Air Force Lt. Gen. Leah Lauderback, deputy chief of Staff, ISR and Cyber Effects Operations, and Space Force Maj. Gen. Gregory Gagnon, deputy chief of Space Operations for Intelligence, joined a panel discussion with Mr. Greg Ryckman, Defense Intelligence Agency deputy director for Global Integration, during the Air and Space Force Association Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colorado, March 4.
The two senior Department of the Air Force intelligence officers joined the stage alongside Ryckman to discuss the current intelligence environment, monitoring threats and on-going collaboration between combat support agencies.
To begin the panel, Gagnon gave context for why America's need for intelligence is growing. He stated there has been significant changes throughout the world in the past 10 years, including the drastically decreasing gap between the U.S. and Chinese economies.
"In the past 10 years, the Chinese economy has grown 78%," Gagnon stated. "Let me tell you why this is important… what makes you rich can make you strong."
Gagnon explained the efforts China has taken to increase its defense budget and noted they've increased on-orbit assets by 650% since the U.S. Space Force's creation in 2019.
Lauderback spoke about the importance of unifying the Department of Defense's intel capabilities with combat support agencies such as the DIA. She explained senior intelligence leaders are working to get intel information to as many levels throughout the DoD as possible.
We want to be able to provide the intentions of the adversary," Lauderback said. "We want to provide their capabilities, and we want to give [commanders and decision-makers] confidence in the intelligence so that [they] can make the best decisions in a high-end conflict."
With DIA acting as the lead to unify intelligence information, Gagnon said they are putting the "'common' back in the common intel picture," emphasizing its importance for global synchronization.
"Our design in the Department of Defense is to deliver unified action," Gagnon said. "That requires a unified set of understanding about where the enemy is and what their intent is, so this is a very important initiative."
