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Show O B INSIDE: D AFB, Utah www.hilltoptimes.com hilltop.pahill.af.mil Vol. 59 No. 6, February 13, 2003 U 84056-582- 4 Smallpox vaccinations begin here by Major Shawn Mecham Congressman Jim Hansen discusses hot tcples during visit ta Mil Page 2 DcD testing Space-- A travel for Hill top fcpsnnts Page 2 Viewpoint -Shuttle Columbia crew's legacy will ensure Page 3 ! Director, Public Affairs In compliance with President Bush's national plan to vaccinate military personnel against possible smallpox, anthrax or other biological or chemical weapons, the 75th Medical Group Immunization Clinic has started inoculating Team Hill members, readying them for an overseas deployment. More than 28 Hill AFB members have received the smallpox vaccination here as part of the Air Force plan unveiled by the Air Force chief of staff last month. The plan called for key medical practitioners to receive the vaccine first in order to administer it to military members deploying overseas, according to the 75th MDG team. " We have administered the vaccine to about 30 members thus far and it has been a relatively smooth process," said Maj. Cathy Snowball, a 75th MDG Smallpox Vaccination Implementation Program coordinator. "We are giving the vaccine to those deploying to high-threareas. The health and safety of all our people, especially those at greater risk, are our top concern." With the threat of war looming, the Department of Defense and U. S. Air Force will continue vaccinating all deploying servicemembers with the smallpox vaccine in an effort to pro- - 1 I. Ti i rP '' i ; v ' 1; k , . v'r ni' ' JL Photo by Airman 1st Class Mlcah Garbarlno Vaccine, page 2 Soldiers Space Shuttle Columbia :. F-- 1 6 transforms processes using LEAP! - 84th helps locate debris RADES by Tech. Sgt. Sonja C.R. Whlttington 388th Fighter Wing Public Affairs , Page 5' .,,:, d Fll;a Page 7 O Within minutes of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, Feb. 1, 84th Radar Evaluation Squadron personnel here, were called in and put to work to locate the debris field. "Within two hours of being notified, our products were (on their way) to the Pentagon," said Master Sgt. Rob Freedman, superintendent for the squadron's four geographically separated operating locations. Finding the shuttle's debris scattered throughout eastern Texas would be like looking for a needle in a haystack if it weren't for the men and women of the 84th RADES. By evaluating the information fed to them from regional radars, the 84th RADES helped NASA and search crews Worth pinpoint the debris field spread from the Dallas-FoFreedman "We radars the record area. pick up," anything explained. Radars throughout the United States send signals to one of nine Radar Data Interface Systems. Using software developed by the 84th RADES, these systems record all the data from its assigned radars. The radars can track aircraft and airborne objects up to 250 miles away. The system is part of the Air rt Hill program offers extended duty child care Pages 8 WAPS test cycle scheduled Defense System Page 8 United States While FAA radars tracked the doomed aircraft until its electronic locator last relayed a signal, the RADES personnel were able to track the aircraft about 35 miles farther by tracking the radar data. A lone survivor was found in a life raft floating aimlessly in the ocean. Rescuers determined the survivor would have died if they had flown to location to begin the search. the last "From that experience, the 84th realized we have a capability that could be used for search and recovery operations," said Lanny Clelland, squadron deputy commander. Data recorded and evaluated by the squadron helped capture the final minutes before TWA 800 crashed in the Atlantic Ocean in 1996, followed the flight paths of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 and helped determine the cirmid-ai- r cumstances that led up to a recent collision, to name but a few. Since Sept. 11, no aircraft flying anywhere over the United States is unseen, he said. A network of more than 170 radars across the country feeds data to the radar data interface systems that can be replayed almost immediately. The data identifies not only the specific aircraft involved but its altitude and location at any given time as well. Before Sept. 11, the unit focused its attention on radars located around the rim of the nation. The focus was on airA-1- 0 borne threats from overseas. After Sept. 11, the unit added 87 more radars controlled by the FAA to its data collection capability to cover the interior of the e from airborne threats. long-rang- dus works togsthsr to draft novel Page 9 During the Columbia disaster, the radars picked up and the pieces of the tracked United States as well. "We could show the hijackers (when they shuttle as they earth. The fell to Sports Trivia contest winner and question of the week Page 10 ... were near the information was fed to the Radar eastern coast) Data Interface System where it but the hijacked planes went so far interior that we lost sight of was downloaded before the them," Freed- squadron's troops evaluated the data to deter- man explained. Although the data isn't realtime, the data mine which signals were shuttle a if ir v debris and where does help inves- they tigators determine the final likely landed. The squadron, which is the only one with this 2 0 03 mis Courtesy graphic The 84th Radar Evaluation Squadron Identified probable Space Shuttle Columbia disaster debris sites using regional radar Information. This graphic map, produced by the squadron, was sent to the Pentagon and to NASA within two hours of the tragedy. mission in the Department of Defense, has four operating locations McChord AFB, Wash.; Tyndall AFB, Fla.; staffed by two Rome, N.Y.; and Elmendorf AFB, Alaska or three people and the squadron's headquarters located here. Data recorded at the operating locations is primarily used for radar performance trend analysis in support of the Air Defense Sectors. "We're the 'silent warrior' helping to protect our nation's airspace," said the squadron commander, Lt. Col. Richard Rehs. Since 1996, the squadron has taken on a secondary mission of assisting with search and rescue operations. "We have people on call 24-- to support this secondary mission," said Freedman. No one really realized the valuable contribution these "event analyzers" could make to search and rescue opercrashed off the coast of California that ations until a same year. 7 JjQytZ. President's Day February J7, 2003 C-1- augmenting security forces here by Gary Boyle Hilltop Times staff Soldiers from the Idaho FAA-record- protecting the Hill - at Sgg Transformation Page 4 wm J. f j? h y if ' minutes of flight for the aircraft. "Our informa tion was fed to the Pentagon within two hours" after the attacks, Freedman said. "We average about one search and rescue a week," said Freedman. "We assisted with 55 Class A mishaps last year. This included Air Force, Navy and even civilian mishaps." The National Transportation Safety Board, North American Air Defense, U.S. Customs, in addition to the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and military safety centers, have called on their unique capability. The squadron falls under the control of the Air Combat Command Communications Group headquartered at Langley AFB, Va. "When our people are involved in a rescue operation, we're there in the background, but we get as much satisfaction (as the rescuers) knowing we helped with a rescue," said Joe Allen, flight chief for the operating locations. "Our people take great pride and satisfaction in helping other agencies." on-sce- Army National Guard arrived at Hill Tuesday to begin augmenting 75th Air Base Wing Security Forces who are preparing for possible deploy-men- t as tensions continue to escalate in regards to Iraq. The 35 soldiers will work alongside security forces' airmen at base entry points and as force protection. The guardsmen from Detachment 1 Alpha Battery 1st of the 148th Field Artillery, will have one week of classroom training at Hill before teaming up with security forces personnel for training. Before arriving at Hill, the soldiers received force protection training at Ft. Lewis Wash. Artillerymen by trade, the guardsman are first trained as infantrymen, so much of the their new mission is familiar, said platoon leader 2nd Lt. Jeremy Thomas. "The Army troops will always be working with at least one Air Force member, they will not pull a post by themselves. They're strictly force protection and won't be doing police type work. Down the line we may pair up a guardsman and an airman to do flightline security, but primarily the soldiers will do entry control," said 75th SFS operations superintendent Senior Master Sgt. Nathan Huven. Hill is not the only Air Force Materiel Command base to receive soldiers to assist with force protection and the guardsmen are not the first citizen soldiers to augment the personnel strained security forces on base. "Air Force reservists came in after the 1 attacks. This is the government giving the air reservists a break, so this time we'll be augmented by Army troops. We're looking forward to working with them and I'm always happy to have more manpower," said Huven. "This will be a new experience for us and the young troops out there. They'll H See Soldiers, .4 page 2 |