From: bergman@AFPAN.PA.AF.MIL (CMSgt Mike Bergman)
Newsgroups: soc.veterans
Subject: AF News - SW1 09/15/92
Date: 16 Sep 92 03:46:34 GMT
Organization: Hq Air Force News Agency/SCC

SW1.  Joint Task Force-Southwest Asia
SW2.  AWACS
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NOTE TO EDITORS:  STORIES ON THE AIR FORCE'S SUPPORT OF OPERATION SOUTHERN
WATCH IN SOUTHWEST ASIA ARE FILED SEPARATELY FROM AIR FORCE NEWS SERVICE.  THE
STORIES CARRY AN AFNS DATELINE AND AN OPERATION SOUTHERN WATCH SUBJECT LINE.
EDITORS CAN FIND THE STORIES ON THE AFPAN ELECTRONIC BULLETIN BOARD UNDER
AFNS.  THE STORIES ARE SLUGGED SW1, SW2, ETC.
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SW1.  Joint Task Force-Southwest Asia
By SSgt. Virginia Cadena
Joint Task Force Public Affairs
     ARABIAN GULF REGION -- Lt. Gen. Michael A. Nelson, commander of Joint
Task Force-Southwest Asia, made his first formal visit Sept. 13 to the 4404th
Composite Wing (Provisional) in the Arabian Gulf Region since the start of
Operation Southern Watch in August.
     Alongside American troops are British and French forces providing their
support to the operation.  "They are flying very smoothly together," Nelson
said.  "They flew together in Desert Storm and now they are doing it again.  I
think it's going very well, as is the cooperation between the Air Force and
the Navy."
     Nelson met with Group Captain Raz Ball, the Royal Air Force detachment
commander, and Lt. Col. Paul Hartweck, the French air force detachment
commander, to discuss the operational compatibilities of the RAF Tornados and
the French Mirage 2000s.  He also received briefings from a number of RAF and
French pilots on what they had seen on the ground and in the air.
     The British and the French continue to be strong coalition partners
supporting Southern Watch operations in the Arabian Gulf Region.
     While here, Nelson also met with U.S. Air Force pilots to exchange views
on tactics and other operational concerns.  "He didn't pull any punches with
us," said Capt. Ed Holland, an F-4G pilot with the 81st Fighter Squadron from
Spangdahlem AB, Germany.  "He was very straightforward and positive about his
confidence in our being ready to do whatever needs to be done."
     He also joined several airmen for lunch in the Warriors Den dining
facility to discuss quality of life issues.
     The number of American troops in the Arabian Gulf has faded since Desert
Storm; however, according to Brig. Gen. Tad Oelstrom, commander of the 4404th
Composite Wing (Provisional), remaining are members of his unit, who are
charged with security of U.S. and coalition forces remaining after the war.
Additionally, the 4404th CW provides the strike force, if necessary, to
respond to any aggression.
     Now, Air Force people still rotate to the region supporting the
coalition's efforts to enforce the 32nd parallel no-fly zone.
     Nelson said things are going smoothly right now because the Iraqis have
decided to honor the no-fly zone.  "It's been pretty peaceful," the general
added.  "They said they wouldn't violate the no-fly zone and they haven't."
     Although Nelson could not say whether there would be an increase or
decrease in coalition force involvement, he said the operation is adequately
equipped.  Operation Southern Watch began on short notice and many people had
to pull together to make the operation a success.  "There were a lot of
different pieces to the puzzle that had to fit together," he said.
     "As commander, I am pleased with that, and thankful to everyone who has
participated."


SW2.  AWACS
by Sgt. Betsy Thomas
4404th Composite Wing Public Affairs
     Members of the 963rd Airborne Warning and Control Squadron are a long way
from home.  They and their E-3 Sentry aircraft are currently in the Arabian
gulf region flying missions in support of Operation Southern Watch.  The
squadron is attached to the 552nd Air Control Wing (Deployed).
     The E-3 Sentry crews actually have two missions here:  one is to monitor
Iraqi compliance with the No-Fly Zone and the other is to direct the aircraft
in engagements with any possible hostile aircraft, according to the mission
crew commander, Maj. Charles Laskowski.
     You might say that this crew hit the ground running.  After a 17-hour
flight to the gulf region, most of the crewmembers were ready to go.
Following a small amount of "spin up" training, they stepped right into the
mission.
     "Right now we're monitoring the airspace and we're fully equipped to
engage or identify any aircraft -- we're more than ready to do it," Laskowski
said.
     The E-3 provides all-weather surveillance, command, control and
communications needed by commanders of U.S. and coalition defense forces.  The
6-foot thick rotating radar dome on top of the aircraft has a range of more
than 200 miles.  It can look down, detect, identify and track enemy and
friendly low-flying aircraft by eliminating ground clutter returns that
confuse other radar systems.  A normal crew consists of the aircraft
commander, co-pilot, flight engineer, navigator and mission crew commander.
Then, depending on the mission, there are a number of specialists in the back.
 For Southern Watch missions they are communication specialists, surveillance
experts, airborne radar technician specialists and varied weapons controllers.
     "We fly three to four missions a week and normal sortie length is 14 or
15 hours, which equates to a 20-hour day," Laskowski said.  "At the end of the
mission we turn control over to the next AWACS aircraft for a station handover
or station changeover.  We have really refined our procedures for making that
happen and it goes off like clockwork."
     If the crewmembers don't have any engagements they still have to be
proficient.  They routinely go through exercises in the United States such as
Green Flag, Red Flag and Roving Sands to keep up their proficiency.  "The crew
gets a tremendous amount of training out of those exercises and they prepare
us for real world contingencies like this," the major said.  "And while we're
here there are plans to get the crew additional training which will basically
be continuation training should the need arise.  The crews come over here able
to do the job.  We get real sharp while we're here!"
     Laskowski and many people on this crew are Desert Storm veterans and
there are many similarities between this mission and the missions they flew a
couple of years ago.  "I can't go into any great detail, but if you could see
the way the scopes and the communications are set up and how the crew is ready
to go, you could say that everything lines up 'one for one.'  And being Desert
Storm vets, they stepped right into the operation."
     The E-3 Sentry is a flexible and survivable system.  With its mobility as
an airborne warning and control system, it has a greater chance of surviving
in warfare than a ground-based radar system.


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