The Airpower Surge in Iraq, Violence Is Down, But
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The Airpower Surge In Iraq, violence is down, but airmen see that the demand for air capabilities keeps growing. By Marc V. Schanz, Associate Editor Above: An F-16 tests an arresting cable at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. Right: A1C Jamius McNair of the 532nd Expe- ditionary Security Forces Squadron watches the gate at Joint Base Balad. USAF photos by TSgt. Erik Gudmundson 28 AIR FORCE Magazine / January 2009 iewed from a military he- months of 2006, according to US of- forward deployed wing now engaged licopter at low level, Iraq just ficials. It is down 80 percent across the in Operation Iraqi Freedom. north of Baghdad appears entire country. The base exists side by side with the V almost peaceful. Fields are The number of American combat town of Balad, predominantly Shiite, filled with crops irrigated by the nearby troops in Iraq has returned to pre- situated on the Tigris about 42 miles Tigris River. Cattle herds roam. Traffic surge levels. Another 8,000 troops are north of Baghdad. Balad lies on the edge on the roads is relatively light. scheduled to leave soon. But MNF-I of the Sunni Triangle—the homeland Squarely in the middle of this bucolic officials report that several vital military of former dictator Saddam Hussein and scene, however, one finds Joint Base and support missions will remain the nexus of the Sunni-based insurgency Balad, the largest Air Force hub in Iraq work of the US and its allies. A reli- against US forces. and the focus of support activity for able logistical infrastructure is needed Balad—once known as al-Bakr Air the Multinational Force-Iraq. Out by to support Iraqi security forces, as are Base—boasts two 11,000-foot runways. Balad’s east entry control point, just high-tech intelligence-surveillance- Today, Joint Base Balad is the busiest of over a bridge spanning an irrigation reconnaissance and armed close air the Defense Department’s many aerial canal, a string of watchtowers and support flights. This job falls mainly port operations. checkpoints line the road approach- to US airpower forces. A melange of concrete, trailers, ing the base. About 700 locals a day and faded outbuildings remains from pass onto the facility for work, and all Wide-Ranging Demands the days when Balad was a training have to be checked and screened by the Operations in Iraq are taking on a site for Saddam Hussein’s air force. security forces. new and less violent character. “I would In June, the base’s support functions “We keep an eye out for people say that ‘weapons dropped’ is probably were shifted from the Army to the Air who come up to the gate who might not the best measure for how we’re Force, leaving USAF in charge of food be injured, and make sure people are performing in this [counterinsurgency] service, lodging, vehicle operations, where they need to be,” said SSgt. environment,” said Maj. Gen. David E. and base construction, defense, and Joseph Howard, standing watch at the Clary, director of MNF-I’s Air Com- upkeep. This is no small task—the Air approach. When not helping manage ponent Coordination Element. Force is now responsible for more than the arrival of locals, Howard and his Clary said coalition efforts in the 30,000 troops, contractors, and other security forces teammates keep a steady country demand a wide range of air- personnel. eye on the farmlands and berms to either power assets—from tactical airlift for According to the Air Force, the base side of the entry point. Most days, things Iraqi forces and delegations, to aero- on an average month processes more are fairly calm, Howard said. medical evacuation, to the seemingly than 950 transport aircraft, 12,000 tons The future and nature of the US insatiable need for ISR support. of cargo, and 19,000 passengers. The combat mission in Iraq has been cease- Key to these efforts are the airmen wing is home to approximately 8,000 lessly debated, but violence in Baghdad and aircraft that make up the 332nd Air airmen performing a wide range of is down 90 percent from the worst Expeditionary Wing at Balad, the most critical missions in the country, from AIR FORCE Magazine / January 2009 29 USAF photo by A1C Jason Epley combat search and rescue to tactical abroad since the Vietnam War, Fantini An F-16 of the Oklahoma Air National airlift, ISR, and close air support. noted. On Balad’s south ramp, the high- Guard’s 138th Fighter Wing shelters in a From a perch atop the base’s main pitch sound of jet engines indicates hardened bunker at Balad. USAF fight- ers in Iraq have largely shifted to the tower, one catches a glimpse of an F- another F-16 sortie is heading out for “armed overwatch” mission. 16 fighter taxiing on its way to the far a morning “vulnerability period”—a end of the runway. Here, Col. Michael standard mission over Iraq nowadays. In A. Fantini, commander of the 332nd these “vuls,” the F-16s will fly missions smaller numbers than in the dark days Expeditionary Operations Group, ex- ranging from infrastructure protection of 2007, the pace of operations remains plains the daily operations tempo and to armed overwatch and protecting brisk due to one large demand—the various missions. Fantini oversees a convoy operations. need for overwatch. large portfolio of assets at Balad—F- Iraq is a large country, and even 16s, C-130s, MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 The CAS Surge with 150,000 US troops in place, Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles, and In November, F-16s stationed at the demand for intelligence, and the HH-60 Pave Hawk rescue helicopters. the 332nd AEW flew approximately ability to quickly act on it, has not “The big red wheel never stops turn- 40 close air support missions a day. diminished. ing,” he said. But unlike their counterparts in Af- “The biggest difference is the lack of For one thing, the base hosts the larg- ghanistan, ordnance drops were a rarity. kinetics,” said Lt. Col. Miles DeMayo, est group of CSAR helicopters deployed While bombs may be dropping in much an F-16 pilot deployed from Shaw AFB, S.C., and commander of the 55th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron. “Whether it’s counter-IED [improvised explosive device] missions [or] armed overwatch, ... we’re the eye in the sky [but we also] have that rapid response capability” for when someone needs help fast. Back in the summer of 2007, when the USAF photo TSgt.by Erik Gudmundson surge began squeezing enemy forces in Iraq, CAS strikes peaked with 303 drops against insurgents in July. Today, that number has dwindled to a handful. Two days before a reporter’s visit to Balad, an F-16 dropped GBU-38s onto enemy fighters hiding in a building near the town of Baqubah, where they were firing rocket-propelled grenades at coalition forces. It was the first such air strike that week. “We track convoys, ISR stuff, [and] Heavily protected airmen of the 532nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron we make sure, if there’s any threat be- survey a construction site at the Balad base. hind or in front of convoys, we know 30 AIR FORCE Magazine / January 2009 what it is,” said Capt. Adam Hafez, an “Back home, we load practice bombs,” USAF now is flying over Iraq more F-16 pilot deployed to Balad with the he said. “Here, you actually see how it CAPs than ever, said Maj. Tim Bolen, 55th EFS. works, day in and day out.” commander of the 46th ERAS, which In short, pilots spend much time Keeping a fighter’s sensitive elec- is responsible for launch and recovery making sure that ground commanders tronics in working order presents its of Air Force UAVs over Iraq. There are and coalition officials know where the own set of challenges in this harsh more than 21 combat air patrols over bad guys are at all times. And “armed environment. Radios and targeting pods Iraq as of November 2008, he said. overwatch” means the aircraft can are indispensable tools for the pilots, The Air Force’s unmanned attack quickly deliver ordnance on an enemy’s mission planners, and commanders on assets have been game changers in the head, if that is required. the ground. skies over Iraq. The nearly constant Keeping ready a fleet of fighters and surveillance of high-value targets and weapons in the middle of a harsh desert Popular Predators convoy routes—and the ability to strike brings inherent challenges. Aircraft are SrA. Jeffrey Haviland, an avionics targets at a moment’s notice—has cre- prone to malfunction in Iraq’s extreme specialist with the 55th EAMU, said ated unending demand for the aircraft climate and dusty conditions. his shop works a great deal with the in theater. “The dirt and sand get everywhere,” components of the ARC-210 radios and “What we need is more ISR,” wrote said TSgt. Jason Fitts, an armaments the Sniper targeting pods, items that are Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno in crew member with the 55th Expedi- critical to exchanges of information be- an article published just prior to his tionary Aircraft Maintenance Unit. tween the pilot in the cockpit and joint promotion to commander of MNF-I in “We [may not] fire a lot of rounds and terminal attack controllers on the ground. September. Odierno has said that armed drop a lot of bombs [these days, but] Pilots say they could not fly effectively UAVs are a bonus, but that systems we still have to upload” munitions and in Iraq without these tools.