Eagle Eyes Over the Homeland False Alarms, Big Threat List Keep U.S. Air Defenses Busy

By Bradley Graham Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, October 30, 2001; Page A01

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The unidentified aircraft popped up as a round white symbol on radar screens at the military operations center here monitoring potential air threats to the continental United States.

Located about 100 miles off the coast of Virginia and heading west, the aircraft was transmitting an inappropriate radar code number. Unable to determine whether it was friend or foe, the center's on-duty commander scrambled two F-16 fighter jets out of Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Va., to take a closer look.

No sooner had the interceptors lifted off than their target signaled it was a Marine Corps helicopter on a training mission.

With Operation Noble Eagle now in its seventh week guarding U.S. skies, such false alarms continue to occur daily. Air Force F-15 and F-16 fighter jets still fly patterns day and night over Washington and New York and randomly appear over about a dozen other metropolitan areas. From time to time, too, military aircraft are sent aloft to patrol such special occasions as major league sports events or to check out reports of possible threats to power plants and other sensitive sites.

Just what threats the patrols are meant to combat have never been specified for the 1st Air Force, which is charged with sustaining the nationwide air shield.

Lists exist of places and events considered in need of defending. But no consensus on a single list has emerged from the Pentagon's Joint Staff or the National Security Council, officers said. Top-level direction also has been lacking on which sites should be given higher priority over others.

"You're talking dozens of items on the lists, but no priority has been assigned to them," said Col. Michael Corbett, vice commander of the 1st Air Force. "A prioritized list would give us an objective process for what we're doing. There are not enough forces to defend everything."

For now, at least, the air defense operation is postured to give particular attention to Washington and New York, since that is where terrorists struck on Sept. 11, and to provide rapid responses elsewhere. Air Force jets sit on alert at 26 air bases, their avionics preset, their weapons loaded, everything primed to get the planes airborne within 15 minutes.

Such hair-trigger readiness is driving fighter jets to chase after all suspicious radar blips. It also is keeping military air defense officers in closer touch than ever before with civilian aviation and law enforcement authorities, as was evident one day last week inside the operations center.

Overall responsibility for air defense of the United States and Canada rests with the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, whose command hub lies deep inside Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado. But day-to-day operations for the continental United States are managed from consoles and crews here, housed in a two-story, windowless structure of steel-reinforced concrete that sits at a remote corner of a military airfield outside Panama City, Fla. Two other operations centers -- in Alaska and Canada -- run the air defense action in those regions.

Prior to Sept. 11, the air defense mission ranked so low among Pentagon planners that some had pushed for eliminating the 1st Air Force entirely. From its peak in the 1950s, when several thousand military aircraft were dedicated to defending against the prospect of Soviet bombers invading U.S. airspace, the number of Air Force jets on air defense alert had dwindled to two at each of seven bases around the country.

All that has changed. Federal Aviation Administration officials now sit in the operations center here, and military commanders can monitor FAA networks, view FAA radar tracks and quickly dial top FAA authorities. Radar coverage of the U.S. interior remains spotty, but some gaps have been filled through the use of six mobile radar units. A new computer system due here soon will allow for data from about 200 interior FAA radars.

The center's staff has grown from about 40 to 400. Unable to squeeze into the center's limited three rows of tiered seating, the extra staffers have flowed over into a new building next door. There they huddle at long tables crowded with computer terminals.

Each day they assemble an air tasking order (ATO) that tells every fighter jet, tanker and surveillance plane in the mission what to do. About 250 missions get assigned daily, or roughly one quarter the size of the daily ATO during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, spokesmen here said.

"What we have here is another theater of war," said Maj. Gen. Larry Arnold, the 1st Air Force's commander.

During the course of what officers said was a typical 12-hour shift last week, planes were scrambled not only for the Marine helicopter but also for a Navy training aircraft spotted off the coast of Texas broadcasting an uncorrelated code. In another case, military interceptors in Arkansas nearly took off for a small propeller-driven plane west of Tulsa whose pilot had appeared incapacitated or asleep but turned out to be okay.

At yet another point, the FAA asked military crews here to monitor a commercial airliner coming into New York's LaGuardia airport, which they did without incident. A few hours later, FAA officials could be heard over their communications network reporting that security personnel at a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., water treatment plant had seen a suspicious aircraft orbiting the site.

This time, the Broward County sheriff's office sent a helicopter to check. But the military air patrols respond to their share of such sightings.

"A day doesn't go by in which the manager of a nuclear power plant somewhere, in the middle of the night, doesn't report a suspicious aircraft in the vicinity," Corbett said.

Under new rules of engagement adopted after the Sept. 11 attacks, Arnold, as a region commander, would have authority to order the shooting down of a threatening commercial airliner if time did not permit consultations with NORAD's four-star chief, the Pentagon or the White House. This responsibility has weighed heavily on Arnold, a Vietnam-era combat pilot who started flying U.S. air defense missions in the Air National Guard 28 years ago.

"Since Sept. 11, I have been off base three times and out of town zero times," he said. "The ability to respond quickly is something that must never be in doubt."

Much of the strain of the air patrol operation has fallen on the Air National Guard, which for years has had the lead in homeland air defense. The Guard conducts about 80 percent of the current missions; regular Air Force units perform the rest.

For many of the Guard units involved, the patrols have provided the most flying they have seen. In a normal month, a Guard unit flies four to six air defense sorties. In the past month, several have flown more than 100 sorties.

Concerned that Guard crews will lose proficiency in other combat skills, Arnold plans to rotate other units in soon. Already NATO has provided five AWACS surveillance aircraft to relieve U.S. models.

But longer term, Arnold and other Air Force officers said the need to maintain the patrols will require a reassessment of aircraft and personnel levels, as well as improvements in aircraft shelters, command facilities and communications systems at some airfields. While most of the Guard pilots flying the patrols continue to be drawn from ranks of volunteers, more than 13,800 Guard troops have been summoned to active duty to fill out maintenance teams and help in other support jobs.

False Alarms, Big Threat List Keep U.S. Air Defenses Busy

By Bradley Graham Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, October 30, 2001; Page A01

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The unidentified aircraft popped up as a round white symbol on radar screens at the military operations center here monitoring potential air threats to the continental United States.

Located about 100 miles off the coast of Virginia and heading west, the aircraft was transmitting an inappropriate radar code number. Unable to determine whether it was friend or foe, the center's on-duty commander scrambled two F-16 fighter jets out of Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Va., to take a closer look.

No sooner had the interceptors lifted off than their target signaled it was a Marine Corps helicopter on a training mission.

With Operation Noble Eagle now in its seventh week guarding U.S. skies, such false alarms continue to occur daily. Air Force F-15 and F-16 fighter jets still fly patterns day and night over Washington and New York and randomly appear over about a dozen other metropolitan areas. From time to time, too, military aircraft are sent aloft to patrol such special occasions as major league sports events or to check out reports of possible threats to power plants and other sensitive sites.

Just what threats the patrols are meant to combat have never been specified for the 1st Air Force, which is charged with sustaining the nationwide air shield.

Lists exist of places and events considered in need of defending. But no consensus on a single list has emerged from the Pentagon's Joint Staff or the National Security Council, officers said. Top-level direction also has been lacking on which sites should be given higher priority over others.

"You're talking dozens of items on the lists, but no priority has been assigned to them," said Col. Michael Corbett, vice commander of the 1st Air Force. "A prioritized list would give us an objective process for what we're doing. There are not enough forces to defend everything."

For now, at least, the air defense operation is postured to give particular attention to Washington and New York, since that is where terrorists struck on Sept. 11, and to provide rapid responses elsewhere. Air Force jets sit on alert at 26 air bases, their avionics preset, their weapons loaded, everything primed to get the planes airborne within 15 minutes.

Such hair-trigger readiness is driving fighter jets to chase after all suspicious radar blips. It also is keeping military air defense officers in closer touch than ever before with civilian aviation and law enforcement authorities, as was evident one day last week inside the operations center.

Overall responsibility for air defense of the United States and Canada rests with the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, whose command hub lies deep inside Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado. But day-to-day operations for the continental United States are managed from consoles and crews here, housed in a two-story, windowless structure of steel-reinforced concrete that sits at a remote corner of a military airfield outside Panama City, Fla. Two other operations centers -- in Alaska and Canada -- run the air defense action in those regions.

Prior to Sept. 11, the air defense mission ranked so low among Pentagon planners that some had pushed for eliminating the 1st Air Force entirely. From its peak in the 1950s, when several thousand military aircraft were dedicated to defending against the prospect of Soviet bombers invading U.S. airspace, the number of Air Force jets on air defense alert had dwindled to two at each of seven bases around the country.

All that has changed. Federal Aviation Administration officials now sit in the operations center here, and military commanders can monitor FAA networks, view FAA radar tracks and quickly dial top FAA authorities. Radar coverage of the U.S. interior remains spotty, but some gaps have been filled through the use of six mobile radar units. A new computer system due here soon will allow for data from about 200 interior FAA radars.

The center's staff has grown from about 40 to 400. Unable to squeeze into the center's limited three rows of tiered seating, the extra staffers have flowed over into a new building next door. There they huddle at long tables crowded with computer terminals.

Each day they assemble an air tasking order (ATO) that tells every fighter jet, tanker and surveillance plane in the mission what to do. About 250 missions get assigned daily, or roughly one quarter the size of the daily ATO during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, spokesmen here said.

"What we have here is another theater of war," said Maj. Gen. Larry Arnold, the 1st Air Force's commander.

During the course of what officers said was a typical 12-hour shift last week, planes were scrambled not only for the Marine helicopter but also for a Navy training aircraft spotted off the coast of Texas broadcasting an uncorrelated code. In another case, military interceptors in Arkansas nearly took off for a small propeller-driven plane west of Tulsa whose pilot had appeared incapacitated or asleep but turned out to be okay.

At yet another point, the FAA asked military crews here to monitor a commercial airliner coming into New York's LaGuardia airport, which they did without incident. A few hours later, FAA officials could be heard over their communications network reporting that security personnel at a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., water treatment plant had seen a suspicious aircraft orbiting the site.

This time, the Broward County sheriff's office sent a helicopter to check. But the military air patrols respond to their share of such sightings.

"A day doesn't go by in which the manager of a nuclear power plant somewhere, in the middle of the night, doesn't report a suspicious aircraft in the vicinity," Corbett said.

Under new rules of engagement adopted after the Sept. 11 attacks, Arnold, as a region commander, would have authority to order the shooting down of a threatening commercial airliner if time did not permit consultations with NORAD's four-star chief, the Pentagon or the White House. This responsibility has weighed heavily on Arnold, a Vietnam-era combat pilot who started flying U.S. air defense missions in the Air National Guard 28 years ago.

"Since Sept. 11, I have been off base three times and out of town zero times," he said. "The ability to respond quickly is something that must never be in doubt."

Much of the strain of the air patrol operation has fallen on the Air National Guard, which for years has had the lead in homeland air defense. The Guard conducts about 80 percent of the current missions; regular Air Force units perform the rest.

For many of the Guard units involved, the patrols have provided the most flying they have seen. In a normal month, a Guard unit flies four to six air defense sorties. In the past month, several have flown more than 100 sorties.

Concerned that Guard crews will lose proficiency in other combat skills, Arnold plans to rotate other units in soon. Already NATO has provided five AWACS surveillance aircraft to relieve U.S. models.

But longer term, Arnold and other Air Force officers said the need to maintain the patrols will require a reassessment of aircraft and personnel levels, as well as improvements in aircraft shelters, command facilities and communications systems at some airfields. While most of the Guard pilots flying the patrols continue to be drawn from ranks of volunteers, more than 13,800 Guard troops have been summoned to active duty to fill out maintenance teams and help in other support jobs.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A8862-2001Oct29?language=printer

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 30, 2001