The ‘scope dopes’
For Lt. Col. David Cronk, things are a lot more serious than they used to be. A little less than three years ago, his main role as crew commander in the Southeast Air Defense Sector control room was to identify a handful of green blips floating around on a computer-generated image of the U.S. coastline on a radar screen manufactured in the late 1960s. Now, he and his crew of air surveillance technicians have to identify hundreds of green blips and figure out if any of them might soon become a terrorist’s weapon.
“You never know what might be going on,” he said. “It’s really a matter of trying to take the latest intelligence and applying it to what we see, and trying to project what might happen.”
The surveillance technicians — nicknamed “scope dopes” by everyone outside the defense sector control room doors — spend countless hours watching the blips move across the map. Each blip represents an aircraft, or a possible aircraft. And each needs to be identified.
Identification starts with the FAA, which still has primary responsibility for commercial air traffic in the United States. However, the war on terrorism triggered a newfound sense of urgency for the Pentagon and other government agencies to lash up their capabilities to provide a credible air defense shield for America.
Now FAA representatives not only sit in the combined air operations center at Tyndall, but also at all the air defense sectors. Since Noble Eagle is considered a second front in the war on terrorism, the FAA reps are part of the commander’s battle staff and help identify aircraft that may behave erratically.
Working furiously over the sea of blips, the technicians isolate possible “questionable” targets based on information they have obtained from intelligence sources, the FAA or other agencies. For example, if a person acting suspiciously boards an aircraft in Atlanta, the agencies ask the air defense sector to keep an eye on the aircraft.
The technicians track the aircraft on its flight plan and watch for any deviations. If the aircraft deviates from the flight plan, or if the agencies or the defense sector have reason to believe the aircraft is a threat, then the defense sector notifies the command center, which then decides if military aircraft should be scrambled to intercept, tail or simply check out the commercial airliner.
The technician’s job can be both boring and tense, said Staff Sgt. Toni Owens, a technician in the southeast sector control center.
“It takes a lot of patience, a little detective work and attention to detail,” she said. “But it helps knowing I’m helping protect my family, my friends and my nation.”
Guard on guard
The bulk of the Noble Eagle mission falls to the Air National Guard, said Canadian Brig. Gen. Charles Bouchard, Continental U.S. NORAD Region’s commander. Since Oct. 1997, the Guard has staffed 1st Air Force command and control facilities and executed all phases of the air sovereignty mission.
Within 18 hours of the Sept. 11 attacks, the number of aircraft assigned air defense duties went from 14 jets on alert to more than 400, and active duty and reserve units became part of the continental air defense.
The aircraft used span the spectrum of the Air Force inventory. Fighter jets provide escort, tail aircraft and act as interceptors. Tanker aircraft refuel the jets. Cargo aircraft carry supplies when needed for units “deploying” to support Noble Eagle. There’s even talk of using unmanned reconnaissance vehicles to watch the borders.
“The truly amazing thing,” the general said, “is they are predominantly Guard units. It’s a true display of patriotism and professionalism.”
Motivation remembered
The tight lid Noble Eagle places on the airspace above North America is comforting, but General McKinley still has nights where he loses sleep. After all, this is a war, the skies over the United States are a war zone and the threat is always out there.
“What keeps me awake is trying to figure out our vulnerabilities,” the general said. “Where can the next attack come from? How? When and where do I need to position our forces? Sept. 11 proved we don’t really know what may happen, but we have to figure out a way to be ready.”
Since most of the people in 1st Air Force are Guardsmen, they’ve been on duty at Tyndall and around the country long before Sept. 11. Most of them have stories to tell about the day when everything changed. Most of them were doing what they do now, but with a different sense of purpose.
Now, Sept. 11 is their motivation.
“We can’t let it happen again,” Sergeant Watson said. “That was our wake-up call, and you usually only get one. When I’m at work and things are getting a little routine, I remember the day when those screens were dark because the aircraft weren’t flying. That’s motivation.”
