“When I was little, I wanted to be an artist, but I knew it wasn’t the most lucrative career. I think the creative or artistic part of me is what drew me in to imagery intel; it’s kind of like photography editing. We sharpen features, adjust shading and add annotations to identify those features. I’ve been told before my products are pretty.
I like what I do in the Air Force; I like imagery even though I personally find it challenging. I thought I was smart until intel really made me question myself—[technical training] was really difficult for me. I’ve found the most important thing is knowing you need experience to get better—don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s about really trusting yourself, working hard and truly committing to learning.
The job is a lot of multitasking and involves being good with grammar, doing research, writing reports, being good with math—it’s really multifaceted. There’s also a lot involved with critical thinking and logic. Sometimes when you want to find something, your brain is looking for it and forms a bias—you can’t let that happen, you have to use facts and research.
I knew joining the Guard would take work, and I knew it was going to be hard. My advice for someone would be to definitely look at how you learn and look at your study skills; I think that’s important considering it’s a water hose of information. The confidence part is key because everyone has a different personality, and I do think people learn in different ways. Resilience and flexibility are also very important skills to have in this career field and in the Air Force.”
—Staff Sgt. Delmy Hernandez, 192nd Intelligence Squadron geospatial intelligence analyst