Western Air Defense Sector Gets 1998 Scramble Award
Western Air Defense Sector Gets 1998 Scramble Award
http://www.washingtonairguard.com/fo-wadsaward.html
"The Commander of the Washington Air National Guard, also lauded WADS" accomplishments. Maj General Frank Scoggins stated: "In dozens of major exercises, the unit has been lauded with praise, congratulations, and compliments from major command commanders, inspectors general, civilian drug enforcement officials, and sister service senior leaders". General Scoggins further added: "The sector sets the standard for continuous volunteerism and its outstanding support for real-world air defense missions."
The sector is the Air National Guard organization responsible for the air sovereignty of the western 63% of the continental United States. More than 300 Washington Air National Guard members at WADS have operational control of fighters on continuous alert, keeping track of 1.9 million square miles of airspace, from Texas to the Pacific Coast, across to North Dakota. WADS works directly with three alert bases, where pilots wait for the call to identify unknown aircraft that could be a threat to the nation"s air sovereignty. In the award-judging period from May 15, 1996 to May 14, 1998, the sector "scrambled" jets 129 times to identify these "unknown riders". The WADS scrambled jets another 42 times against potential and actual drug smugglers to support the Domestic Air Interdiction Coordination Center and U.S. Drug Enforcement agencies.
To hone its air sovereignty skills, the sector participated in numerous deployments and exercises during the judging period, including the Felix SPADE – Simulated Penetration Air Defense Exercises — program. During SPADE, the sector practiced 46 live no-notice airspace penetrations. The exercise tested WADS" ability to detect, intercept, and identify a simulated unknown aircraft trying to violate national sovereignty. The sector was 100 % successful. These exercises paid off in the real world, according to Colonel Cromwell. The sector assisted civilian law enforcement agencies in their arrests of drug smugglers and the seizures of more than 900 kilos of marijuana and 400 kilos of cocaine worth more than $140 million. It also deployed mission-ready personnel for command and control duties to Croatia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Central and South America. Further proof of the sector"s excellence was demonstrated during its most recent operational inspection. WADS achieved the highest rating possible given by the Office of the Air Force Inspector General during its most recent Organizational Readiness Inspection (ORI).
NORAD WADS-WESTERN AIR DEFENSE SECTOR
The Western Air Defense Sector, headquartered at McChord Air Force Base, Washington is the largest of three sectors responsible to the Continental North American Area Defense Region and the North American Aerospace Defense Command for peacetime air sovereignty, strategic air defense, and airborne counter-drug operations in the continental United States. WADS is an Air Combat Command unit which reports directly to First Air Force at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida.
Manned by personnel from ACC and the Canadian Forces, this bi-national organization exercises operational control of Air National Guard fighter aircraft on continuous alert at four coastal locations and uses radar data and the radio capabilities of Joint Surveillance System sites located throughout the western United States. These sites, jointly funded and used by the Department of Defense and the Federal Aviation Administration are operated and maintained by FAA personnel. Radar data is electronically fed into computers at the Sector Operations Control Center where personnel correlate and identify all airborne targets and, if necessary, scramble alert fighters.
Originally designated the 25th Air Defense Division, the sector was established at Silver Lake (Everett), Washington in 1948 and moved its headquarters to McChord in 1951. In 1957 the unit became part of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, a joint U.S.-Canada command.
The Northwest Air Defense Sector was established in June 1987 as a subordinate unit of the 25th Air Division, McChord Air Force Base. In 1990, the 25th AD was deactivated, and the First Air Force became the sector's parent unit. In January 1995, the Northwest Air Defense Sector consolidated with the Southwest Air Defense Sector, its counterpart at March Air Force Base, California, to become the Western Air Defense Sector. The Western Air Defense Sector assumed responsibility for the air sovereignty of the western United States from Texas around the west coast and across to North Dakota. Its area of responsibility is approximately 1.9 million square miles, about 63% of the continental United States. McChord AFB website 1999
4.1. NORAD CONUS/JSS Long Range Radars (LRR). The JSS radars are surveillance systems with a design range of 250 nautical miles (NM). They collectively form an element of the Integrated Tactical Warning and Assessment (ITW&A) function. JSS radars are strategically positioned to provide the SAOCs with digitized inputs of detected air activity. These inputs in turn are used in support of the SAOC"s mandate of air sovereignty and drug interdiction
NORAD Air Surveillance Mission
5.3.5. Surveillance. The Air Surveillance section is responsible for detecting, tracking and reporting of air surveillance data and interfacing of other source data into one complete air picture. This section also directs the optimum configuration of sensors for effective radar coverage.
5.3.5.1. Air Surveillance Officer/Technician (ASO/T) (13B/1C5X1). The ASO/T is responsible to the MCC for the maintenance of an optimal air picture within the Sector"s AOR. The AST is responsible for the management of all air surveillance functions and personnel within their section (ASO N/A HIRAOC & AKRAOC).
5.3.5.2. Data Quality Monitor (DQM) (1C5X1). The DQM is responsible to the ASO/T for maintaining the best air picture possible through judicious use of available LRR electronic protection (EP) fixes and SAOC computer capabilities. The DQM is responsible for coordinating this activity with the JSS/FAA supervisors at the Sector"s LRRs.
5.3.5.3. Tracking Technician (TT) (1C5X1). The TT is responsible to the ASO/T for performing tracking (active and passive), height checks, if required; and manual track telling duties as assigned. The TT is responsible for an assigned AOR
NORAD WADS RADIO AND RADAR SITES (1995)
SITE EQUIPMENT TYPE
J16 Oilton TX 4 USAF/FAA joint use
J25 Sonora TX 3 FAA
J26 Odessa TX 4 USAF/FAA joint use
J27 El Paso TX 4 USAF/FAA joint use
J28 Silver City NM 4 USAF/FAA joint use
J29 Phoenix AZ 3 USAF/FAA joint use
J30 Mt. Laguna AFS CA 4 USAF/FAA joint use
J31 San Pedro AFS CA 3 USAF/FAA joint use
J32 Paso Robles CA 4 USAF/FAA joint use
J33 Mill Valley AFS CA 4 USAF/FAA joint use
J34 Point Arena AFS CA 4 Military Contract
J75 Finley ND 4 USAF/FAA joint use
J76 Watford City ND 4 USAF/FAA joint use
J77 Malmstrom AFB MT 4 USAF/FAA joint use
J78 Kalispell MT 4 USAF/FAA joint use
J79 Mica Peak WA 4 USAF/FAA joint use
J80 Makah AFS WA 4 USAF/FAA joint use
J81 Salem OR 4 USAF/FAA joint use
J82 Keno OR 4 FAA
J83 Crescent City CA 4 USAF/FAA joint use
G25 Laughlin AFB TX 6 Military
G29 Mt Lemmon AZ 6 Military
G35 Lompoc CA 6 Military
G36 San Clemente Is CA 6 Military
G84 McChord AFB WA 6 Military
G85 Roy MT 6 Military
G86 Lakeview OR 6 Military
B40 Yuma AZ 3 Military Contract
B41 Ft Huachuca AZ 3 Military Contract
B42 Deming NM 3 Military Contract
B43 Marfa TX 3 Military Contract
B44 Eagle Pass TX 3 Military Contract
B45 Rio Grande TX 3 Military Contract
T01 Harlingen TX 3 FAA
T02 Laughlin TX 3 FAA
T03 El Paso TX 3 FAA
T04 Tucson AZ 3 FAA
T05 Yuma AZ 3 FAA
T06 Miramar CA 3 FAA
EQUIPMENT:
3-Search/Selective Identification Feature (SIF)
4-Search/SIF and Ground/Air/Ground radios
6-Ground/Air Transmit/Receive only
Northeast Air Defense Sector Air Operations Center computers 1997
5.6. NEADS Equipment. The SAOC is supported by the following major pieces of equipment:
5.6.1. H5118ME Central Computer (CC). The CC is a solid state, dual processor machine. The CC is duplexed and provides the executive system to control program execution, interface communications, and recovery procedures.
5.6.2. HMD-22 ODC. The ODC allows operations personnel to maintain close surveillance of the air situation; to detect and track targets in radar clutter; to control aircraft intercepts; and to monitor flight plans. A great amount of pertinent data can be displayed regarding each track or flight plan, but at the same time unnecessary data can be eliminated since selective switching is available.
5.6.3. Radar Display Unit (RDU). The RDU has similar configuration controls, surface quality and displays as the ODC. The DQM operator can define up to three live data Sector maps and three simulator data Sector maps for each radar. These Sector maps, in addition to other RDU functions, control the data quality and quantity permitted to be processed within the H5118ME.
5.6.4. Remote Access Terminal (RAT). The RAT permits additional information to be entered into the H5118ME data base. The types of data that may be entered are fighter statuses, air base statuses, etc. NEADS or the Northeast Air Defense Sector was responsible for scrambling aircraft on 9/11. They were in the middle of war games on the morning of 9/11 when the attacks began. This has been acknowledged by Colonenl Marr of NEADS and a tape was played confirming this at the final 9/11 Commission hearing in June of 2004.
Mindy Kleinberg, a 9/11 widow and member of September 11th Advocates and the 9/11 Family Steering Committee noted in her testimony before the 9/11 Commission on April 1, 2003 that between Sept of 2000 and June of 2001 FAA and NORAD successfully coordinated 67 intercepts following standard operating procedure. These comments were mysteriously left out of transcripts of the April 1st hearing though captured on video by videographer Joe Friendly and later aired at New York area events. Similarly, Rudolf Guiliani's testimony regarding Tripod II, a FEMA bio-terrror exercise planned for September 12, were also never posted on the 9/11 Commission site.
