Over the 4th of July weekend there were three evenings in a row where we
had CAP flights over Florida. Gotta keep MickyMouse safe, no joke as
that's primary rason for CAP Flights here. Added was the Daytona Pepsi
400 NASCAR race and during the race the CAP flights extended their
pattern inorder to have a birds eye view of the race from about 23,000'.
I don't know what's happening on the West coast. However in the past I
have received reports of CAP freqs for Westcoast areas. They can be
found he
http://www.milaircomms.com/uhf_cap.html
As far as using AWACS that is a question I don't know the answer to.
However my first thought would be that it would be ATC (Air Traffic
Control) would see the first hint of trouble. ATC then would aleart
NORAD. CAP flights are in direct radio comms with NORAD, here in the
Southeast NORAD's callsign is OAKGROVE. NORAD would then either scrable
jets or inform CAP mission jets already airborn to intercept the problem
aircraft.
This is what happened on 9/11 and would have worked only if we already
had jets in the air. The problem was the US left down it guard and all
our jets (which were armed) sitting on the ground. Kinda like getting
caught with our pants down....
Some people say that CAP flights are a not needed, ware out pilots and
equipment, and waste money. However I ask this question, isn't the job
of the US military to product and defend the United States? Which
would you rather have, Jets in the air as a first line of defense or
John Asscroft putting more restrictions on US Citizens.
Ok, off my soap box,
George
http://www.MilAirComms.com
Ashcroft Keywords: bomb, pipe bomb, OBL, water plant, electric plant,
white house, training camp, personal freedom - ops scratch that one!
Burr wrote:
Are we flying a cap over America at this time?
If we are flying it on the west coast do you have the fregs?
Are we flying AWACS and scrambling when needed?
Burr