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New wing boss faces challenges
The new commander of the 366th Fighter Wing, Col. Blair Hansen, has a lot on his plate.
In October, his wing faces an Operational Readiness Inspection, an intense, detailed evaluation of the wing's standards and capabilities.
He has a major airshow to put together in September. And the odds are good that between then and now, he will lead his wing into battle.
"We have to keep the knife sharp," he told the Mountain Home News in his first major interview since taking over the wing last month.
Already the wing is bleeding small groups of troops to the impending war with Iraq. Elements of his medical group, security forces and communications squadron have been deployed. A significant, but classified, number of the 390th Fighter Squadron's F-15C Eagle air superiority fighters have deployed to the east coast for training and participation in homeland defense activities.
His planning staff is keeping the files on a number of possible deployments up to date -- plans for moves to areas as diverse as the Iraqi war zone, Korea, or Afghanistan. The challenges he faces are many.
"In the near term, there is our readiness to conduct the missions of this wing in combat operations on foreign soil -- or even domestic protection.
"That is job one, and my immediate concern. Of course, when I walked in here from day one the readiness (of the wing) was extremely high. That involves not only combat operations, but getting out of town quickly, what this wing is so famous for. I sleep well."
The ORI in October will be a severe test of his troops -- perhaps even more so than going to war.
"It's hard work, and demanding," preparing for the ORI, but, he said, the wing will be taking it in phased steps. "We're taking a deliberate approach so that our people can plan around it, so we can provide them and their families with some stability."
The first step actually began last weekend when the wing practiced deploying with a full-scale Operational Readiness Exercise. In future weeks, it will carry that work forward and exercise as if its forces were deployed.
In the short term, then, the base will be very busy over the next few months, with or without a wartime deployment.
His long-term focus, he said, is to complete the transition of the wing from a composite force to a pure figher wing, a transition that officially began last October. The wing no longer contains the heavy B-1 bombers and the tankers that marked it as a composite force.
"My long-term challenge is to create a vision of the 366th Fighter Wing that centers on the unique capabilities of this wing," which he said includes "a fantastic airfield" with its new runway, ramps and associated infrastructure, the lack of encroachment near the base, good weather, and a training range and airspace "like no other in world, except for multi-service training centers."
Hansen can wax eloquently on the training capabilities his forces enjoy. "We've got a synergy that takes the Red Flag concept (of realistic training) and makes it available every day, and then we can branch out from that capability and adapt and create new tactics and procedures."
Operation Enduring Freedom, he noted, resulted in the development of a large number of new tactics as the Air Force adapted to its vastly improved command, control and communications capabilities. The 366th Fighter Wing, he noted, is specifically configured to help expand and improve on those new tactical capabilities.
"There is a need for speed, and I'm not talking about flying, I'm talking about the ability to make decisions," to identify a tactical need on the ground and respond to it literally in a matter of minutes.
"We've evolved a horizontal integration of people and platforms to pass information along in real time. It's a revolutionary concept," and the abilities of his forces and the rest of the Air Force are a quantum level better than they were ten years ago in Desert Storm.
"One of the things that has really changed," he said, since his earlier tours at Mountain Home AFB during the mid to late 1980s, "is the experience of the forces. Then, it was rare to find anyone with any combat experience. Today, except for the relatively new people, we are loaded with people who have seen combat, been deployed into combat theaters. We have a disciplined, seasoned combat force, and because of that, a more potent force."
But some things haven't changed, especially at Mountain Home AFB, in the nearly 14 years since he was last stationed here. "The most striking thing is the same sense of community that I sensed before. Frankly, it hasn't changed."
Hansen was first assigned here in 1981, spending six months in training on the F-111s that were stationed here then. "I fell in love with the place," he said.
Then, in 1985, and through 1989, he was reassigned here as a member of the 391st Fighter Squadron. Although the town has grown, he was glad to see many of the old friends and faces he had known before still here.
"I've had my old friends just come out of the woodwork" to help welcome his family here. "I tell you, it's more than just boiler plate. The warmth of this community to this base here is just amazing."
Returning here also gave him a chance to get reunited with his horses. An avid horseman who keeps a beautifully hand-tooled Idaho-made saddle in the corner of his office, several years ago he had dropped his horses off with some friends in Idaho. Now, the man who enjoys hunting and fishing and riding his horses in the hills will, in what little free time he has, be able to enjoy the vistas of Idaho once again.
"It's nice to be back," he said.