Airmen work around-the-clock to support Operation NOBLE EAGLE

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Keavy Rake
  • 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  The 4th Fighter Wing continues to provide around-the-clock support of Operation NOBLE EAGLE.

For several weekends Team Seymour supported ONE in multiple roles.

ONE began after the Sept.11, 2001, terrorist attacks to support homeland defense from airborne threats.

"ONE requires us to work weekends but also falls on top of day-to-day missions," said Lt. Col Nate Hesse, 4th Fighter Wing Director of Staff.

Personnel basewide contributed to protecting the president during the State of the Union address as well as his recent vacation. F-15E Strike Eagles from Seymour Johnson flew over New York and Washington during the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and most recently guarded the skies of New York during the United Nations General Assembly.

Team Seymour was also involved in supporting the final space shuttle launch in July 2011.

"When you have a unique capability like we have we're going to get called a lot for this [mission]," said Maj. Jeffrey Baldwin, 4th Equipment Maintenance Squadron commander.

The Equipment Maintenance Squadron typically provides 50 Airmen to support each ONE mission that the wing is tasked with--translating to nearly 10% of second largest squadron on base.

Supporting an ONE mission requires 24-hour support from aircrew, maintainers, airfield operators and more.

"Normally we are not a 24/7 base so anytime you have to spin to 24/7 operations, especially over a weekend, it's kind of a big deal because it means people are going to work literally for weeks straight," said Hesse.

Team Seymour is faced with a difficult balance in supporting these missions.
"It's got to get done'" said Baldwin. "Making sure our guys understand how important the success of the mission is, while still taking advantage of downtime is one thing I've been pushing hard lately."

Flying an ONE mission is not a typical day for the aircrew. They will fly around the clock if need be and the Strike Eagles are loaded with live ordnance.

"It's a lot closer to what we do downrange versus a training mission," said Baldwin.