Each permanent det, which came under
the province of the 99th, had a unique
personality and strict protocols delineated in
top secret fragmentary orders to minimise
the hazards involved in their dedicated
missions, even in peacetime. Their locations
alone reveal the obvious strategic areas of
national interest and included:
Det 2. Olympic Game, Osan AB,
South Korea: This was the rst stop for
new pilots after only 100 hours of ight
training at Beale. This was not due to any
lesser operational dangers, but because
constant communications with the pilot
were available through UHF radio as well
as a constant data-link interface, allowing
real-time intelligence returns throughout the
mission. The weather could be treacherous
during landings, with fog and excessive
cross winds in the summer and snow and
ice in the winter.
Det 3. Olive Harvest, RAF Akrotiri,
Cyprus: Once a top secret location, missions
could be extremely long and, prior to
Satcom availability, were well out of UHF/
VHF range for extended periods. Coded HF
‘ops normal’, but otherwise radio silence
operations were always in effect. The short,
narrow runway with regular gusty winds,
frequently exceeded the aircraft crosswind
limits. Nevertheless, the landings had to be
accomplished as there were no alternate
air elds. Duty was reserved for the most
experienced pilots.
Det 5. Olympic Fire, Patrick AFB, Florida:
Long missions were conducted outside of
radio range and at times there were minimal
or no alternate air elds available during
certain segments of the sorties. Treacherous
thunderstorms were commonplace when
landing in the summer months.Desert Shield/Operating Location-Camel
Hump (OL-CH): Early into my command, it
was evident that our U-2s would be in great
demand for what would come to be known
as the Gulf War. With recommendations to
the wing commander, my new ops officer,
Bubba, would lead the rst contingent to
King Fahd AB, Taif, Saudi Arabia. Two days
after the initial U-2Rs arrived, the rst twoOlympic Flare missions were launched. One
of these was tted with the Senior Span
fairing mounted on top of the aircraft, which
enabled near real-time intelligence to be
sent around the world by satellite to national
command authorities, while down-linking
it in real-time to secure ground stations
throughout Saudi Arabia. The other Dragon
Lady, employing the Senior Year Electro-
optical Reconnaissance System (SYERS),
down-linked detailed day/night all-weather
(D/N/AW) imagery along with signals and
electronic intelligence (SIGINT and ELINT).
Both ights remained 20 miles (32km) south
of the Iraqi border, due to the Peacetime
Aerial Reconnaissance Program (PARPRO)
neutral zone then in effect, but still had the
ability to cover most of Iraq. This restriction
was dropped when hostilities started on
January 17, 1991.
In the build-up to the campaign, on
August 23 the previous year, two TR-1As
from Alconbury arrived to provide real-time
ASARS II D/N/AW returns to a ground
station that would relay pinpoint target
information to airborne F-111s. The OL had
now grown to four aircraft, ten pilots and 150
support personnel.
Back at Beale, my usual 12-hour days
could easily be extended to 18, dependinghttp://www.aviation-news.co.uk 21
Prototype TR-1A, 80-1063, on the Lockheed Skunk Work’s ramp in 1980. Later, this aircraft would
be assigned to NASA as N706NA. USAFA U-2R moments from touchdown
as viewed from the mobile chase
vehicle. The aircraft must be stalled at
2ft above the runway for a sucessful
landing, aided by altitude calls from a
U-2 pilot in the car. Note the deployed
landing spoilers and speed brakes.
Brian Peck
One of only two U-2CT trainers fabricated from three crashed U-2Cs. Affectionately named a
‘two-headed goat’, re ecting its tandem cockpits, white colour and propensity for embarrassing
pilots, because of tricky landing qualities – who sometimes found themselves exiting the
runway for the surrounding grass elds. USAF“... the aircraft
provided 50% of all
imagery and 30% of
the total intelligence
for the war”