Fighter Wing: A Guided Tour of an Air Force Combat Wing

by Tom Clancy

  366th Medical Group

  The morale and quality of life on an Air Force base depend greatly on a well-managed, well-staffed medical group. This is not only to provide flight surgeons for the aircrews and combat medics for the ground personnel, but also general medical care for the families and dependents of the wing and base personnel. The geographic isolation of Mountain Home AFB makes this particularly important—the nearest major metropolitan hospital is more than fifty miles away.

  Commanded by Colonel C. Bruce Green, MD, the 366th Medical Group provides medical services across the full range of missions. In addition, they are capable of deploying a field hospital with the wing, to provide medical services for the 366th and its attached units in the field.

  366th Combat Support Group

  The 366th Combat Support Group covers many specialized tasks and services such as engineering, communications, base security, and law enforcement, as well as food and sales services. Commanded by Colonel Robert G. Priest, the 366th Combat Support Group is the final slice in the 366th pie, and while its functions may seem secondary to the combat functions of the wing, rest assured that the quality-of-life issues faced by Colonel Priest’s personnel are just as important to the success of the 366th’s mission as the skills of the combat aviators in the flying squadrons.

  366THCIVILENGINEERINGSQUADRON. Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Carmody, this unit allows the 366th to move into an unknown host airfield and make it fully operable. Doing this ranges from supplying and guaranteeing potable water and pure jet fuel to assuring the quality of the electrical power. On some deployments (such as to Saudi Arabia), this may be easy. But in other places, all the engineers can do is survey a bare bones base and transmit their construction requirements to an Air Force “Red Horse” airbase construction battalion. In a time that would amaze you, these units can take a patch of desert or jungle, add concrete and water, and build one of the world’s busiest airports. The 366th engineers also oversee quality assurance on construction projects back at Mountain Home AFB.

  366TH COMMUNICATIONS SQUADRON. Headed by Lieutenant Colonel Dennis J. Damiens, the 366th Communications Squadron is more than just a miniature phone company. It is a state-of-the-art organization that is absolutely vital if the Operations Squadron is to have anything to plug their CTAPS system terminals into. Colonel Damiens’s crew can plug into virtually any kind of voice, data, or satellite system, ranging from commercial phone companies to the new MILSTAR system that is just coming on-line. In addition, they provide local communications support around Mountain Home AFB, and maintain all of the secure communications systems of the wing.

  366TH SECURITY POLICE SQUADRON. Even the most law-abiding small town needs a police force. Mountain Home AFB is a small town with zero tolerance for drug and alcohol abuse, along with several billion dollars of irreplaceable assets that require extremely dependable protection. The Security Police Squadron, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James E. Leist, serves the functions of that local police force. Additional duties include anti-terrorist intelligence while at home, and airbase defense when the wing is deployed overseas. If the wing were to deploy to an area with a serious local security threat, the Security Police Squadron would coordinate overall airbase defense, and any reinforcing units would plug in to them. This might include anything from an allied/host nation military police unit to Special Forces units specializing in anti-terrorist activities.

  366TH SERVICES SQUADRON. The 366th Services Squadron, commanded by Major Timothy P. Fletcher, runs the mess halls, the officers/enlisted clubs, the base commissary, and a host of other activities that make life bearable for military personnel. A good Services Squadron can make even the most desolate base into a duty station to remember. In the words of one young pilot, “They make Mountain Home a great place to come home to.”

  OUTSIDE HELP: OTHER ATTACHED UNITS

  Despite the variety and capability of the units in the 366th Wing, there is no way they could go off to war all by themselves. While the Gunfighters can deal out death in several dozen interesting and creative ways, they are a bit shorthanded when it comes to finding and identifying the targets to be terminated. This is not a flaw or weakness in the structure of the wing, because the Air Force generally guards reconnaisance and target intelligence assets quite closely, and parcels them out carefully. Since the 366th is solidly backed by the senior leadership at ACC, the wing is near the top of the priority list for reconnaisance and intelligence support of all kinds.

  552nd Air Control Wing, Tinker AFB, Oklahoma

  When ACC decided to set up the 366th as a composite wing, one idea they seriously considered was to give the wing its own small (three-aircraft) squadron of E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) aircraft. Unfortunately, these aircraft are extremely scarce; only thirty-four were built for USAF service. Nevertheless, no significant force would normally deploy without AWACS support, and the 366th is high on the list of favored users. Thus, a standing arrangement has been made between the 366th Wing and ACC headquarters that in the event of a deployment, the parent unit for all USAF AWACS aircraft, the 552nd Air Control Wing (ACW), will supply a few of the precious eyes in the skies.

  Based at Tinker AFB just east of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the 552nd is the sole operator of the big radar planes in U.S. service (in four Airborne Air Control Squadrons: the 463rd, 464th, 465th, and 466th). The 552nd maintains detachments all over the world, from Alaska to Turkey, and has become an important airborne tool of American diplomacy. But this has come at a high price for the overworked crews, who are routinely away from their homes and families for months at a time. The operational tempo has always been high for the crews of the 552nd Wing, probably too high. By the beginning of 1994, an average AWACS crew was spending over 180 days a year on temporary duty (TDY) assignments overseas. In mid-1994, Brigadier General Silas R. “Si” Johnson arrived at Tinker AFB to take over command of the wing. Si Johnson is a career multi-engine combat pilot, with thousands of hours in KC-135s and B-52s. Right now, the officers and enlisted personnel of the 552nd already feel the confidence of a strong hand on the reins of their wing and their community. They will need it too, because the demand for their unique capabilities continues unabated.

  In order to keep a single AWACS aircraft airborne twenty-four hours a day, the 366th plans to deploy with a three-aircraft AWACS detachment in the event of a crisis. The trick is to integrate the Sentry aircraft of the 552nd wing into the operations of the 366th wing, a task the two units have practiced extensively. This practice has included exercises to develop tactical procedures for the use of the 390th FS’s F-15Cs with their new JTIDS data links, which makes them even more deadly, thanks to the “God’s-eye view” of the E-3 radar and other sensors.

  27th Fighter Wing, Cannon AFB, New Mexico

  Another planned reinforcement for the 366th in a crisis deployment would be a detachment of four EF-111A Raven standoff jamming aircraft, currently based with the 27th Fighter Wing at Cannon AFB, Oklahoma. These powerful EW aircraft (using versions of the Hughes ALQ-99 jamming system) are the most capable tactical jamming aircraft in the USAF inventory. The USAF has used standoff jamming aircraft in raid packages since World War II, and no sane American strike force would care to enter hostile airspace without them. Unfortunately, the current Administration is planning to retire the Spark ’Varks (as they are called), along with the remaining force of F-111F fighter bombers, in FY-1997 and -98, with no planned replacement. This leaves ACC and the 366th in a world of hurt, and still requiring a standoff jammer of some kind. As an interim and very imperfect solution to this problem, Colonel Hopper and his creative folks at the 34th BS are working out tactics and techniques for using the B1-B as a standoff jammer. Meanwhile, the Ravens of the 27th FW are still available for deployments, and continue to support operations overseas in Iraq, Bosnia, and Haiti.

  355th Electronic Combat Wing, Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona

  Buried in the depths of Colonel Scott’s br
iefing charts on the 366th CONOPS plan is a note about a pair of aircraft known as EC-130H Compass Calls that will deploy with the Gunfighters. Festooned with an array of antennas, these odd-looking variants of the Lockheed Hercules are Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) and Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) platforms, with powerful jamming packages aboard. They act as virtual electronic vacuum cleaners, sucking up almost everything in the electromagnetic spectrum. After analyzing it to provide real-time targeting data on enemy command posts, SAM and AAA radar sites, and other electronic emitters, they pass them along via a JTIDS data link to other aircraft. They can also conduct standoff jamming of SAM and AAA radars, as well as communications jamming. Though there are only a handful of these valuable birds (residing in two squadrons, the 41st ECS and 43rd ECS of the 355th Wing at Davis-Monthan AFB near Tucson, Arizona) and their availability will always be limited, several of them with their highly skilled technicians would be assigned to the 366th in the event of an overseas deployment. Should the entire fleet be unavailable, ACC can also turn to a clip-on system known as Senior Scout, which can be installed as a package in any C-130 transport.

  Joint Surveillance and Targeting System (Joint STARS)

  While there is no active unit currently flying the E-8C Joint Surveillance and Targeting System (Joint STARS) radar aircraft, such a wing of these aircraft will be formed in the next few years with about two dozen planes assigned. It is likely that the new unit will be based at Tinker AFB, since so much work is done there on the old reliable 707-series airframes. Based around an SAR radar system with the ability to detect and identify moving and stationary ground targets, Joint STARS is probably the most important new aircraft being acquired by the USAF today. Given the fantastic performance of the two E-8A Joint STARS prototypes in locating and tracking Iraqi ground forces during Desert Storm, it is unlikely that the 366th would ever be sent into a crisis without this far-seeing eye in the sky. As soon as enough E-8Cs become operational in the late 1990s, ACC will probably provide a three aircraft detachment so that the 366th Wing will be able to monitor ground space as well as airspace.

  Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office (DARO)

  When armies finally began to operate aircraft in the early 1900s, the first mission important to ground commanders was taking photos of enemy positions. Reconnaissance imagery is vital to a JFACC staff, because you have to be able to see a target before you can hit it. Then you need more pictures of the targets you have hit so that you can evaluate the damage. Unless a JFACC has photo-reconnaissance assets under his direct control, the whole process of planning, striking, and bomb damage assessment (BDA) starts breaking down. The bad news is that the USAF has just a few dozen aging RF-4C Phantom II tactical photo-reconnaissance aircraft in two Air National Guard squadrons. During Desert Storm, the lack of U.S. military tactical photo-reconnaissance forced the CENTAF staff to improvise, with a combination of aircraft and satellite systems controlled by different agencies, making effective BDA almost impossible. Following the war, Secretary of Defense William Perry took the lesson to heart, and created the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office (DARO) to coordinate all reconnaissance within the earth’s atmosphere. DARO shares space in the Pentagon with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO—the agency that controls the Earth-orbiting reconnaissance satellites), and is run by Major General Kenneth Israel. DA-RO’S charter is to take over all U.S. aerial recon programs and bring some order out of the chaos.

  The famous “Mother of All Retreats” radar picture obtained by one of the prototype E-8A Joint-STARS aircraft during Operation Desert Storm. Northrop Grumman

  While many programs run by DARO remain highly classified, we do know that the staff in the Pentagon has initiated a series of UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, or pilotless drone) programs designed to replace or augment existing manned tactical systems. Since they are unencumbered by the weight and life-support requirements of a crew, or the need to return them safely in the event of a hostile response, UAVs will be more effective than manned aircraft in acquiring photo-reconnaissance data. UAVs can also loiter over an area of interest and study it, instead of just flying by at “the speed of heat” and snapping a single picture. At the same time, users of imagery products will need to develop some new attitudes and techniques. For example, rather than taking pictures of a particular target or Direct Mean Point of Impact (DMPI or “dimpy,” as it is called), UAVs will monitor large areas, such as all of Kuwait or Bosnia, updating the situation map several times a day (and night). This means that while a JFACC staff may not see specific targets right before or right after a strike, they will be obtaining more and better information over time. In the long run, this big picture will provide better data for operational-level planning, especially when combined with high-quality post-strike videotape from FLIR systems. During Desert Storm, these short video clips, when properly cross-referenced with other data, proved to be invaluable for BDA.

  So far, none of the new UAV systems are operational, and only a few flying prototypes have seen any action. One of these, the Predator-series UAV manufactured by General Atomics Corporation of San Diego, California, is reported to have flown CIA-sponsored surveillance missions over Bosnia from a base in Albania and the Predators appear to have done well. These new systems, as well as the remnants of our older capabilities, should provide strike planners with adequate targeting data, as long as the satellite systems hold up. Nevertheless, airborne reconnaissance assets are going to be thin for at least a decade.

  A General Atomics Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) on a test flight. General Atomics

  National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)

  Though there are a number of intelligence-gathering shortcomings at the tactical and theater levels of the American military, the United States has fortunately built an extremely robust capability for intelligence gathering from space. While it is no secret that America uses satellites for strategic-level intelligence gathering, the details of specific programs have until recently been closely held secrets. The first orbital photo reconnaissance satellites began operations in the 1960s under a covert CIA program called Corona, which had a NASA cover story as part of an orbital research program called Discoverer.

  An early wide-area surveillance photo of a Soviet bomber base, taken by a Corona photo reconnaissance satellite in 1966. Much of the 366th’s targeting information in a combat situation would come from such spacecraft in low Earth orbit. Official DOD Photo

  Luckily, the end of the Cold War has made available for wider use some space-based assets previously dedicated to watching the former Soviet Union. NRO has made an exceptional effort in the last few years to provide their “product” to a wider base of users within the U.S. military services. Today, the folks at the Central Imagery Office (CIO), the agency which handles and interprets imagery from both DARO and the NRO, are busy developing tactical systems to obtain and distribute satellite reconnaissance “products.”

  50th Space Wing/U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM)

  Coordinating America’s military space activities is a major unified command, the U.S. Space Command based at Peterson AFB in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and commanded by General Joe Ashey. He also commands the USAF Space Command, and the North American Defense Command (NORAD), also based in the Colorado Springs, Colorado, area. Currently, those activities and their products include:• Ballistic Missile Warning—Under a program known as the Project 647/Defense Support Program (DSP), several geosynchronous Earth-orbiting satellites with IR telescopes have the job of providing the National Command Authorities with warning of ballistic missile launches and prediction of their probable targets. Originally designed to provide warning against attacks by Soviet ICBMs and SLBMs, the latest models of the DSP birds provided warning during Desert Storm of SCUD launches out of Iraq. Since then, they have been modified under a program called Talon Shield to provide warning and targeting for theater-level commanders to alert air defense warning and engagement systems (like the Patriot PAC-3/ERINT missile
system).

  • Weather Data—Pilots are very concerned with the weather they must fly through to reach their targets. For over three decades, the key element in military weather prediction has been a program called the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), which is designed to provide weather data of interest to military planners.

  • Communications—Without question, the modern communications relay satellite, along with micro-electronics and computers, is one of the wonders of the modern world. Currently, the military operates at least four types of communications satellites, with a fifth coming on-line. The first four are the Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS)-II and -III-series relay vehicles, as well as the NATO-III and Fleet Satellite (FLTSAT) communication birds which have been in use for some time.

  In 1995, the first of DoD’s new secure communications relay systems named MILSTAR is coming on-line. One low-data-rate satellite is currently being checked out in orbit and five more are on order, the last four greatly enhanced with medium-data-rate payloads. Hardened against anything an enemy might throw at it except a direct hit, it was designed for great resistance to enemy interception and jamming at the cost of limited (low) data rates and a limited number of channels. The program is therefore being restructured to provide much greater tactical utility to a wider community of users than just the National Command Authorities and strategic deterrent forces. One of the more interesting ideas being kicked around these days is that tactical aircraft like the F-15E Strike Eagle or F-16C Fighting Falcon might be fitted with MILSTAR-compatible communications terminals to receive targeting coordinates while in flight.