Posted on 03/15/2006 5:03:39 PM PST by SandRat
TUCSON — The Arizona Air National Guard will field the newest squadron of the Air Force’s unmanned Predator aircraft, to be stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and at Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista, officials said Tuesday.
The fort’s Garrison Commander Col. Jonathon Hunter said he was aware the post “was one of the leading contenders to post a portion of the Air Guard Predator program.”
Several months ago an Air Force survey team reviewed several possible installations to support this mission, the fort being one of them, Hunter told the Herald/Review late Tuesday afternoon.
“We have not received any notification of an Air Force decision,” the colonel said.
Predator drones are used for reconnaissance and surveillance missions and are capable of firing missiles.
The Predators are a mainstay in Air Force operations in Iraq, where they have been operated remotely from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, said Maj. Paul Aguirre, a spokesman for the Arizona Air National Guard in Phoenix.
The Arizona Guard’s Predator mission is likely to be an evolving thing, depending on need, but the goal is to get initial operations under way in December with about 120 people, Aguirre said.
It is expected to grow into a full-sized squadron of about 350 people within a year or two, Aguirre said, depending on recruitment of personnel, among other things.
The Air Force originally announced plans in late 2004 for Arizona and Texas Air National Guard operations each to receive a squadron of Predators.
But plans for the mission were delayed indefinitely after the nationwide base realignment and closure process last year, while funding realities were dealt with, Aguirre said.
Gov. Janet Napolitano, Sen. John McCain and Rep. Jim Kolbe headed up efforts to ensure that the new unit still would be destined for Arizona.
The drones, or unmanned aerial systems, are operated by rated pilots through remote control.
All Predator training for operators and maintenance crews is performed at Nellis. Meanwhile, another Predator mission was announced in January for the California Air National Guard’s 163rd Air Refueling Wing at March Air Force Base, Aguirre said.
The Arizona squadron’s operators will be stationed at Davis-Monthan, with the drones, other equipment and associated aircraft — all of which will be funded by the Air Force — likely to be located at the fort, he added.
The post is the schoolhouse for Army unmanned aircraft training. While the pilotless planes being used on the fort are primarily Shadows, which are used in Iraq, the installation also is where the U.S. Border Patrol operates its version of the Predator along the Arizona-Mexico border.
There is a good deal of restricted airspace in Southern Arizona that is controlled by post personnel.
Aguirre said it was not known immediately how many unmanned aircraft would be assigned to the squadron, he said.
Aguirre said there will be no tie-in between the Air National Guard’s squadron in Arizona and the Border Patrol surveillance activities. All the new squadron’s functions will be military in nature, he said.
Thanks for the ping!
I suspect this will be a training unit - but I could be all wrong.
We've already had at least one unit from SC here training for SWA duty. They perform border surveillance to kill two birds with one stone; the border mission closely parallels what they do in SWA.
I'm sorry, Mike - I didn't address the quote in my last post.
Mrs. HJ had jury duty last year in a trial of two people accused of human smuggling and running a drop-house. UAV video and operator logs were used as evidence against the defendants, and were instrumental in returning a guilty verdict.
For now, that's the correlation between Predators and controlling the border.
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