Relentless Vigil

The Air National Guard-led 1st Air Force/Air Forces Northern flew twice as many fighter sorties last month for Operation Noble Eagle coverage of the continental US as it had flown during March. Bolstering the fighters were a total of 14 tanker and reconnaissance/command and control sorties. And, Civil Air Patrol flew 48 sorties as part of the April ONE tally. (See the table here for summary.) New to the airborne-threat alert role, the District of Columbia ANG’s 113th Wing on May 6 conducted its 2,000th scramble since 9/11, according to a May 19 wing release. “Thankfully, as has been the case in most of the preceding 1,999 event, this one, as well as numbers 2,001 and 2,002 that followed later that same day, were resolved before the jets became airborne,” said Lt. Col. David Miles, commander of the wing’s 121st Fighter Squadron Air Sovereignty Alert Detachment. In March, however, wing F-16C aircraft intercepted and escorted three unidentified aircraft from the restricted zone around Washington, D.C. (113th Wing report by TSgt. Adrianne Wilson)