that integrates services and applies technologies to benefit its federal, local, state and private-sector clients. Woolpert provides seven core services: architecture, engineering, enterprise information management, geospatial, planning and design, surveying and water management.

21st Century Systems Inc. (21CSI) was formed in April 1996 to answer the question of whether intelligent software agents and humans working together could do better than either one group working alone. It delivers decision support software to help operators manage complex, high-stress, rapidly changing environments through sound, computer-assisted data monitoring and decision-making.

GEOINT 2009 Symposium Confirms Keynote Speakers

Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair, under secretary of Defense for Intelligence James R. Clapper, deputy chief of staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General David A. Deptula and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Director U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Murrett became the first three confirmed keynote speakers for the GEOINT 2009 Symposium.

Dennis C. Blair became the nation’s third director of national intelligence on January 29. He has served as commander of U.S. Pacific Command, president and CEO of the Institute for Defense Analyses, director of the Joint Staff, and the first associate director of Central Intelligence for Military Support at the CIA.

Under Secretary Clapper is the principal staff assistant and adviser to the secretary and deputy secretary of defense regarding intelligence, counterintelligence and security matters.

Lieutenant General Deptula is responsible to the secretary and chief of staff of the Air Force for policy formulation, planning, evaluation, oversight and leadership of Air Force intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.

As the director of NGA, Murrett serves as the functional manager of geospatial intelligence and guides the agency as it develops imagery and mapbased intelligence solutions for U.S. national defense, homeland security and safety of navigation.

The GEOINT 2009 Symposium returns to the Henry B. Gonzalez Center in San Antonio, Texas, October 18–21. Registration and housing will open in mid-July on the soon-to-be-relaunched www.geoint2009.com.

International Commercial Remote Sensing Symposium

Along with the Department of Commerce and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, USGIF is hosting an International Commercial Remote Sensing Symposium in 2010. Tentatively scheduled as a three-day event in the first week in March, USGIF’s ICRSS will provide the U.S. and international communities a forum in which they can learn and discuss current and future technologies, capabilities and policies affecting the commercial remote sensing community.

Planning for the event has just begun, and USGIF welcomes any members interesting in shaping the agenda to volunteer to join the planning committee. Call 888-MY-USGIF to learn more.

NGA West Showcase

When the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) came to the foundation to ask if it could help gain the awareness of its membership in the unique mission of NGA St. Louis, USGIF jumped at the opportunity.

The NGA West Showcase, taking place on June 25, provides USGIF members with an experience and learning opportunity they would not be able to have at any other NGA facility.

The St. Louis facilities, affectionately called NGA West, are home to the agency’s bathometric and hydrographic work as well as other interesting and important products. If Bethesda is the heart of NGA, then St. Louis is the soul.

In fact, late last year the National Geospatial- Intelligence Agency was honored with the 2008 St. Louis Outstanding Business of the Year Award at the 7th Annual Business Celebration. Mayor Francis G. Slay presented the award to NGA executives Bert Beaulieu and Lynne Puetz. NGA was recognized for the Agency’s vital contributions to the city’s growth. The event was sponsored by the Office of the Mayor and St. Louis Development Corp. The award is given annually to businesses that have made special commitments or investments in the city. Factors for consideration include job creation, job retention, capital investment and unique project impact, such as bringing new services to underserved areas, investment in pioneering areas or contributing to the diversity of businesses in the city’s business base.

The event will begin with a panel of NGA employees who will share their experiences on deployment in support of the war on terror. Afterward, NGA will showcase its unique capabilities with technology demonstrations. A tour of the campus will follow and an evening reception will bring the day to a close.

Upcoming Opportunities to Connect with the GEOINT Community

One of the goals of USGIF is to foster the GEOINT Community, and one of the ways the foundation does this is by providing opportunities to network with colleagues and make new connections. We are very excited about upcoming months, and we hope you can join us for some or all of the year’s remaining activities.

Along with Tech Days, which is produced by USGIF in cooperation with NGA the week of June 1, USGIF has been asked to oversee the 2009 Army Geospatial and Imagery Conference—or AGIC. AGIC takes place at the Heritage Conference Center in Chantilly, Va., from June 2–5.

On June 5, USGIF is launching its Workshop Series with a day-long session titled GEOINT Applications of Commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). Taking place at Oracle’s CVC Auditorium in Reston, Va., this SAR workshop features a keynote from DDNI for Acquisition Alden Munson and three interesting panel sessions.

USGIF heads to St. Louis, Mo., on June 25 to host the NGA West Showcase. New this year, the showcase provides attendees the chance to see first-hand the vital missions that are unique to the NGA facility in St. Louis.

On July 14, USGIF is hosting its next USGIF Young Professionals Group networking event in San Diego, Calif. We’ll take a break from our week at the ESRI International User Conference to relax and make some new friends at the Hard Rock Hotel.

And we can’t forget about our GEOINTeraction Tuesdays. September 8 will be here before we know it. We’ve invited John Schuhart of NGA’s chief financial executive in Financial Management Directorate to come and briefly discuss the upcoming fiscal year.

For more information about these and other USGIF events, please call 888-MY-USGIF or visit www.usgif.org. ♦

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