Barnes combat unit joins air-to-air defense
WESTFIELD - Northeast airspace is now the 104th Fighter Wing's turf.
Monday, February 22, 20101
One week ago today, the aerial combat unit at Barnes Air National Guard Base "stood up" to take over responsibility for defending the skies above the most densely populated part of the United States.
With a complement of 18 F-15 Eagle fighter jets, the 104th joined a network of military units across the country in a mission called the Air Sovereignty Alert.
Col. James Keefe, a Florence resident and 1983 Northampton High School graduate, is an F-15 pilot and the 104th Fighter Wing's vice commander.
"It feels like the culmination of a lot of hard work," Keefe said of taking on the defense mission.
Preparations for the mission began in 2005 with a Pentagon directive that reconfigured many of the country's military bases. Previously, Barnes' bread and butter was the A-10, an air-to-ground attack jet. In 2007 its focus shifted to the F-15, which is designed for air-to-air engagements.
Now, it's show time.
"Our state of mind as a unit has shifted from a preparation phase to an execution phase," said Maj. Matthew Mutti, a Barnes spokesman. "It's a very big mind-set change."
After years of personnel training and $45 million in infrastructure upgrades at Barnes, the 104th reached "initial operating capability" Feb. 1. As Mutti explained it, that switched the unit from standby to active duty, meaning its personnel and equipment could be called on to respond to an attack on the United States.
"I am very proud of the members of this unit, and their dedication to the homeland defense mission," Col. Robert Brooks, 104th Fighter Wing commander, said in a press release. "We are proud to be part of our nation's front-line defense."
A ceremony to acknowledge the new mission is planned for April.
The Air Sovereignty Alert mission applies to all kinds of airborne emergencies, from enemy attacks to civilian aircraft with engine trouble.
Similar units in other parts of the country were activated on Christmas Day in response to the bombing attempt aboard a Detroit-bound airliner, and last Thursday when a man flew his single-engine plane into an IRS building in Austin, Texas.
Other Air Sovereignty tasks can include assisting disabled aircraft and intercepting smugglers, Mutti said.
Although the 104th's primary mission is domestic defense, Mutti said the unit potentially could be activated by the president and sent overseas.
If that were to happen, Mutti said, Barnes pilots and F-15s would most likely be called on to defend unmanned aircraft like the Predator drone, which is used frequently in Afghanistan for reconnaissance and attack missions.
Barnes' F-15s were until 2007 the property of the 102nd Fighter Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod. That unit now performs intelligence-gathering duties.
Many of the 104th's 32 pilots previously were stationed at Otis and were experienced in flying the F-15. Others, like Keefe, needed about six months of training in Florida.
Keefe flew the A-10 attack jet for nine years, including missions in Iraq during the U.S. invasion in 2003. Before that he flew another type of fighter jet, the F-16, while serving in the active-duty Air Force.
Today, Barnes pilots work 24-hour shifts, standing ready to leap into their cockpits at the first sign of a threat. Most of the time they're on the ground doing paperwork and studying, Keefe said, but they still must fly at least eight training flights a month to keep their piloting and weapons skills sharp.
The 16-ton F-15 fighter can travel at more than two times the speed of sound, or 1,785 mph, and can make it from Westfield to New York City in about 30 minutes.
F-15s from Barnes can often be seen - and heard - flying over Hampshire County communities. Traveling slower than the speed of sound, the jet formations that pass overhead are going to or returning from training areas over Maine (called Condor Airspace) or off the coast of Long Island (called Whiskey 105).
James F. Lowe can be reached at jlowe@gazettenet.com.
