An area of significant expansion in the Defence sphere has been addressed with the opening of two new classrooms at the Defence Intelligence and Security Centre at Chicksands in Bedfordshire.

The rooms, at the Joint School of Photographic Interpretation (JSPI), will help cater for the growth in defence imagery intelligence over the next six years, in part catering for the arrival of new systems including the RAF’s Astor and the Army’s Watchkeeper.

The construction of the two new classrooms in a new building brings the total number of such rooms to seven, and with the addition of nine extra instructional staff, it will enable the school to double its throughput on its advanced courses from the next academic year.

Completed in just under six months, the new two-storey building is the first of a number of construction projects to be delivered under the Chicksands Prime Contract Core Works Programme, which began in April 2003 as part of a partnership between Defence Estates, Mowlem plc and DISC.

The opening ceremony, which coincided with the start of the first course to use the classrooms – an RAF basic intelligence analyst (imagery) course – was conducted by the Director General Intelligence Collection, Air Vice Marshal Stuart Peach, along with Brig Peter Everson, Commandant of the DISC, and Mr Rusty Clarke, Regional Director of Mowlem plc.

Six basic courses will be run in training year 2004-05, up from four last year, and 12 advanced UK Imagery Analyst Courses (UKIAC) - up from six.

The UKIAC is the primary course delivered at the school, training officers and senior rates from the three Services as well as civil servants in detailed imagery analysis techniques, in subjects ranging from road-route reconnaissance to electric power generation to predictive military intelligence analysis.

Students graduating from the course progress on to operational imagery analysis roles at JARIC Brampton, the Tactical Imagery Intelligence Wing Marham, Permanent Joint Headquarters and other defence establishments.

Sqdn Ldr Stu Stirrat, the Officer Commanding JSPI, said: “Building works have been completed with no adverse impact on training being delivered during the past six months.

“The new classrooms allow training in soft-copy imagery analysis techniques, mimicking the operational environment in the strategic and tactical imagery intelligence units.

“The five older classrooms are being upgraded to this new standard over the next two years.

“This is an exciting and challenging time for the school, and the defence imagery intelligence world.”