Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON — The Air Force and Air National Guard are pushing to cut back round-the-clock air patrols over U.S. cities, saying the unprecedented security flights are straining their planes, pilots and crews, senior Pentagon officials said Friday.
"That was never intended to be a permanent thing," said Air Force Secretary James Roche, referring to the 24-hour-a-day homeland defense flights being flown since Sept. 11 over Washington, D.C., New York and other cities.
"The question is, at what point can we come back … to something that may be more easily managed."
The comments by Roche at a breakfast with defense reporters were the latest and most public of a drumbeat of complaints about the program within the Air Force and National Guard. Commanders managing the flights have told senior Pentagon officials in recent weeks that they are straining aging jets, maintenance crews and budgets.
The military has flown more than 13,600 air defense flights since Sept. 11 at an estimated cost of $324 million. Military officials say continuing the missions indefinitely would tax defense resources and, ultimately, require an additional congressional appropriation.
Roche said Friday that besides the wear and tear on the aircraft, the daily patrols are taking away from time that pilots and crews need to train for overseas combat missions.
Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem, deputy director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also said this week that the Pentagon was evaluating the long-term feasibility of the patrols.
"We’re watching carefully to see, are we putting undue stress on a system that can’t accept it?" Stufflebeem said. "If you overuse military equipment, or you don’t give crews time to train, they may not be ready (for the next mission)."
Since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Air Force and NATO Airborne Warning and Control Systems aircraft have patrolled U.S. skies, And Air Force F-15 and F-16 fighter jets have flown continuously over major U.S. cities. Altogether, more than 250 planes have flown on the homeland defense missions, including fighter jets, AWACS planes, C-130 transport planes and tanker aircraft, which refuel the fighters in mid-flight.
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