FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. -- The 668th Alteration and Installation Squadron, located at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, may be a small, geographically separated part of the 70th ISR Wing, but the squadron’s dedicated Airmen have a big impact.
Also known as ALIS, this unit’s mission is to deploy, train, and maintain specialized forces for the global implementation of communications infrastructure and sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) construction in support of national operations.
The squadron is comprised of 24 different Air Force Specialty Codes, and has both military and civilian members. The Airmen who accomplish the squadron’s mission range from civil engineers and communications experts, to financial management technicians and security forces.
The unit provides 24/7-support, allowing renovations to continue outside normal duty hours and avoiding the disruption of essential missions.
“The 668th ALIS is the only unit of its kind in the Air Force, and as far as we know, the Department of Defense,” said Lt. Col. John Hollister, 668th ALIS commander. “Our unique blend of personnel allows us to specialize in turn-key, cost effective SCIF solutions for the intelligence community.”
The Airmen of ALIS travel to serve customers around the world, and are continuously on the road supporting not only the wing, but also a number of intelligence community partners. Each member of the 668th ALIS team is skilled in additional specifications, which are tailored to intelligence community customers beyond their career field in order to safeguard the success of their projects.
“Organizationally, we must move people, tools and materials around the globe while keeping projects on-schedule and on-budget,” said Hollister. “Project success requires the involvement of numerous external partners for fire suppression, intrusion detection systems and alarms, plumbing, information technology support, waste management, transportation – you name it.”
According to Master Sgt. Ellis Cobb, 668th ALIS electrical section chief, one of the squadron’s accomplishments involved supporting the move of Twenty-Fourth Air Force’s cyberspace operations to Air Combat Command.
“The facility renovation project was engineered and implemented in 10 months; completed two weeks ahead of schedule and came in $200,000 under the initially projected budget,” said Cobb.
He went on to say that a team of 21 Airmen completed the project and made significant accomplishments, including installing 25,000 feet of copper and fiber optic cable, terminating 1,600 end-points, rewiring lighting throughout a two-story facility, and installing an improved, split air conditioning unit to protect sensitive equipment.
The ALIS Airmen also constructed specialized secure rooms, installed new facility doors, and designed and fabricated window inserts to maximize noise reduction while maintaining external structures.
Cobb reiterated that utilizing ALIS personnel can be a cost and time saving benefit for Air Force customers.
“In fact, the 668th ALIS can realize cost savings of nearly 70 percent,” said Hollister. “Our teams can surge longer and work extended hours to keep essential projects on schedule.”
The squadron is also able to save customers money and labor-hours by utilizing Airmen’s outside-the-box thinking, such as de-conflicting projects through 3-D visualization, he said.
“The ALIS is a truly unique organization, with innovative Airmen and an amazing mission,” said Hollister. “We blend the best of engineering and installation, communications and civil engineer squadrons within ALIS, which allows our customers to deliver ISR products and enable national decision makers.”
For assistance with SCIF construction work, the 688th ALIS can be reached via email at 668alis.xp.programs@us.af.mil.