KEFLAVIK AIR BASE, Iceland -- Moving more than 250 personnel, 14 F-15C/D Eagles and tons of equipment to an air base over 1,000 miles away is no easy task.
The 493rd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron is now in its second week of securing Iceland’s sovereign skies during the NATO Icelandic Air Surveillance mission, but becoming fully mission capable involved performing some logistical gymnastics.
Once an air station home to U.S. Airmen, the permanent military presence at Keflavik ended in 2006, but the basic infrastructure needed to patrol the skies remains.
“The infrastructure is already here, however it’s a very bare bones base,” said a 493rd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron pilot and the IAS operations project officer. “We had to bring in all of our own equipment. It was a bit of a logistics challenge trying to airlift everything out here to get spun up quickly.”
Hardened aircraft shelters, maintenance buildings and operations facilities are all still intact from the base’s operational days, but extensive communications requirements warranted bringing in expert Airmen to ensure the essentials were up to standard.
Deployed from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, men and women from the 1st Combat Communications Squadron arrived a week prior to the main body of personnel to set up dedicated communication systems.
“As a rule across our unit, we try to make the [infrastructure] better everywhere that we go and every chance that we get,” said a 1st CCS radio frequency transmission systems craftsman and IAS communication team lead. “The technical difficulties are a great learning experience for us and are helping us better our equipment and training.”
Making the IAS a total force mission, an Air Force Reserve member from Robins Air Force Base, Georgia is lending his expertise to the IAS by supplementing the 1st CCS.
“I’m here under the European Deterrence Initiative,” said a staff sergeant assigned to the 55th Combat Communications Squadron. “We are augmenting units during upcoming USAFE missions. Everyone has their role to play, and I’m just happy to be a part of it.”
Possibly the most integrated location on base, the Control and Reporting Center houses U.S. Airmen from the 606th Air Control Squadron from Aviano Air Base, Italy, personnel from the Estonian military and Icelandic Coast Guard members to watch the skies, dispatch an F-15 scramble should the need arise and aid the pilots with potential interceptions once they are in the air.
With new personnel arriving for each IAS mission rotation and the difference in the U.S. and NATO CRC systems and procedures, arriving Airmen need to be proficiently trained on the contrasts in protocol. The Icelanders and Estonians integrate with the U.S. Airmen to help them navigate the variances in the systems and make sure they can effectively execute the mission.
“It’s nice to work with U.S. Air Force and Icelandic Coast Guard,” said an Estonian lieutenant who normally serves as the weapons section chief at Ämari Air Base, Estonia. “Our presence is needed because we are very familiar with the NATO air policing procedures. [So far] the operation has been really successful because we have good contacts with pilots and other units. It has been really smooth.”
Rounding out the mission, the 100th Security Force Squadron deployed from Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England, to ensure the 24-7 security of the 14 F-15s on the flightline.
With all of these personnel in place, getting them housed and fed is a daunting task, but the ICG has provided the Airmen with dorms and opened up their officers club for dinning.
“The Iceland Coast Guard has been great,” said a crew chief assigned to the748th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. “They have been there for everything we’ve needed.”
Since Keflavik is also a busy civilian airport, the ICG has also been tirelessly deconflicting operations with running the IAS mission on the airfield and has also ensured the flying operations are in line with Iceland’s rules and regulations.
This marks the U.S. Air Force’s 11th time providing airborne surveillance and interception capabilities since 2008; continuing U.S. commitment to help maintain Iceland’s peacetime preparedness needs through the NATO IAS mission.