As “Hub of the Med,” Naval Air Station Sigonella not only hosts service members from American and Italian military, but also supports the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) system. NATO AGS contains a lot of moving parts involving multiple countries and branches of the military, so it can be hard to stand out to leadership. Intelligence Specialist 3rd class William Chandler from Cedar Bluff, Alabama was able to do just that.
NATO AGS Force is comprised of five NATO RQ-4D Phoenix remotely-piloted aircraft and the associated European-sourced ground command and control stations. The AGS NATO RQ-4D aircraft is based on the U.S. Air Force Block 40 Global Hawk. It has been uniquely adapted to NATO requirements to provide a state-of-theart Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capability to NATO.
Chandler, is assigned to the imagery branch at NATO AGS. His daily routine usually begins with transferring over all the incoming imagery they received from the day before. From there, a tracker is built to see what is required from the received images. On top of his daily work routine, Chandler has just taken over as a high value property manager for where he works. As the high value property manager, he is responsible for all products in his department over a value of 5,000 dollars.
“IS3 Chandler checked into NATO at potentially the worst time possible, as a global pandemic was unfolding,” said Aviation Structural Mechanic 1st Class David Stern, Chandler’s leading petty officer. “Exhibiting painstaking resilience, IS3 continued to remotely contribute to his unit in addition to augmenting 76 off-duty hours to keep NEX resources available to NASSIG’s population. As a leader, I am privileged to witness such an exemplary young man growing broth professionally and personally.”
Chandler grew up in a small town and took advantage of the Navy’s offer to get out and see the world.
“I joined the Navy basically to leave my town,” said Chandler. “My town is in the middle of nowhere, where there aren’t many opportunities for some people. I picked the Navy because one of my best friends from high school joined the Navy, and he pretty much talked me into it.”
Chandler has been in the Navy for a little over two years. After boot camp, an IS can spend a long time in training before being sent to their first command. Sigonella is Chandler’s first command in the Navy.
“I was not expecting to be overseas for my first command,” said Chandler. “I was really expecting to get stationed in Norfolk or somewhere close first to be honest. It has definitely been a very interesting first command coming to Sigonella and especially working for NATO.”
Growing up in a small town can mean that jobs for a young person can be difficult to find, and some can be very physically demanding.
“My favorite part about my job is probably the fact that since I was 16, most of my jobs have been pretty physical,” said Chandler. “This job so far has been pretty different. We are not here busting our tails or breaking a sweat. Over all, it is a pretty relaxed job.”
During his off-time, Chandler said he likes to unwind by playing video games. He chooses PC gaming over console and even has built his own. Right now he stated his favorite game is “Rust,” a survival game.
In his short time here, Chandler has been to a few places around the island and is hoping to get out and see some more beautiful sites soon. He plans on hopefully being able to travel to mainland Italy to see Rome and Venice and really take advantage of his time here in Europe.
| Date Taken: | 07.30.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 08.03.2021 10:18 |
| Story ID: | 402284 |
| Location: | SIGONELLA, IT |
| Hometown: | CEDAR BLUFF, AL, US |
| Web Views: | 63 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, In the Spotlight, by PO1 Josh Cote, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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