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Saturday, March 12, 2005

Alaska Fighter Pilots Escape Cold for Exercises at Holloman Air Force Base

By Miguel Navrot
Journal Staff Writer
    HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE— A squadron of Alaskan fighter jets is shaking the snow and ice off its wings under southern New Mexico's winter warmth.
    The 12th Fighter Squadron from Elmendorf Air Force Base, near Anchorage, is camping next to the black F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighters at Holloman Air Force Base. Known as the Dirty Dozen, the 12th flies the Air Force's premier air-to-air fighter, the F-15C Eagle.
    Alaska is considered one of the favorite assignments for airmen, but several of the 230 pilots and crews wintering in New Mexico sounded grateful to trade the snowpack and moose back home for the Tularosa Basin's sagebrush and cattle. The squadron arrived in southern New Mexico at the end of February and will leave next week.
    "It's absolutely wonderful," said Capt. Samantha Weeks, 29, a fifth-year pilot from upstate New York, after debarking from a training flight Friday.
    "This is a great time of the year to be here," said fellow pilot Kees Allamandola, 26, a first lieutenant with the squadron.
    Sixteen F-15s from Elmendorf Air Force Base are at Holloman, near Alamogordo. An E-3 Sentry, a flying command and surveillance post that had taken part in the exercises, departed for its Alaskan home after exercises here.
    The F-15s are flying exercises alongside several other U.S. weapons in the area. In addition to flying with the stealth fighters and T-38 training fighter jets at Holloman, the 12th is also practicing tactics with F-16 Falcon fighter jets from Cannon Air Force Base near Clovis and the 150th Fighter Wing of the New Mexico Air National Guard.
    Other exercises, which are taking part throughout military airspace in New Mexico, involve Army Patriot missile equipment.
    Holloman's advantage this time of year is its clear skies and agreeable climate, even during a relatively wet winter. Daytime temperatures in the 60s and 70s— about 30 degrees warmer than Anchorage right now— are a bonus.
    "Let's be honest. Alaska in the wintertime is a harsh environment," squadron commander Lt. Col. Michael Frankel said.
    Good weather means more flights. Squadron officials said they expect to fly in Alaska about 170 sorties, or operational flights, over two weeks. While at Holloman, the group has flown 230 sorties.
    It is also easier to operate at Holloman. The winter nights in Alaska can dip to 20 or 30 degrees below zero with fierce winds.
    Holloman's runways are free of ice each morning. Additionally, the fighter jets aren't stressed here as much as they are up north, Frankel said.
    The Dirty Dozen are part of the 3rd Wing at Elmendorf. That base stands as part of the Air Force's Pacific presence, along with eight other wings in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, Japan and South Korea.
    "This mission gives the 49th Fighter Wing the opportunity to host other U.S. Air Force assets with outstanding base facilities," said Lt. Col. Mark Buccigrossi, Holloman's deputy vice wing commander.
    Elmendorf has two other F-15 fighter squadrons. One, the 19th, also flies the air-to-air fighter version. A third squadron, the 90th, flies the F-15E Strike Eagle, which is capable of bombing ground targets.
    Fighter jets at the base stay on 24-hour alert in the event of trouble. Sitting on Alaska's south-central coast, the base is about the same distance from Beijing and Moscow— about 3,500 miles and 3,800 miles, respectively.
    Along with F-15s and the E-3 Sentry, Elmendorf also houses C-12 and C-130 cargo planes.
    The bulk of the 12th's work is part of the military's Pacific Command, or PACOM. The squadron flew missions patrolling the old no-fly zone over Iraq. Following the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Virginia, the squadron flew patrols over Alaska.
    Practicing its defensive tactics, the wing worked on facing airborne enemy fighters, bombers and cruise-missile attacks, Frankel said.