Sticky Thread for MilAir II

[CitationJet]

03.14.2007 am

Hi,

Effective today, I will no longer be able to monitor from my work location, so drive time and off time logs will be my contributions to the Forum for the foreseeable future.

03.14.2007 am

1240Z 118.950 Potomac DEP - ARMY 01052 - deps ADW checks in @ 2200' to 5000' join J61 to 17000'.
1250Z 314.250 BOXER Ops - BOXER 77 - arr. time 20 mins. past the hr., code 1.
1251Z 118.950 Potomac DEP - WAMO 51 (C-12 WAMO Andrews) - deps ADW vects. for the climb QSY 126.650.

1300Z 118.950 Potomac DEP - PAT 1204 (C-12T Davison am shuttle) - @ 6000' for rwy 32 @ DAA - Davison in sight @ 1600' QSY Davison GCA 118.850.
1307Z 125.650 Potomac DEP - SAM 1263 - deps ADW to 11000'.
1310Z 378.100 LIBERATOR Ops - wkg DC 31 - standing by for wheels up message, handing console over to "---. -----".

 

[TinEar]

There are two KC-130T tankers from VMGR-452 Stewart ANGB NY working in this area. They should be using callsign YANKEE or Marine 315 and Marine 316 (from their Bureau Numbers 165315 and 165316.) If anyone hears them, please post the freq(s) they're using.

 

[Mark]

Had a YANKEE 99 165316 KC-130T with ADW CP 378.100 arriving to pick
up pallet to Oslo Norway.ENGM
Don't hear that dest everyday..
Oh well off to work..later

Mark

 

[CitationJet]

Re: LOBO 71

A clue to the identity of our LOBO 71 from another list:

"375.200 (KIAB METRO)
1647Z - LOBO-71 rqsting update for conditions on IR-126 which should have
been faxed to you fm BARKSDALE."

 

[Waltz41]

15:38 - Have the scanner on in the other room, just heard on Willow Grove ground (380.8), Ground asking i think a helicopter (army) if they knew anything about an aircraft that landed in a corn field?? i also heard the word escorting as well....and right before this came on, think it was army 3458 ?? and he just asked "where is the other helo at approximatley."

Now heard "When you a get a part for your counterpart, how long will it take for you to get airborne again?"

There's been a lot of army UH-60's at the field the last week, sounds like one came in and the other is maybe down and in need of a part. Will continue to listen to this ,see what happens.

 

[md_p97]

This just in:

NOTAM Number : FDC 7/5543
Issue Date : March 14, 2007 at 1435 UTC
Location : Hagerstown/Thurmont, Maryland near MARTINSBURG VORTAC (MRB)
Beginning Date and Time : March 16, 2007 at 1810 UTC
Ending Date and Time : March 18, 2007 at 1700 UTC
Reason for NOTAM : Temporary flight restrictions for VIP (Very Important Person) Movement
Type : VIP
Replaced NOTAM(s) : N/A

Happy listening

Paul


Edit: Maybe now we can find out where BlackJack 1 is hiding!

 

[HM1529]

Yesterday, the county detectives in my area were working with a PAARNG OH-58 helo doing some aerial photography of various target houses and then working a brief aerial surveillance of a vehicle. Air to ground comms were on the normal police tactical talkgroups for the county trunked system. I did not get a serial off the helo (no binoculars) when I saw it, but PAARNG has worked with the locals here before.

I only heard the helo on ATC frequencies a few times....once on Philly App 123.800, once on the local CTAF for Wings Field (local air field) when he dropped off the detective, and once with Reading App 125.150 (presumably heading back to Indiantown Gap). Each time, he used the callsign Boise-67.

I mentioned this on another list and someone associated that callsign with Idaho ARNG.

I did some searching and found photos of a WA ARNG helo on microvoltradio.com that indicated the callsign for that helo was Boise-12 when the photo was taken. A serial number search for the helo confirmed that it was WA ARNG and assigned to the RAID unit.

My suspicion is that the Boise callsign is used as an indicator for National Guard RAID (reconaissance and air interdiction unit) law enforcement assistance activities like the Flint and Ross/Jena callsigns are used for DEA and FBI.

Has anyone else caught helos using this callsign before?

 

[trainman111]

Thought I would note this to go along with Jeff's log:
After reviewing my audio from 3/12, I caught LOBO 71 ZDC Montebello on 284.7 checking in (Time-1223). Then I caught him at 1235 with ZDC Blackstone 235.625. He asked them what radial they wanted him to intercept, and after a bit, he called back in stating he had no luck on 379.3. That leads me to believe that he was over in my area and that he was traveling in a southern direction. Now, why would he come down here, then turn back up north and check in with Sea Isle and Coyle??

From March 12th:
Not much worth noting, mostly transports.

0752: REACH 483 passign 4,000 for 3,000 with information Alpha. Looking for Runway 2. <127.050>
1247: U/I C-21 inbound Andrews. Tail # 40077. ETA 15 minutes. No pax, will be parking in Row 9. Would like Command to call maintenance and they need a crew bus for 2. <378.1>
1427: Another C-21 inbound to Andrews. Tail 40100. Estimated block time is 25 mins. Maintenance status Code 1. Has S3+2 and a Space A. Request comman call C-21 maintenance and transportation once on ground. <378.1>
1614: LOBO 71 up on 256.8
1629: LOBO 71 calling Langley METRO. (This guy sounds just like he's wearing an air mask)
1927: FORCE 12 at FL240 looking for a decent to 200 direct ATLEE. <118.125>
1928: FORCE 15 HEAVY descending FL240 to FL200. <118.125> (Could this be FORCE 12? They were both distinct when their call numbers were stated)

And now for a general question...
How do you guys find the tail number and homebase of REACH a/c based solely on their callsign??

 

[md_p97]

Effective today, I will no longer be able to monitor from my work location, so drive time and off time logs will be my contributions to the Forum for the foreseeable future.

Hey what a coincidence....me either !!!

My contract ended pre-maturely (I hate when that happens)

So I will be sitting at home till something else comes along....but it does give me more time for listening....

Paul

 

[TinEar]

1945: WILD flight of four F-16s off the deck at Andrews...with TRACON 348.725 and on interflight 143.6...to TRACON (BWI) 317.425 at 1949...then to ZDC-Swann 360.7 at 1951 at 14,000 feeet, six miles front to back...cleared to climb to FL 210.
1952: WILD asks for the block 15-16000 due to weather...they get it...360.7
1954: WILD flight handed to ZDC-Kenton 354.15 and check in in the block 15-16000...currently six miles front to back...closing to non-standard at two (miles front to back)
1957: WILD flight handed to ZDC-Cape Charles 256.8 and check in with same message....now in 2 mile non-standard formation.

2002: WILD asks ZDC if they can get down to about 13,000 for weather...they're given the block 11-13000...256.8
2003: WILD flight handed off to Giant Killer and call GK on 238.1...x2, no joy.
2005: No joy on 238.1 so they switch to 249.8 and make contact there. They check in to work W-386 A-F. They'll work 312.3 and switch there at 2005.
2014: The WILD flight isn't doing much talking...some chat on 143.6 and almost nothing on 312.3. I didn't hear them mention tanking during this flight but I'm searching all my known AR freqs just in case.
2019: BATON 52 (EC-130J, 193rd SOW, PA-ANG Harrisburg) with Giant Killer in W-107 giving his routing home to KMDT...direct Sea Isle, DuPont, Lancaster, field...255.0
2021: REACH 480 (C17A, 00-0174, 62nd Airlift Wing, McChord AFB WA) with TRACON but didn't catch if it was 118.95 or 119.85 (going from or coming to ADW)
2027: The WILD flight is doing some red/blue air ACM work...WILD 1 and 2 are on 143.6 and 3 and 4 are on 312.3
2029: ARMY 1778 (C37B, 04-1778) landing at Andrews...125.35
2030: Guard Copter 16251 calls Leesburg Radio on FSS about flying from 3W3 to Davison AAF...Leesburg tells him he doesn't have a flight plan on file for him so the copter says he'll land and file it...255.4
3W3 is Kentmorr Airpark in Stevensville MD
2034: DC 32 Heavy (KC135R, 61-0307, 756th ARS Andrews) with ADW Tower...reports gear down and locked heading for runway 19R...125.35
2038: A couple of the WILD F-16s are now using interflight 139.15 (not sure which two are there)
2039: CRAB 55 (C130J, 98-1355, 135th Airlift Squadron, MD-ANG Warfield ANGB) to Crab Ops to announce he's about to make a drop...not just any drop...a REAL drop...385.9
2041: CRAB 55 reports 3 minutes to drop...385.9
2041: DC 32 didn't make a full stop landing...he's going around in the pattern...now with Approach...119.3
2046: AR-636 active...someone descending from FL 270 to 210...238.9
2047: BLACKJACKs working with ADW Tower...125.35
2047: BLACKJACK [female] also working 139.7
2048: ARMY 01052 (UC35A, 00-1052) landing at Andrews...125.35
2050: The AR-636 work is between a MOVER (KC10A McGuire) and a STEEL 61 (KC135R PA-ANG Pittsburgh)...238.9
2050: All four WILD fighters are back together on interflight freq...143.6
2058: WILD flight on the way home...143.6
2059: WILD flight to TRACON...on the way to Andrews...8 miles front to back formation...wants to split the flight into two two ship flights...WILD 3/4 8 miles in trail...270.275

2100: WILD was just on 139.7...not sure why just yet...sounded like he was giving his in-flight report there instead of on 139.9
2101: CRAB 51 (C130J, 97-1351, MD-ANG) also with Crab Ops...reports 14,000 pounds of fuel remain...385.9
2103: BLACKJACK 1 and 2 are doing practice intercepts on each other...139.7
2106: WILD 1 and 2 handed to ADW Tower for landing...349.0
2108: BLACKJACK 1 doesn't want to do any more of this training...he wants to go to Davison AAF and do some NVG training approaches...BLACKJACK 2 tells him Davison isn't open...he doesn't care, he's going...139.7
2109: WILD 3 and 4 over to ADW Tower for landing...349.0
2111: CRAB C-130Js working with drop controller...148.925
2112: DC 32 coming home in A-3 condition...recites some of the problems with the aircraft...says crew chiefs were aware of them before they took off. ..378.1
2112: BLACKJACK 1 with ADW Tower getting clearance for his self-assigned training (he's got a loud squeal in his transmitter)...125.35
If you see 118.4 anywhere above for ADW Tower instead of 125.35, it was out of habit...I think I found them all and changed them.
2115: BLACKJACK 1 and 2 tell ADW Tower they're going to discontinue their training due to traffic in the area and will join Route 3...tower tells them the aircraft landing right now are the last of the traffic tonight...125.35
DC 32 is coming in for a landing and there might be a REACH 3115 in there too that I missed on 378.1 when he gave his arrival message.
2121: DC 32 reports gear down and locked...125.35
2122: OPEC 38 (KC10A McGuire) to McGuire CP with arrival msg....319.4
2123: BATON 52 reports RTB to KMDT (Harrisburg) to Giant Killer...255.0
2126: JOSA 963, home station C21A gives arrival message to Griffin Command (missed callsign)...25 minutes out, mission complete upon landing...378.1
2128: DC 32 reports full stop landing (at last) to ADW Tower...125.35
2131: BLACKJACK 1 and 2 are back to doing practice intercepts...currently at 2800 and 3000 feet for this run...139.7
2132: Guard Copter 627 calls Weide Ops and says ops normal at APG...229.4
2140: REACH 506 with arrival message to Andrews...30 minutes out, A-1, 17200 pounds of cargo (fades)...378.1
2146: JOSA 963 (C21A, 84-0129, 457th AS Andrews) ready to land at ADW...125.35
2150: CRAB 55 gives arrival message to Crab Ops...10 minutes out, A-1, 18400 on the fuel...385.0
2151: BATON 52 [female] to Baton Ops with arrival message...395.1
2151: Civil Air Patrol flight 18G talking to ADW Approach about chasing down an ELT signal that's 4 miles west of Andrews...119.3
2154: CAP flight reports ELT now at a fixed position 3 miles west of Andrews...125.35
2154: REACH 475 (C17A, 89-1192, 437th Airlift Wing Charleston AFB SC) reports airborne at this time...378.1
2158: CAP flight 18Golf requests right turn near Andrews to search for the ELT...125.35

2205: CAP flight 18G is now very, very low near Andrews and difficult to hear...I think he just reported the ELT is coming from a helicopter on the ground...125.35
2208: REACH 506 (C5B, 83-1285, 436th AW Dover AFB DE) landing Andrews...125.35
2211: CAP Flight 18G still talking about the ELT to Andrews Tower but he's just too weak to pull the context out of the noise...125.35
2219: CAP Flight 18G says he's narrowed the ELT down on 243.0 mHz to the western half of ?Hyde/High? Field...now he's going to try to narrow it down to the western quarter...125.35
2225: MOVER 35 (KC10A McGuire AFB NJ) with arrival message to McGuire CP...A-1, no pax or cargo, 61,000 on the gas...319.4
2230: CAP Flight 18G talking to PG2 copter and tells him he believes the ELT is very close to the field...125.35
2232: COBRA 30 (VAQ-209 Andrews) reports 15 minutes out on squadron freq...280.2
2237: COBRA 30 with ADW Approach...119.3
2238: COBRA 30 with Andrews Tower for landing...349.0
2247: ARMY 301 landing Andrews...125.35
2248: STEEL (couldn't hear suffix) KC135R with arrival message to Steel Control...20 minutes out, A-2, 22K on the gas...311.0
2255: Guess CAP Flight 18G is done...he reports to ADW Approach that he's 5 miles northeast of Andrews at 1500 feet and will land at Freeway Airport...119.3

2314: NAVY 101 with TRACON...119.85
2316: NAVY 101 (C37B, 166376, VR-1 Andrews) to Andrews Tower for full stop landing...on the ILS to runway 19L...125.35

And now for a general question...
How do you guys find the tail number and homebase of REACH a/c based solely on their callsign??

You slowly but surely build a database of as many C5 and C17 type aircraft as you can. Get their tail number when they give it, cross check it at the Scramble website to get the unit and go on to the next one. REACH aircraft with four-digit suffixes are built from the last digit of the year and the last three number of the serial. So, a C17A with tail 06-6156 would become REACH 6156 and 93-0603 becomes REACH 3603. When you hear REACH 3603 you figure the year is probably 93 or 03 so check it against the database you've built and find the whole tail number. Back to Scramble and check his home base. REACH aircraft with 3-digit numbers are almost impossible to firmly ID unless you've picked up some info from his flight - either a tail number or chat about home or something that tips you to his ID.
Or....you call your buddy in the tower and ask him.

 

[TinEar]

Thought I would note this to go along with Jeff's log:
After reviewing my audio from 3/12, I caught LOBO 71 ZDC Montebello on 284.7 checking in (Time-1223). Then I caught him at 1235 with ZDC Blackstone 235.625. He asked them what radial they wanted him to intercept, and after a bit, he called back in stating he had no luck on 379.3. That leads me to believe that he was over in my area and that he was traveling in a southern direction. Now, why would he come down here, then turn back up north and check in with Sea Isle and Coyle??

That would be his route if he was going out to W-107 where the work took place with the Northrup Grumman test aircraft. I wish they had talked a bit more about the type testing they were doing. I gathered nothing from the chat. That was a good catch though Nick.

A clue to the identity of our LOBO 71 from another list:

"375.200 (KIAB METRO)
1647Z - LOBO-71 rqsting update for conditions on IR-126 which should have
been faxed to you fm BARKSDALE."

And that would make him a B-52 more than likely which contradicts what Jeff posted about the B-2 in the area. Of course, nothing says both couldn't be in our general area at the same time. But the message you posted Tony sure seems to put the B-52 label on him.

My suspicion is that the Boise callsign is used as an indicator for National Guard RAID (reconaissance and air interdiction unit) law enforcement assistance activities like the Flint and Ross/Jena callsigns are used for DEA and FBI.

Has anyone else caught helos using this callsign before?

I sure haven't Ben but I'm weak when it comes to knowledge of helo ops. I don't pay much attention to them but probably should. It seems strange to me though that the National Guard is acting in a police function. I thought the Posse Comitatus Act prevented that from happening. <break while I look it up> This seems to cover it...

The Posse Comitatus Act is a United States federal law (18 U.S.C. § 1385) passed on 1878-06-18 after the end of Reconstruction. The Act was intended to prohibit Federal troops from supervising elections in former Confederate states. It generally prohibits Federal military personnel and units of the United States National Guard under Federal authority from acting in a law enforcement capacity within the United States, except where expressly authorized by the Constitution or Congress. The Posse Comitatus Act and the Insurrection Act substantially limit the powers of the Federal government to use the military for law enforcement.
[Grabbed from Wikipedia]

Had a YANKEE 99 165316 KC-130T with ADW CP 378.100 arriving to pick
up pallet to Oslo Norway.ENGM
Don't hear that dest everyday..
Oh well off to work..later

Thanks Mark for that almost immediate reply to my question if anyone heard the Marine KC130T unit and which freq they were using. I'm sure the crew is having a grand old time in Oslo. And if they *really* like it there, something on the plane will break and they'll have to spend a couple of days awaiting a replacement part. It was a favorite ploy we pulled in my day - but that was "back when" and there are probably checks and balances to prevent that now. Records were kept by manual entries in my era. Computers check everything these days.

 

[TinEar]

0605: REACH 7044 (C5B, 87-0044, 60th AMW Travis AFB CA) off the deck at Andrews with departure for the climbout...118.95...handed off to ZDC at 0612.
0627: ARMY 01053 (UC35B, 00-1053) reports airborne to ADW Twr...125.35...over to departure (TRACON)...118.95 for the climb.
0630-45: BEELINER 05 (C17A, 06-6154, 60 AMW Travis AFB CA) calling McGuire CP...no joy x8...349.4/319.4
0646: BEELINER 05 to McGuire CP...arriving 1105Z, A-2, need parking...he's asked for tail number, goes to to check and repeats 66154...319.4
[Shortened to BLINR05 for ATC purposes]
This particular C17A was the first to arrive at Travis last year.
0648: PAT 1302 [female] calling Davey Ops (Davison AAF)...mentions something about they advertise they open at 6 but now are saying 7...139.4
0652: BEELINER 05 gets parking spot N-1 and wants to make sure crew transportation will be waiting...319.4
0652: PAT 1302 says she'll arrive at DAA in about 10 minutes and puts fuel on request...264 (must belast three of her tail number)...139.4
0659: JOSA 676 off ADW with TRACON...118.95

0700: JOSA 676 (C21A, 54th Airlift Squadron Wright Patterson AFB OH) to Griffin Command to report off at 1057Z...378.1
0732: NAVY 7C511 (UC12B NAS Oceana) with TRACON heading for Andrews...119.85
0735: NAVY 7C511 with ADW Tower for landing runway 19R...125.35
0753: Langley interflight freq active with F22As...315.85
0755: CYCLONE 51 flight (F-22A Langley) with Norfolk TRACON...370.925
0756: CYCLONE 51 to Giant Killer to enter W-386 and will be MARSA with a JAKE flight (also F-22A)...wants to know if the test track is active...then repeats the test track is closed...switching to 39 Prime (at 0800)...249.8

0801: KEVLAR 61 flight of two F-22As with Giant Killer to enter W-72 1C-3E...249.8
0806: HOVER 41 (F22A) with Giant Killer to enter W-72...233.7
0807: VENUS 26 (C20B, 86-0206, 99th AS Andrews) reports airborne on the hour - 1200Z...378.1
0814: HOVER flight switching to 43 Prime...233.7
0818: Heard Coast Guard Baltimore contact an aircraft I believe was Coast Guard 01 (the C37 they fly). Right after the initial contact there was what sounded like encrypted transmissions back and forth that I think was them....Marine Channel 23A...157.15
0826: GK's tac freq active..probably CYCLONE who switched to 39 Prime...391.2
0837: NAVY 7C511 (UC-12B) back in the air from Andrews...118.95
0839: JAKE 52 (F-22A Langley) with Giant Killer...238.1
0849: BOXER 32 (C40C, 02-0202, 201st Airlift Squadron Andrews) reports airborne to ADW Tower...125.35
0850: BOXER 32 to ADW Approach at 2000 feet...119.3
0855: BOXER 32 back with ADW Tower...he's doing pattern work this morning...125.35
0859: DC 42 (KC135R, 62-3556, 756th ARS Andrews) reports to LIBERATOR he's off the ground at 1255Z...378,1

My laugh this morning: I just went to the NAS Oceana website to look up some info. They have a note there with a telephone number to call to register noise complaints. They accompany that with the following statement....
NOTE: Your Concern will not change the flight pattern of current operations or change the hours we are operating. Flight Operations at Oceana Naval Air Station and Fentress Naval Auxillary Landing Field are conducted around the clock seven days a week. The airspace that Oceana operates in covers a 4.3 mile radius and like civilian aircraft, military planes are not limited to where they can fly.
So, complain if you want but we're going to pay no attention to you. I love it. It happens everywhere. They build airports out in the wilds and then people start building homes near the airport for convenience to jobs or whatever and then start complaining about aircraft noise.

0900: And off to Home Depot I go...THE END.

Story about the MS-ANG C-17A AIREVAC flights we always hear coming into Andrews...
http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,128582,00.html?ESRC=airforce-a.nl

 

[Mark]

1230 local A/A 388.850 has come alive with 2 Heavies it sounds like.
Buffs or B-2's?
1236 They go encypted A/A 388.850,callsign sounded like OX.
Nothing further heard so must have been passing thru.
Off to work.....

Mark

 

[EricCottrell]

Hello,

I was down in the Kulpsville, PA area near Willow Grove last weekend. I guess I do not listen at the right times as I see Willow Grove was not very active last weekend. I only heard civilian stuff on VHF. Of course it is difficult to listen and do other activities at the same time.

I found this story about the F-22A and the International Date Line recently.
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=2590456&C=airwar

The 48 hour turnaround for the fix is amazing. Either it was a simple oops type coding error or the programmers really burned the midnight oil to find it.

73 Eric

 

[TinEar]

1230 local A/A 388.850 has come alive with 2 Heavies it sounds like.
Buffs or B-2's?
1236 They go encypted A/A 388.850,callsign sounded like OX.
Nothing further heard so must have been passing thru.
Off to work.....

Mark

I had that freq set all day yesterday and never heard a thing on it. So, today I take it down and it becomes active. It was copied a couple of days ago out in the midwest with the DEATH callsign and was identified as B-2 bomber types. It was a flight of three for that flight and it was being used as an interflight freq.

And the Andrews Tower freq is back on 118.4. Guess they switched it back sometime in the last four hours or so since I left earlier for my Home Depot run.

 

[TinEar]

This has been an amazing day for MilAir listening. Just about everyone is flying today. This afternoon, I just listened instead of logging and enjoyed all the radios talking at once.

VA-ANG FURY F-16s were up in the offshore areas and did work that 296.9 freq again which looks like a Giant Killer tactical freq to go along with the others like 312.3/337.225/292.3/391.2, etc.

RAVEN and AXEMAN flights of A-10s from the MD-ANG were also up and went to Pax for their work. They were heard on a bunch of Pax freqs.

WILD F-16s from the DC-ANG went up to Giant Killer's W-107 area.

Langley F-22As went offshore and were followed by several F-15 flights. GK's 233.7/238.1/249.8 were all busy with fighters coming and going. Heard some callsigns that have been collecting dust for awhile...TRAIN/RAMBO/MALT/KIWI. And there was a tanker down there to support them - STEEL 81, a KC-135 from the PA-ANG Pittsburgh.

Pax aircraft seemed very busy this afternoon also...362.975, 341.75 and 123.525 were interesting and there was a WATERBUG tanker on one of the freqs.

MD-ANG C-130J aircraft were up doing drops on 148.925 and 385.9. The drop zone controller's callsign was AEGIS DZ (DZ for Drop Zone obviously.) I never have figured out exactly where the drop zone is located.

A constant stream of transports were heard going into and coming from Andrews all afternoon. There was one interesting one...a PAT 453 that was going to Andrews to pick up a passenger. He mentioned his tail number as 50093. A little digging in Scramble discovered his full tail number was 95-0093, a C12R small jet. His unit is the 2-228th Aviation Detachment stationed at Willow Grove. He said that although he was PAT 453 going to Andrews, he would become HAWK 1 on the outbound flight. That's sure to confuse a controller or two.

McGuire had some KC10A tankers returning...the ones I remember are TEAM 82 and 83 and OPEC 43. They made the usual check in with Atlantic City Approach on 124.6 for their descent into McGuire. Dover was relatively quiet.

My coup of the afternoon was hearing a UK Royal Air Force AWACS. He was using callsign SENTRY 02 and I heard him with Langley Metro on 239.8. HIs tail number was ZH101.
Normally, when the AWACS comes over from RAF Waddington, it will use VULCAN for a front end callsign and MAGIC for the back end. So, it was a surprise to hear him using the SENTRY 02 callsign. If he's here for the same activity usually done by VULCAN/MAGIC, we could have an interesting few days.

There was also a German Air Force Airbus 310-304 in the area this afternoon. He used callsign "German Air Force 917" and had a tail number of 10+21.

All in all, it was a non-stop afternoon with a ton of activity. I'm sure I left many others worth mentioning out of this recap done by memory.

1649: Just heard a couple of police helos on Baltimore area chat channel 123.025 talking about two sailboats that crashed into each other. Said 12 people are in the water and 8 are unaccounted for. He didn't mention the location.

 

[CitationJet]

Re: GERMAN AIR FORCE 917

Hi Tin,

Departing IAD and was noted this morning on the ramps there along with C-26B 91-0503.

Best regards,

Tony

There was also a German Air Force Airbus 310-304 in the area this afternoon. He used callsign German Air Force 917 and had a tail number of 10+21.

 

[BMT]

SENTRY-02 was also in FL. today.

BMT

 

[Gemini]

1740: 324.6 AR Prime. UNID Aircraft talking to unheard aircraft coordinatiing the AR. IP @ 2158z
1742: 296.9 UNID Aircraft using as Interplane. Weak. Hard to put a finger on user.
1745: PAX just went into Condition THUNDER ONE. Means Thunderstorms sighted within 10 Mile Radius of PAX. No Refueling or Rearming operations allowed now.
1829: 256.8 MAPLE 30 up with CTR
1927: 118.125 GK - Have 1 of the DEE CEE birds up advising they are gearing up to AR with a WILD and SCARY flight.
1938: 139.9 One of the DC ANG guard talking about RTBing to ADW and declaring an IFE. Referencing HYD Pressures
1948: SCARY still discussing problem. He is all over most of the DC SOF, OPS and ADW CP freqs. There is also a WILD flight up coordinating an AR with GK and the tanker

 

[n3bxv]

I sure haven't Ben but I'm weak when it comes to knowledge of helo ops. I don't pay much attention to them but probably should. It seems strange to me though that the National Guard is acting in a police function. I thought the Posse Comitatus Act prevented that from happening. <break while I look it up> This seems to cover it...

The Posse Comitatus Act is a United States federal law (18 U.S.C. § 1385) passed on 1878-06-18 after the end of Reconstruction. The Act was intended to prohibit Federal troops from supervising elections in former Confederate states. It generally prohibits Federal military personnel and units of the United States National Guard under Federal authority from acting in a law enforcement capacity within the United States, except where expressly authorized by the Constitution or Congress. The Posse Comitatus Act and the Insurrection Act substantially limit the powers of the Federal government to use the military for law enforcement.
[Grabbed from Wikipedia]

Key words here are "under Federal authority" - The National Guard remains under State control until Federalized, Activated, or Mobilized by DoD. So the Guard operating under State authority can support and/or conduct law enforcement missions. As soon as they are Federalized, they can't. This is the reason Guardsmen sign two contracts, one State, and one federal to enlist.

Back to lurking...