@scaramouge________________________________________________________
In lateAugust 2001, two-thirds of the 27th Fighter Squadron are sent overseas. Six of thesquadron’s fighters and 115 people go to Turkey to enforce the no-fly zone over northernIraq as part of Operation Northern Watch. Another six fighters and 70 people are sent toIceland to participate in “Operation Northern Guardian.” The fighter groups will notreturn to Langley until early December. [Flyer, 7/1/2003] (Note that the word “operation”specifies that Operation Northern Guardian and Northern Watch are not exercises, butactual military actions or missions. [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 4/23/1998pdf file; US Department of Defense, 11/30/2004] ) Operation Northern Guardian is based atNaval Air Station Keflavik, Iceland, the host command for the NATO base in that country.The US sometimes assists Iceland with extra military forces in reaction to Russianmilitary maneuvers in the region. Approximately 1,800 US military personnel and 100Defense Department civilians are involved. [Flyer, 6/4/2004; GlobalSecurity (.org),4/9/2002; Iceland Defense Force, 6/30/2004] The 27th is one of three F-15 fightersquadrons that make up the 1st Fighter Wing, the “host unit” at Langley Air Force Base inLangley, Virginia. The other two are the 71st and 94th Fighter Squadrons. [Langley AirForce Base, 11/2003; GlobalSecurity (.org), 8/2/2004] Langley is one of two “alert” sitesthat can be called upon by NORAD for missions in the northeast region of the US. [9/11Commission, 6/17/2004] Langley’s 71st Fighter Squadron also participates in OperationNorthern Watch and Operation Northern Guardian at some (unstated) time during 2001. [AirCombat Command News Service, 6/13/2002] Whether this deployment of fighters diminishesLangley’s ability to respond on 9/11 is unknown. However, Air Force units are cycledthrough deployments like operations Northern and Southern Watch by the AerospaceExpeditionary Force (AEF) Center, which is at Langley Air Force Base. [Chairman of theJoint Chiefs of Staff, 4/23/1998 pdf file; GlobalSecurity (.org), 4/26/2005] Andaccording to NORAD Commander Larry Arnold, “Prior to Sept. 11, we’d been unsuccessful ingetting the AEF Center to be responsible for relieving our air defense units when theywent overseas.” [Filson, 2004, pp. 99]
Entity Tags: 27th Fighter Squadron,Operation Northern Guardian, Operation Northern Watch, US Department of Defense, 71stFighter Squadron, 94th Fighter Squadron, Langley Air Force Base, North American AerospaceDefense Command
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Quelle:
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_911_timeline&before_9/11=militaryExercises