Air Force Magazine – July-August 2019

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM

Airmen run flight control checks during preflight of an MQ-Reaper at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia. US drones
are taking fire from Iran in international airspace and over Yemen.

Manion isn’t aware of any talk about putting self-defense
systems on 55th Wing platforms, and that’s intentional.
“We’re not hiding our mission or our presence from anybody,”
Manion said. “We y in international airspace, and there’s a lot
of rules of engagement that go along with that. I think we’re
intentionally painted white with no self-defense as a means to
show that we’re just here to be here. We mean you no harm.”
e RC-135 and its variants are about a half-century old and
face the wear and tear of old age. To remain viable for a possibly
heavier mission load in the coming decades, maintainers are
trying to stay one step ahead of what they might need to x next
and what crews could encounter in combat.
Col. Todd Hammond, 55th Maintenance Group commander,
said his group starts each day with an intelligence brief focused
on Russia, China, and North Korea.
“We want the technicians to understand the importance of
why they’re maintaining the aircraft, and why the systems need
to function in those particular threat environments,” he said. “We
work together to make sure that as taskings come down ... that
we’re working together jointly [across government] to optimize
the systems to make sure that they can go forward and deploy.”
Pilots report any discrepancies that occur during sorties,
which are then considered as part of larger trends. Hammond
is briefed weekly on the eet’s status, as well as monthly and
quarterly on continuing trends.
“We’re just working together a little closer [with government
and depot partners] to make sure the availability essentially can
be relied upon if we are to plus up in the Pacic, or if ISIS moves
to Africa in the Sahel, that we can push there,” he said. “If Russia
begins to start something in Ukraine or Eastern Europe, then
we can monitor.”
Even as most eyes sit on simmering issues in the Eastern
Hemisphere, in-demand ISR assets won’t get a break from other
conicts du jour.
Mohan C. Krishna, a former 55th OG commander who is now
helping lead Outt’s ood recovery eort as a civilian, told Air
Force Magazine the service hoped the Trump administration’s

talk of removing troops from the Middle East would ease mission

requirements at a time when 55th Wing eets are stressed by

the March storm. en, US tensions with Iran ared.

An Iranian surface-to-air missile shot down a US drone over

the Strait of Hormuz on June 19. e Navy’s RQ-4A Global Hawk

High-Altitude Long Endurance unmanned aircraft system,

which is used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance

operations—was operating in international airspace about 34

kilometers from the Iranian coast, Air Forces Central Command

boss Lt. Gen. Joseph T. Guastella said.

e incident came just days after CENTCOM said Iran un-

successfully tried to shoot down another US drone over the Gulf

of Oman. US ocials also believe Iran assisted the Houthis in

a June 6 attack on an MQ-9 over Yemen that was successful.

“e drum’s beating hard again,” Krishna said. “e Joint Sta

sees needs all over the place, combatant commanders see needs

all over the place. Nobody’s willingly going to give anything up.

... We were hoping [US Central Command] was going to draw

back and give us some breathing space. It’s getting harder.”

Recent developments in US Southern Command have also

busied operators. e 55th OG headed to Puerto Rico earlier this

year as a jumping-o point to gain insight into the situation on

the ground in Venezuela, which is writhing with political and

economic tumult and saw a failed coup in April, Paulson said.

No matter where the 55th Wing is called, Manion argues the

Air Force will need a network of ISR sensors that can pick up

on new developments in the battle space anywhere. He doesn’t

believe the Air Force needs to buy new big-wing ISR planes to

t the needs of each individual geographic area.

Lots will change, especially in Indo-Pacic Command, if

the friction between the US, Russia, and China bubbles into a

shooting war, Manion said.

“Everybody’s worried about the ‘ght tonight,’” Krishna added.

“[Indo-]Pacic Command is worried about the ght tonight,

CENTCOM’s worried about the ght tonight. [US European

Command] doesn’t have that drum yet, but we’re sure they

will in the future.” J

Photo: SSgt. Arielle Vasquez