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F-16s Ready for the Unthinkable

T

ToBeMe

Diamond Member
  • Sunday, February 10, 2002 - SALT LAKE CITY - Lt. Col. Brian Schaaf is prepared if called upon to take to the skies in his F-16 and shoot down an intruding aircraft - even a commercial plane - if it threatens the 2002 Olympics.

    Schaaf never dreamed his military career would come to this.

    Schaaf's orders are the same if a plane within the 90-mile protective bubble is a twin-engine Cessna or a hijacked airliner filled with American citizens.

    "We have trained all our careers to go out and fight and kill the enemy, but we never expected we would have to shoot down a civilian aircraft in our own homeland," said Schaaf, an F-16 fighter pilot based at Utah's Hill Air Force Base. "But if what I do is going to save more lives, then that's what I am going to do."

    The military calls it "negative sum gain," and it's the cornerstone of a last-minute, last-resort plan to protect the Olympics that was implemented by the North American Aerospace Defense Command - NORAD - in Colorado Springs after the terrorist attacks on the United States.

    "NORAD was not part of the Olympics airspace-security team until after Sept. 11," said Air Force Maj. Ed Thomas, who is part of the NORAD team here from Colorado Springs. "Until then, there was no plan for armed American fighters to be flying overhead."

    Now the F-16s can be seen and heard everywhere around Salt Lake City, a constant reminder of the terrorism but, Thomas said he believes, also a comfort.

    "We like to call that jet noise the sound of freedom," he said. "We want the international public, when they hear that sound, to be reassured that NORAD is overhead, as a force of last resort against anyone who might have hate in their hearts."

    Coordinating the overall Olympics security plan falls to the Secret Service. But after Sept. 11, Operation Noble Eagle included the air defense of the entire country. That job fell to NORAD, whose mission was fundamentally changed by the attacks.

    "Prior to Sept. 11, NORAD's focus was not on domestic airspace," Thomas said. "Who thought that a terrorist would use a passenger airliner as a missile? NORAD's focus was external. We were looking for a strategic nuclear bomber coming over the poles or a cruise missile or an ICBM. Technology had allowed us to focus on our long-range radars to give us considerable warning of any air threat."

    On Sept. 11, NORAD had 14 F-16s on alert at a handful of bases throughout the country. Today, there are nearly 150 F-16s and F-15s at about 30 U.S. bases, including Buckley Air Force Base east of Denver. Since Sept. 11, NORAD pilots have flown about 15,800 sorties over the continental U.S. "We have had requests to intercept potential air threats by the FAA more than 200 times since Sept. 11," Thomas said. "That includes everything from deranged passengers to the terrorist who had explosives in his shoes. That's a high number, and the overwhelming majority are benign, but it represents our unwillingness to accept any level of threat."

    Air space over Salt Lake City is restricted, but it's not a no-fly zone. Any aircraft has to be cleared to fly there and must be communicating with the Federal Aviation Administration.

    In other major metropolitan areas, planes can fly freely under a specified altitude, "but here, from zero feet to infinity, you have to be talking to somebody because otherwise there is no way for us to determine the intent of the pilot," Thomas said.

    NORAD is enforcing the protective ring with 48 F-16s based at Hill Air Force Base, about 45 miles west of Salt Lake City. The 388th Air Fighter Wing pilots have been trained for the physical and emotional reality of inflicting American civilian causalities.

    "The way most of our pilots reconcile that is, ultimately, they would be saving lives because that would mean the aircraft is intended to be used as a weapon against others," Thomas said.

    For Thomas and the rest of the NORAD team, the very nature of their mission makes them angry at its necessity and proud in its execution.

    "Yes, there is anger, and it's real," he said. "It's there for all of us involved in the homeland-defense mission. But the anger is put in the back seat. What's in the front is how to keep it from happening again."
 


<< Today, there are nearly 150 F-16s and F-15s at about 30 U.S. bases, including Buckley Air Force Base east of Denver. >>



That is alot less than I thought....
 


<< "Who thought that a terrorist would use a passenger airliner as a missile? >>



I am so damn sick of that lie :| Hollywood and Tom Clancy saw it coming, and foreign intelligence agencies even revealed plots to do just that. why do these guys play dumb?
 


<<

<< "Who thought that a terrorist would use a passenger airliner as a missile? >>



I am so damn sick of that lie :| Hollywood and Tom Clancy saw it coming, and foreign intelligence agencies even revealed plots to do just that. why do these guys play dumb? >>


Umm, I think the point they are making is, they were hoping nobody would ever be sick or demented enough to ever sacrifice the lives of all those innocent people to acheive their goal...............😉
 
Anyone see the move Fail Safe? It was set during the Cold War and a UAF plane guarding the artic region of Canada against incoming Soviet attacks got a false signal to go and drop a nuclear bomb on Moscow. But when they were being called back they didn't go because they were trained not to respond to commands to call the mission off once the confirmation code was given. So in order to prevent a nuclear war they had to drop a nuke on NYC to prove to Moscow that it really was a mistake. Errr? it went somewhat like that. Some info on the made for TV movie
 
Unfortunately, in Todays world, the "unthinkable" is reality. While I don't have to worry about it myself (I really don't think a Huey is going to shoot down ANYTHING), I'm glad that there are our people who can do such a thing in order to prevent a larger tragedy. Pray that it doesn't come to that
 
Yah, that movie Fail Safe was pretty good. I liked it a lot. I think it was an HBO Original wasn't it?

F-16s would make me feel very very safe about Air Attack possibilities if I Was in SLC.
 
Just FYI the origional FailSafe came out during the 1960s, approximatly 6 months after doctor strangelove IIRC. It started, among others Walter Mathou and Henry Fonda. Good Movie.

Peace,
Will
 


<< Yah, that movie Fail Safe was pretty good. I liked it a lot. I think it was an HBO Original wasn't it?. >>



The HBO version was a remake of the original that starred Henry Fonda as the President. But yes, the one with George Clooney, Don Cheadle and Noah Wyle was made specially for HBO and wasn't shown anywhere else.

Shoot, now my memory is slipping, it's been ages since I saw the original. Somebody famous played the interpreter on the U.S. side. Was it Larry Hagman?
 


<< That is alot less than I thought.. >>

But a whole lot more than the 14 they had on Sept. 11.

<< I am so damn sick of that lie Hollywood and Tom Clancy saw it coming, and foreign intelligence agencies even revealed plots to do just that. why do these guys play dumb? >>

Um...Hollywood is not reality, pretty sad I have to be the one to inform you of this.

There are a lot of movies like James Bond flicks that envision a lot of bizarre scenarios, should we take the threat of death rays from outer space seriously? How about that earthquake generator from Stephen Segal's flick?

The plot that foreign intelligence discovered (after raiding a Ramsey Yousef safe house in Manilla) was to hijack FOREIGN airliners in OTHER COUNTRIES, then fly them to the United States and crash them into U.S. targets. This is why everyone was watching our BORDERS for INBOUND hijacked aircraft, not domestic aircraft.
 


<< Unfortunately, in Todays world, the "unthinkable" is reality. While I don't have to worry about it myself (I really don't think a Huey is going to shoot down ANYTHING), I'm glad that there are our people who can do such a thing in order to prevent a larger tragedy. Pray that it doesn't come to that >>



Aye. Truly it does
 


<< The plot that foreign intelligence discovered (after raiding a Ramsey Yousef safe house in Manilla) was to hijack FOREIGN airliners in OTHER COUNTRIES, then fly them to the United States and crash them into U.S. targets. This is why everyone was watching our BORDERS for INBOUND hijacked aircraft, not domestic aircraft. >>



You don't expect much from our agencies do you.
 
Just think how US life will change when the next terror event includes nuclear,biological or chemical attacks. Imported products will stop. Import shipping will stop. Commerical aircraft industry will be in ruin. Immigration will stop. National Guard will be assigned to close the boarders. And the economy will be near depression and will change for ever. This is what we invite if we go back to sleep and let the liberal hand wringers distract an aggressive focus to offensively stop future events.
 


<< You don't expect much from our agencies do you >>

I expect them to protecting our country by addressing likely and credible threats, not watching too much TV or reading too many fiction novels. This is the difference between what professionals do and those who think they could do better because they watched a few James Bond or Rambo movies (reality vs. fantasy).
 
yeah, "Failsafe", the original, was a great movie. I never saw the HBO version so I don't know how that was. BTW, I think Walter Matthau was the advisor to the president (Henry Fonda) and Larry Hagman was his translator.
 
Directly after Sept. 11th, we first we accuse AMERICAN moslems of terrorism, create internal strife and racial tension, and now we're going to shoot down our own citizens. I really hope this country doesn't turn into a security state...what worries me even more, however, is the fact that someone has the authority to order a civilian plane to be downed. :Q
 


<< AMERICAN moslems of terrorism >>

Who accused American muslims of terrorism? There were no accusations of any particular nationality, but we knew that Muslim extremists were responsible. Because some redneck goofball in Texas doesn't know the difference between moderate Muslims and Muslim extremists doesn't mean the U.S. officials "created internal strife and racial tensions". US officials were rather clear that no racial, ethnic, or religious retaliation would be tolerated.

And I'm sure that negotiation with suicidal terrorists hell-bent on crashing an aircraft for maximum death tolls is going to have a chance in hell of working. Why hasn't anyone thought of saying "please" don't crash that plane into a building? dOH!
 
i dunno how safe i'd feel going to another contry and having fighters flying over me at all times. whats next, troops marching down the streets?
 


<< Directly after Sept. 11th, we first we accuse AMERICAN moslems of terrorism, create internal strife and racial tension, and now we're going to shoot down our own citizens. I really hope this country doesn't turn into a security state...what worries me even more, however, is the fact that someone has the authority to order a civilian plane to be downed. :Q >>


I don't think you even come close to understanding what is going on here.............😉

There is a raidius area which has been designated a "No Fly Zone" during the Olympic Games. Any aircraft entering this radius will be considered hostile and intercepted. Efforts would then be made to contact the aircraft and determine it's intent. Only if after all available solutions fail will any aircraft be fired upon...........

You make it sound like everything is our fault and there should be no security in light of the attack on 9/11 and subsequent threats..............you're either very misinformed.............or a member of al Quaeda...............😉
 


<< i dunno how safe i'd feel going to another contry and having fighters flying over me at all times. whats next, troops marching down the streets? >>


You haven't been to many other countries then huh?????? I'm not saying in "all", but in many, what you speak of is pretty commonplace.........😉
 
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