News from the Air Force

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Chinese Fighter Conducts "Unsafe" RC-135 Intercept

A Chinese fighter jet reportedly intercepted an Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance plane in an "unsafe fashion" on Sept. 15 over the Yellow Sea, the Pentagon said Sept. 22. The Chinese jet crossed in front of the Rivet Joint, prompting concerns from the Air Force crew, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said. While the intercept was deemed "unsafe," there was no threat of a collision, Cook said. The Defense Department is investigating the incident, but Cook did not say if the Pentagon has expressed any concerns with the Chinese government. Chinese aircraft have intercepted US planes in a similar way before. Last summer, a Chinese J-11 flew within 20 feet of a Navy P-8 Poseidon in the South China Sea.

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The Cyber Wild West

​The US must figure out how to fight in the cyber domain, even if it is just a defensive fight, but it also needs regulation, said Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michelle Howard. "It is the wild west out there, it is Tombstone, and I don't think we have a Wyatt Earp right now," Howard said Sept. 25 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. "When I grew up, I thought I was going to have a conventional fight with the Soviets [and] it was going to be in the deep blue sea … It was a world with a single enemy," Howard said. But cyber is an "urban fight domain," incorporating civilians, business people, criminals, and vigilantes, she said. And everyone, military and civilian, who plugs into the network has a role in cybersecurity. "We all could be exploited … We're all in it, and we're all warfighters," she added. In terms of deterrence, the US still needs to find or demonstrate its "hammer," or threat. In the non-cyber world, that threat is nuclear weapons, or the counterstrike, she said. "No one has defined to me yet what is this critical power" in cyber.

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Eleven Killed in C-130J Crash in Afghanistan

​An Air Force C-130J assigned to the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron​ crashed at Jalalabad Airfield, Afghanistan, around 12 a.m. local time on Oct. 2, killing the six US crewmembers and five civilian passengers, according to an Air Forces Central Command release. "First responders are on scene. The cause of the accident is currently under investigation," states the release. There were no reports of hostile fire at the time of the crash, reported NBC News.

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Airmen Killed in C-130 Crash Identified

​The Defense Department identified the six airmen killed when their C-130 crashed just after taking off from Jalalabad Airport, Afghanistan, on Oct. 2. They are: Capt. Jonathan J. Golden, 33, of Camarillo, Calif.; Capt. Jordan B. Pierson, 28, of Abilene, Texas; SSgt. Ryan D. Hammond, 26, of Moundsville, W.V.; SrA. Quinn L. Johnson-Harris, 21, of Milwaukee, Wisc.; SrA. Nathan C. Sartain, 29, of Pensacola, Fla.; and A1C Kcey E. Ruiz, 21, of McDonough, Ga. Golden, Pierson, Hammond, and Johnson-Harris all were assigned to the 39th Airlift Squadron at Dyess AFB, Texas, while Sartain and Ruiz were assigned to the 66th Security Forces Squadron at Hanscom AFB, Mass. During a fallen comrade ceremony in Afghanistan, Lt. Col. Mitchell Spillers, commander of the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, called the lost crew "one of my best," saying "they had a positive impact on everyone around them." Though he offered his condolences, he also urged airmen to honor the fallen by remaining focused on the mission. "We've taken a blow, but I'm proud of the way we've come together and supported each other. That must continue," Spillers said. "We're a tactical airlift unit that provides a lifeline to our forces [that no one] else can. Our mission will continue and we must carry on. Jordan, JJ, Ryan, and JH all loved what we do, and would expect nothing less."

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Russian Fighters Intercepted Over Turkey

​Russian fighters operating in Syria willfully violated Turkish-NATO airspace in two separate incidents over the weekend, NATO officials announced after a high level meeting to discuss the issue. Su-30 fighter and Su-24 strike aircraft "entered Turkish airspace despite Turkish authorities' clear, timely, and repeated warnings," according to an Oct. 5 Alliance statement. Turkish F-16s scrambled to intercept the Russian aircraft, which then "exited Turkish airspace into Syria," according to a Turkish Defense Ministry statement. Turkish officials summoned Russia's ambassador to "strongly protest" the incursion, adding that jets violating Turkish airspace again "will be responsible for any undesired incident that may occur." NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg ​said he "called on Russia to fully respect NATO airspace and to avoid escalating tensions with the Alliance," ahead of a meeting with Turkey's foreign minister. Allied officials condemned the violations, characterizing Russian flight activities as "extremely dangerous" and "irresponsible." NATO called on Russia to "cease and desist" violating allied airspace and explain its activities and intentions.

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Feel the CBRN

​The armed forces have gotten out of the habit of practicing for operations under conditions where chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear agents have been released, and need to re-instill that discipline, Lt. Gen. Perry Wiggins, head of Army North, told reporters Wednesday. "Not a lot" of servicemembers are practiced "at donning their mask in nine seconds," he said in a meeting with defense reporters in Washington, D.C. Wiggins, who noted that Ebola and influenza were two of the biggest direct threats to US forces in recent years, said, "We need to get back to the 'B' in CBRN." Perry sees a rising threat from unconventional threats and "we can't send [troops] in un-trained" to deal with a toxic battlefield. During the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Wiggins said the Army "contracted a lot" of the functions associated with operating technology that senses CBRN threats and "we have to get the green-suiters back" into that expertise. It will take "time and training," both of which have lost out to higher priorities in recent years, he said. Army North supports FEMA, the National Guard, and other first responders, and Wiggins reported that cooperation between these agencies and the separate states "is about the best I've ever seen it," and that regular exercises involving all the stakeholders "validate" various disaster response plans. In fact, he said there may be an overabundance of response capabilities available now, putting emphasis on "pre-scripted" disaster plans that only tap as much capability as needed.

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Amber Alert

​The head of Army disaster response said he's toying with an "Amber Alert"-style system to warn people on Army bases when there is an active shooter at large. Lt. Gen. Perry Wiggins, head of Army North, said communicating warnings by cellphone makes sense because cellphones "are on your person" and command one's attention in a way that "big voice" loudspeakers can't always do, he told defense reporters in Washington, D.C. "It's a great system for getting information out," and it is already being used on many college campuses, he said. Amber Alerts notify people in a given area when a child goes missing. The system could cover more people because it would reach beyond base areas, as well. "We're looking at second- and third-order effects" of instituting such a program, he said. Perry also said he's wary of making military installations more inaccessible to outsiders, saying that interplay between servicemembers and their communities is important. "People in San Antonio think we're like Fort Knox," he said of JB San Antonio, Texas, noting that as a child with an Air Force father, most bases he lived on weren't even fenced.