Maj. Gen. Fast takes command of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center

Courtesy Photo | Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast speaks at her assumption of command ceremony, March 16, 2005.  

FORT HUACHUCA, AZ, UNITED STATES

03.16.2022

Courtesy Story

U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence

By Lori S. Stewart, USAICoE Command Historian

On March 16, 2005, Maj. Gen. Barbara G. Fast became the first female commander of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca (USAIC&FH). For the next twenty-eight months, she focused the organization on developing cutting-edge, operationally relevant instruction, doctrine, and capabilities that prepared intelligence personnel for counterinsurgency operations.

Receiving a direct commission in the Women’s Army Corps in 1976, Barbara Fast had a career full of firsts. She served as the first female aide-de-camp to a tactical commander, the first female commander of an MI tactical exploitation battalion (163d MI Battalion), and the Army’s first female division G-2 (for 2d Armored Division). She also commanded the 66th MI Brigade and, while serving at U.S. European Command, she logged two more milestones as not only the first Army but also the first female combatant command J-2.

On 18 July 2003, then Brig. Gen. Fast arrived at Fort Huachuca as the deputy commanding general of USAIC&FH. A week later, however, she headed to Baghdad for a yearlong assignment as the first female director of intelligence (C-2) for Combined Joint Task Force 7 and Multi-National Forces-Iraq. Returning to Fort Huachuca in late July 2004, now Maj. Gen. Fast endured a seven-month delay until, finally, on March 16, 2005, she became the first female commander of USAIC&FH.

Upon taking command, she declared, “My first priority is to prepare ready Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines who go into harm’s way.” To revise training to mirror Army operations in a counterinsurgency environment, she brought in new instructors fresh from combat, ensured immediate adoption of lessons learned into all courses, and called for practical exercises built around real-world scenarios using actual message traffic from the warzone. She instituted training in a collective and a classified environment and provided cultural awareness training in every course.

One key initiative was the immediate modernization of Human Intelligence (HUMINT), which, she indicated, provided 70 percent of the intelligence in Iraq. She fought for a 1:1 student-instructor ratio for interrogation training focused on both civilian internees and prisoners of war; the fielding of Tactical HUMINT Kit Bags so collectors always had the right equipment with them; and institutional training with equipment—like the Biometric Automated Tool Set—already fielded to Iraq and Afghanistan. Additionally, in the wake of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, under General Fast’s direction, USAIC produced a new manual detailing appropriate interrogation tactics that became the standard for the entire Department of Defense (DoD). Finally, she initiated and led the effort to establish at Fort Huachuca the HUMINT Training Joint Center of Excellence to provide advanced skills training for all DoD HUMINTers.

Collaborating with national agencies, she also modernized Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) and Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT). She directed the incorporation of real-world National Security Agency (NSA) SIGINT databases into SIGINT analyst training at USAIC&FH’s satellite campus at Goodfellow Air Force Base. Also through a partnership with NSA and the Program Executive Officer-Intelligence and Electronic Warfare, the rapid reaction prototype Prophet Titan was fielded to enhance Army organic ground collection of relevant signals. Finally, under her tenure, USAIC&FH worked with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Army Engineer School to combine the efforts of geospatial and imagery analysts into a new intelligence discipline—GEOINT.

Under General Fast’s leadership, USAIC&FH achieved “’irreversible momentum” in developing “adversary-focused” intelligence professionals. In General Fast’s summation, USAIC&FH delivered to the battlefield “full-spectrum operators…who understand how to think about our adversary, how to operate with [operations] guys, how to leverage technology to do the job…and how to protect themselves. We really have Intel warriors.”

General Fast led USAIC&FH until June 29, 2007 and then completed her final assignment as deputy director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center before retiring in May 2008. Her time at Fort Huachuca was but one of many trail blazing, inspiring, and impactful assignments in her 32-year career. General Fast was inducted into the MI Hall of Fame in 2010.

• Date Taken: 03.16.2022
• Date Posted: 03.16.2022 11:44
• Story ID: 416567
• Location: FORT HUACHUCA, AZ, US