The United States Air Force have deployed F-15C/D fighters and 280 airmen to Keflavik Air Base, Iceland.
The deploy is designed, say the alliance, to provide NATO Airborne Surveillance and Interception Capabilities to meet Iceland’s Peacetime Preparedness Needs.
According to a press release from NATO:
“For several weeks at total of 13 U.S. Air Force F-15C/D jets from their home base at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, United Kingdom, will conduct the NATO mission; four of them providing intercept capabilities and the remaining nine will conduct training missions to maintain and hone skills and proficiency.
The jets will be flying under NATO authority, controlled by the Allied Combined Air Operations Centre at Uedem, Germany, via the Icelandic Coast Guard Control and Reporting Centre at Keflavik Air Base. In addition, the 31st Fighter Wing, 606th Air Control Squadron from Aviano Air Base, Italy, will send a command and control team to support the Allied mission and provide tactical control for the fighters.”
The mission NATO conducts in Iceland is a peacetime mission, which is specific and unique to Iceland. Due to the geographical situation, Allies in cooperation with the Icelandic authorities have agreed that a temporary presence of the NATO aircraft in Keflavik is essential to secure the Icelandic airspace.
NATO say that this mission will continue to assure Alliance members of the collective resolve and ability to protect all members.
By sheer chance ran into the old airfield manager at NAS Keflavik – USN Senior Chief from years back – walking into the federal building in Pensacola a couple of years ago. Recognized her right away as we used to regularly stop at her ops building while passing through and would shoot the bull while the aircraft was being refueled. Amazing how those things happen…
Reykjavik is a weird place. Everyone – and I mean EVERYONE seems to be snockered after midnight. Riding the trams at that hour seemed like being in an episode of “Intervention”…
Second Fleet is reactivated and the tail designator IS looks like it might be too. Second Cold War?
Cheers!
Anything about Iceland instantly makes me think of Red Storm Rising. Love that book.
He over egged Red Storm Rising, the Soviet attack I could believe but the NATO defence plot was pants, Sovs would have rendered us into mince meat within minutes, there is a reason that I went from 9 minute life expectancy of Infantry to 36 hours of the RMP, and nothing to do with leading by example ?
… and the Royal’s language and character was pants too.
I loved the book too. Until I read elsewhere that every NATO airfield in W. Europe would have been wiped out in the first minutes of an attack by Frogs and Scuds even with conventional war heads. There would have been no fixed-wing air support and a very short war. Even shorter when it came out that the Russians had tapped into SOSUS.
Where’re Rainbow when you need them aye?
BUT. What is interesting is that in a later book terrorists fly a jet into a US building, 10 years before terrorists fly jets into US buildings… who could have known?
I was assigned as part of the USAF liaison with a U.S. Army Mechanized Brigade at Baumholder FRG in the early 80’s and until the Reagan defense buildup hit its stride – particularly in weeding out bad personnel and an imbedded drug culture among the troops – I had real doubts about our ability to stop the Warsaw Pact.
Especially since the Brigade’s primary mission was to hold behind the 11 ACR Black Horse in the Fulda Gap just long enough to allow the placing and detonation of backpack SADMs in predrilled cavities below the streets leading west from the critical hills known as the “The Sisters” – We called them the “Knuckles”. When the Soviet 1st Shock Army and 1st Tank Army made it to those hills, our job was to sound the charge, counterattack, and die in glory (sic) while the SADMs were blasted behind us. No retreat,
Can I say I’m glad THAT little scenario didn’t happen? 😀
Cheers!
SADM’s? Are they backpack nukes?
Sorry! Small Atomic Demolition Munitions. They ARE small too. They went into preprepared chambers located below locked manhole type covers in the area. Idea was to create a giant tank trap… Probably still there.
Cheers!
Cheers Helion.
You have my respect. Thank you for your service.
Helions did anyone tell you there would have been no air support either ?
As a matter of fact – yes – I can very well recall telling the brigade commander Col Waller (Lt Gen Waller of Gulf War fame) that the staff’s plans for air support were highly unrealistic. They were planning for 10 sorties (5 missions) a day while the entire division was only slated for 10 per day.
I added that, realistically, we could not expect any at all during the first few days (if we held) because anything that could carry a missile was going to be upstairs fighting the air to air battle and the newly arriving (at the time) A10’s would probably be used for BAI instead of CAS.This was in the CENTAG Fulda region.
To his credit, Col Waller took it far better than his staff S3 who wouldn’t speak to me for the rest of the terrain walk… I was very fond of that man. Passed way too soon.
Cheers!
Why thank you Daniele.
Cheers!