Just a few weeks ago, President Obama handed out medals to some of our nation’s most distinguished scientists. He bestowed the National Medal of Science upon Rudolf Kalman, whose scientific achievement during the Apollo program ultimately became the foundation for GPS technology.

Last month a few students at MIT spent less than $150 to launch a camera into near-space, capturing stunning photos of the Earth. Their helium-balloon- Styrofoam-beer-cooler-cell-phone-and-camera-bought- on-eBay contraption was an impressive feat, to say the least.

And every day for the past several years, people from all walks of life across the United States and around the globe have gone online to view images of their town, village or house taken from a satellite or an airplane. They’ve charted driving directions to a store or a friend’s house, editing that route based on their individual preferences. They’ve explored faraway places. They’ve seen images of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, retreating glaciers and natural wonders. They have experienced the power of geospatial intelligence and they may not even realize it. I submit that we are all GEOINTers.

At the GEOINT 2009 Symposium—USGIF’s annual production that has now become the pre-eminent event of the year for the defense, intelligence and homeland security communities—this will be evident. Our diverse array of keynote speakers, panel discussions, lunchtime roundtables, afternoon breakout sessions, and almost 200 exhibitors will discuss their current initiatives and challenges and further remind us that we all have a significant stake in the geospatial intelligence profession, no matter what the name of our agency, command, organization, company or school.

To be sure, GEOINT is an intelligence discipline—a vertical, “stovepiped” INT with all the advantages and disadvantages that come with it. But GEOINT isn’t just another INT; it is the foundation for all the other INTs as well as operations. This isn’t something that anyone has mandated. It is simply the reality. Where matters. Presumably, it is necessary to know the “where” associated with human intelligence: Where is the source, where is the dead drop? With signals intelligence: Where did that signal originate? With cyber: How do we “map” the servers, routers and fiber? To paraphrase the tagline of Penn State Public Broadcasting’s nascent Geospatial Revolution Project: The location of anything is rapidly becoming everything.

In full disclosure, and with great pride, USGIF recently contributed $50,000 to help fund the Geospatial Revolution Project (http://geospatialrevolution.psu.edu/). Other USGIF members supporting this integrated public media and outreach initiative about the world of geospatial intelligence and technologies include DigitalGlobe, Northrop Grumman, ESRI and the GeoEye Foundation.

This story about geospatial intelligence—and the associated people, processes and technologies and how they are changing the way we think, behave and interact—is a tale of how we are all GEOINTers. But it doesn’t start or stop there. A complete story must include the history of mapping, geodesy and remote sensing, the current state of the industry and academia, and where the community is heading as we move from “Where am I?” to “Where am I in relation to everyone and everything else?”

Telling this story, increasing the understanding of geospatial intelligence and advancing the tradecraft are essential. As we, USGIF, and most of our sustaining member organizations, are in full GEOINT Symposium mode this month, I believe it is important to remind ourselves of this. USGIF isn’t an event production company, but a non-profit educational foundation.

Although USGIF produces, sponsors and co-sponsors many events, all focused on building the GEOINT community, we do this in parallel with our efforts to promote and develop the geospatial intelligence tradecraft. Last month, USGIF took two more significant steps in this direction, hiring our first director of academic programs and launching GEOINT 101.

Dr. R. Maxwell “Max” Baber joined the foundation from the University of Redlands. He has already displayed the energy and drive that will greatly improve our academic initiatives. We are excited to have Max with us, and we are eager to begin implementing the ideas that he has for expanding and enriching our academic offerings.

With the support of the Intelligence and Security Academy, USGIF recently held the inaugural GEOINT 101 class. This one-day course provides an introduction to the fundamentals of the GEOINT community, core GEOINT technologies and operations, and the role of GEOINT in national security. I believe that this class will provide incredible value to all the members of our community by providing an opportunity for anyone to get thoroughly “grounded” in GEOINT in just one day.

These two developments are affirmations of the foundation’s commitment to engaging the next generation of geospatial intelligence professionals and continuing to support the current work force. I’d also note that these programs support our overarching mission as a foundation, articulated in the GEOINT 2009 Symposium theme: Build the Community. Advance the Tradecraft. Accelerate Innovation.