AIR FORCE NOW

since man has banded together for Mutual protection he has looked to The High Ground with this view from the top he could be prepared for an enemy Advance if someone were to attack Modern Man still watches and prepares his defenses his eyes are aided by a vast array of Technology but even with radar and Advanced Communications he must be prepared an enemy might Approach at low level unseen by ground Radars which have line of sight Vision they can't always see these low flying aircraft but the United States Air Force has developed a new Airborne command and control center called awax a modified Boeing 707 with a 30t rotating Rome the Air Force calls the e3a a houses improved radar and Communications equipment that will provide our forces with a better view that Air Force now was produced in 1977 some of you may remember that in that issue I explained how awax worked and how the look down radar could be used to monitor low-flying aircraft or to look deep into enemy territory well the e3a is fully operational now it's even flying in Europe as the first NATO owned aircraft and the Saudis have requested their own version in this issue you'll meet some of the people who make the awax system work and find out if it's lived up to the expectations we had for it back in 1977 additionally we'll take you to englot Germany where American and German military personnel recently work together just as they would in an actual [Music] contingency and finally we'll come back to the states to Pope Air Force Base North Carolina for Max annual airlift competition called bent [Music] Rodeo just for quick information as far as uh the next day's flight will be a 9:00 takeoff local Beyond station at 10:00 Local 4 hours Landing back at Tinker Prague for 60 55 local next recently an Air Force now team went to Tinker Air Force Base to fly with an e3a crew and talk firsthand with the people who today provide the view from the top we're planning on E start of a 7:00 local takeoff time will be uh 720 we have no air refueling orbit times uh z600 Z and 1900z coming off Station Landing time of [Music] 1925 heavy win 0 40 at 6 rway wet clear two goodby V1 looking good [Music] up the e3a is a different sort of airplane but what you probably don't know is that it carries two commanders the aircraft commander on the flight deck and the mission crew commander in the back Lieutenant Colonel Jesse Shanks Mission crew Commander the normal awax crew consists of 17 people nine officers and eight enlisted four people are on the flight deck and 13 people comprise the mission crew in the back probably the most asked question to awax Pilots is how does the Dome affect the way it handles aircraft Commander Captain Jerry Goodale answers the only difference it causes is a little bit slower air speed overall as far as aerodynamics it has no effect whatsoever on the Flight of the aircraft it causes no problems during takeoff Landings or a fueling so it's designed to give us neutral lift and that's exactly what it does this particular radar uses Doppler and pulse systems to allow us to see targets at low level that no other system today has given us that kind of a capability computer itself is very reliable for what it has to do being that the airplane moves around a lot it takes quite a lot of abuse but it does pretty good our primary job of course is air defense of the continental US with support of the North American Air Defense command and because of the awax dependability and overall success rate its role has expanded to meet other difficult and sometimes unforeseen challenges worldwide as you well know awax is probably the battleship diplomacy of the80s and consequently we are worldwide anytime anywhere as a Tac mobile outfit we are constantly called upon to to go to various countries throughout the world in fact since its delivery awax has been deployed to such countries as Korea West Germany Saudi Arabia Egypt and sedan deployments in response to real world emergencies Tech Sergeant Barry grman of the 552nd awak division comments on why the e3a has taken such an operational role in world affairs where the president would once send in the United States Marines he's now sending in the awax it's a non-offensive weapon whereas you send in a brigade of Marines they're all going in with M16s and tanks and armored personnel carriers and with the awax you send in an aircraft that has no offensive capability it's awax diplomacy we're going quite a bit we look at it as TDY to a tinker and PCs to the world could I put in a plug sure uh this message goes out to all the 17 xxs in the air force uh awax needs some good people and we'd be glad to have you come join us it's exciting The flying's Good the pay is good and the adventure never [Music] stops how many of you use energy I do I do one take one but you have to put in the car before the oil and what else g g if you don't put the gaps in doesn't work it doesn't work anyone take one what happens when you run out of energy um you don't get no more see what take fun what happens when we run out of electricity the lights go off the lights go off thank you Joe yeah the TV goes off too how long can we live without energy for about 100 years we need to save energy kids are full of energy and we're making sure our Air Force is that way by Saving [Music] energy up next we travel with the 123rd tactical reconnaissance wing of the Kentucky Air National Guard as they head east to Germany for an exercise with our NATO allies [Music] [Applause] June 1983 265 men and women of the Kentucky Air National Guard begin the exercise carinet [Music] Bishop the host the German Air Force at englot West Germany Brigadier General Carl Black commander of the 123rd tactical reconnaissance Wing explains cornet Bishop is a Tactical Air Command controlled and directed exercise wherein the forces in the United States deployed to Europe to exercise and operate in a NATO environment it really tests our combat Readiness General Bruno Fon Mangan of the German air force as you know the defense of Allied command Europe depends decisively on external reinforcements providing shelter and technical assistance the German air force the Air National Guard forces during this 4-day exercise it's one of a series of yearly tests of the Dual basing concept for the defense of Western Europe and Europeans that is your help we can preserve peace for the foreseeable future but only as long as our opponents know that our combined forces are capable and most of all willing to defend Western Europe the first day of the exercise begins we haven't gotten any indications that these sites are down yet however so we're still carrying them as threats and you should regard them as threats until we get some confirmation positively [Music] that the Guardsmen fly the rf4c Phantom 2 aircraft and combine their skills with over 200 other exercise aircraft from various NATO [Music] Nations for the air crws flying in German airspace presents both challenges and opportunities major Lee Kirkwood when we're flying uh over here in Germany the real problem is that we're constantly intercepted by aircraft uh from the German air force flying um their f4s this creates a new dimension in flying as far as we're concerned um it's something that we don't encounter uh on a regular day-to-day Mission back in Louisville so it creates a real challenge to both members of the crew the 123rd Mission during the exercise includes flying pre-strike target analysis and Post strike damage assessment this area looks good in the United States we give the bearing that they're coming from and Knots members of both forces benefit professionally and personally from exercising like Coronet Bishop a unique opportunity to acquaint the Air National Guard with the country and people they might help defend should the necessity [Music] arise both Germans and Americans reflect about their few days together staff sergeant Eli Adams it's nice to be back in Germany because the coron of Bishop of exercise I was born and raised here in Germany it's been 11 years since I've been back and I'm really excited to be back here um being in the Air Force and in the Kentucky Air National Guard been a great opportunity because of this exercise my captain Kurt wolfgard I personally enjoyed working with the guard and I'm looking forward uh having them back in Germany someday in the [Music] future back in the States airlift and maintenance Crews along with security police from around the world gathered in June at Pope Air Force Base North Carolina for military airlift command's annual airlift competition it's called volent [Music] [Applause] [Music] Rodeo [Music] all right d come [Music] [Applause] on hard very hard I told myself I was going to win [Music] oh [Music] it's a great pleasure and indeed an honor to Welcome All participants to voland Rodeo 1983 a competition a training exercise and a Showcase of airlift combat capability all of you know what needs to be done good luck and best wishes for a successful volan Rodeo former commander-in-chief of the military airlift command retired General James R Allen it's a very very special pleasure for me this year to have the opportunity to welcome the teams from the Allied Nations to what has become a truly International airlift competition I all of us win not only the participants but also the forces back in our home [Music] countries the significance of the combat Security Police troll team this year is going through with a fourman fire team with 306° security versus last year's event with just an individual [Music] [Applause] person like [Applause] [Music] right the purpose of voland rodo 1983 is to enhance the combat capability of airlift forces in the Free [Music] World it's very important for us to come here so that we can catch up with what's going on in tactical El have a chance to compare notes with our contemporaries from around the world to show our techniques to compare them other people to compare the standards of all competing Partners the Australian Air Force believes that this is one of the finest airdrop competitions in the world the Australian Air Force is the best Air Force and we reckon we're going to win this thing surely Italian [Applause] team oh I think the Germans will win we have rookie Jitters it's our first time in competition and we have a truly international team our air crew is from the [Applause] first so we're looking at professionalism excellence and uh a whole bunch of guys being extremely dedicated to the task of both putting on a good show for volun radio and for the fact that they're representing their own country real good move it out move it out go moreover not only does it include airdrop it includes maintenance combat crew training security place joint load inspection covers all facets of the aircraft's operation the actual competition itself provided us with a an insight into uh different modes of operation by the not only the USF but by the other Allied Services when they go home they all learn and they take that information back to their units and incorporate it into our instructional programs and benefit the entire [Music] force