Fighter Wing Helps Monitor Skies Over, Around Alaska

National Guard, Apr 2008

Minnesota

The 148th Fighter Wing recently became the first non-Alaskan or Canadian unit to help police the skies over and around Alaska.

The six-week mission for about 50 members of the Minnesota Air National Guard unit was in support of routine North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) air-sovereignty operations in the region.

Wing aircraft and personnel operated Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. During one mission, the 148th became the F-16 Fighting Falcon unit to intercept Russian Bear bombers.

NORAD routinely intercepts or visually identifies Russian bombers and considers such flights training opportunities for its pilots.

The deployment, which concluded last month, came shortly after unit members returned home to Duluth, Minn., from a three-month deployment to Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii.

The Air Force decision to temporarily ground its F-15 Eagle fleet triggered both missions.

Captain Audra Flanagan, a wing spokeswoman, said the Air Force specifically called the 148th because of the unit's outstanding performance record.

"We have aircraft pilots and crew chiefs on alert 24 hours a day in case something happens in America's skies," she said. "They can have our F-16s launched and in the air to protect us in a moment's notice."

While in Alaska, the wing also had the chance to work with the F-22 Raptor.

-Minnesota National Guard report