thedrifter
12-03-06, 08:05 AM
Hickam fliers trouble 'enemy'
An exercise tests active-duty and Air Guard cooperation
By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.com
AIR FORCE and Hawaii Air National Guard personnel were placed on "heightened alert" last week after indications that two bombers armed with long-range missiles were headed to the Hawaiian Islands.
The "incident" was only simulated -- one of at least three Homeland Defense "Noble Eagle" exercises the 613th Air and Space Operations Center at Hickam Air Force Base practices each month to ensure the defense of the skies over Hawaii and Guam.
The 613th serves as the nerve center of air operations in the Asia-Pacific region, except for the Korean peninsula.
The track of the two bombers was carefully followed from the Bong command center of the 613th at Hickam, named after Air Force Maj. Richard Bong, a World War II pilot and Medal of Honor recipient.
Reports of the two bombers were received by the 613th Air and Space Operations Center more than 12 hours before the aircraft were expected to enter Hawaii air space.
"Based on that information," said Air Force Col. Scott Shepherd, 613th deputy commander, "our forces were placed on heightened alert." His staff of 370 includes members from the Army, Marines and Navy. Also alerted were the F-15 Eagle jet fighters assigned to the Hawaii Air National Guard's 199th Fighter Squadron and its complement of KC-135 jet tankers of the 203rd Air Refueling Squadron.
By midmorning, the operations center had not only identified the threat but also taken it out after the aircraft resisted all attempts to turn them away.
Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Remington, director of air, space and information operations for Pacific Air Forces, assumed the duties of area air defense commander by 8 a.m. Wednesday. Remington is one of six two-star Air Force generals whose responsibilities include being able to run the Bong center under the direct command of Adm. William Fallon (Pacific Forces commander) and the secretary of defense. Scott said they rotate the responsibility so the operations center can be staffed around the clock.
On Wednesday morning, Remington was sitting at the center of the 613th's operations center console flanked by his staff, including representatives of the Army, Marine Corps and the Navy, a military lawyer and a search-and-rescue operations chief.
Above him, large video monitors displayed a map of the Hawaiian Islands and allowed him to see all air traffic in the chain, civilian and military. He also could order up various maps showing air fields and other vital information.
Throughout the two-hour exercise, Remington juggled two phone headsets -- a white one that plugged him directly into a secure classified line to Fallon at his Camp Smith headquarters, and a black one that was part of a direct link to the two Hawaii Air National Guard F-15 jet fighter pilots. He changed radio frequencies by using a touchpad monitor in front of him.
In effect, the pilots became Remington's eyes as the jets came up behind and then flew alongside the bombers and reported what they saw going on in the cockpit of the "enemy." In this exercise, the hostile aircraft were actually two B-52 bombers that belong to the 23rd Bomb Squadron and are on a three-month deployment to Andersen Air Force Base on Guam.
Remington's staff in this exercise included a member of the 23rd Bomb Squadron from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota who was in constant communication with the two long-distance jet bombers. For the Air Force B-52 crews, Wednesday's mission would last more than 18 hours and include a simulated weapons-firing session after the flight over Hawaiian waters.
Scott said both the Air Force and Hawaii Air National Guard benefit from these monthly exercises with military aircraft that may be passing through the islands, because it allows the two organizations "to work regularly and refine our procedures."
"There also is the deterrence factor. It shows our potential adversaries our capabilities and will deter them from taking any action in the first place."
Ellie
An exercise tests active-duty and Air Guard cooperation
By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.com
AIR FORCE and Hawaii Air National Guard personnel were placed on "heightened alert" last week after indications that two bombers armed with long-range missiles were headed to the Hawaiian Islands.
The "incident" was only simulated -- one of at least three Homeland Defense "Noble Eagle" exercises the 613th Air and Space Operations Center at Hickam Air Force Base practices each month to ensure the defense of the skies over Hawaii and Guam.
The 613th serves as the nerve center of air operations in the Asia-Pacific region, except for the Korean peninsula.
The track of the two bombers was carefully followed from the Bong command center of the 613th at Hickam, named after Air Force Maj. Richard Bong, a World War II pilot and Medal of Honor recipient.
Reports of the two bombers were received by the 613th Air and Space Operations Center more than 12 hours before the aircraft were expected to enter Hawaii air space.
"Based on that information," said Air Force Col. Scott Shepherd, 613th deputy commander, "our forces were placed on heightened alert." His staff of 370 includes members from the Army, Marines and Navy. Also alerted were the F-15 Eagle jet fighters assigned to the Hawaii Air National Guard's 199th Fighter Squadron and its complement of KC-135 jet tankers of the 203rd Air Refueling Squadron.
By midmorning, the operations center had not only identified the threat but also taken it out after the aircraft resisted all attempts to turn them away.
Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Remington, director of air, space and information operations for Pacific Air Forces, assumed the duties of area air defense commander by 8 a.m. Wednesday. Remington is one of six two-star Air Force generals whose responsibilities include being able to run the Bong center under the direct command of Adm. William Fallon (Pacific Forces commander) and the secretary of defense. Scott said they rotate the responsibility so the operations center can be staffed around the clock.
On Wednesday morning, Remington was sitting at the center of the 613th's operations center console flanked by his staff, including representatives of the Army, Marine Corps and the Navy, a military lawyer and a search-and-rescue operations chief.
Above him, large video monitors displayed a map of the Hawaiian Islands and allowed him to see all air traffic in the chain, civilian and military. He also could order up various maps showing air fields and other vital information.
Throughout the two-hour exercise, Remington juggled two phone headsets -- a white one that plugged him directly into a secure classified line to Fallon at his Camp Smith headquarters, and a black one that was part of a direct link to the two Hawaii Air National Guard F-15 jet fighter pilots. He changed radio frequencies by using a touchpad monitor in front of him.
In effect, the pilots became Remington's eyes as the jets came up behind and then flew alongside the bombers and reported what they saw going on in the cockpit of the "enemy." In this exercise, the hostile aircraft were actually two B-52 bombers that belong to the 23rd Bomb Squadron and are on a three-month deployment to Andersen Air Force Base on Guam.
Remington's staff in this exercise included a member of the 23rd Bomb Squadron from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota who was in constant communication with the two long-distance jet bombers. For the Air Force B-52 crews, Wednesday's mission would last more than 18 hours and include a simulated weapons-firing session after the flight over Hawaiian waters.
Scott said both the Air Force and Hawaii Air National Guard benefit from these monthly exercises with military aircraft that may be passing through the islands, because it allows the two organizations "to work regularly and refine our procedures."
"There also is the deterrence factor. It shows our potential adversaries our capabilities and will deter them from taking any action in the first place."
Ellie