The War on Terrorism from the Air Force Perspective: Operations Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Noble Eagle (Homeland Security)

Real Audio of Briefing

     GEN. JUMPER: Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here today to talk to you all. I want to lead off by expressing my sincere thanks to those NATO allies, some 13 of them, who are participating in the deployment of the NATO AWACS from NATO countries into the United States to help us in our air patrols over U.S. air space.

     We have five NATO AWACS aircraft. More than 200 members of the squadrons from some 13 nations have come to the United States to Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, and to date they've flown more than 200 sorties and over 2200 hours over the skies of the United States to help us in this effort.

     It relieves a great pressure we have on our AWACS aircraft, our airborne warning and control aircraft, deployed worldwide to answer numerous commitments. And the United States Air Force and the people of the United States are grateful for this commitment, which came as a result of NATO's Article V declaration.

     I think about two days after we began bombing in Afghanistan, the deployment was on its way over here and we were able to relieve great stress on the aircraft flying patrols in various places over the United States. And it joins an effort -- this AWACS effort is part of a larger effort with -- about 250 airplanes take part every day in these air patrols. Some of these air patrols are 24-hour-a-day patrols.

     Some 11,000 people and 250 aircraft from around the United States participate in this effort. So the part that the NATO AWACS plays has certainly been crucial, and we appreciate that very much.

     The war in Afghanistan, you've heard almost nothing else on the news. There's not much I can add to that. But the United States Air Force's participation in this, of course, has been as part of a coalition. All in all, various contributions from over 80 nations, in one way or the other, have gone into this effort. And our participation as the United States Air Force, along with the other services of the U.S. military and our coalition partners, has been only one piece of the effort.

     We've seen unprecedented use of the unmanned air vehicle in this conflict, the unmanned air vehicle we call the Predator, which has on it sensors that are able to work both day and night. It has enabled us to take long looks at enemy activity and be able to deal with that accordingly. These long looks permit us to study enemy activity over a period of time in ways that we have not been able to do before.

     And we've also been able to use the Predator essentially in the role of forward air control, where the Predator uses its laser designation to guide bombs from fighter aircraft as well as to communicate with bombers high in the sky to provide exact target locations for GPS-guided weapons.

     I think that we've seen the Predator UAV come into its own in this war, and we will see more emphasis on unmanned air vehicles in the future; not only the Predator UAV, but the Global Hawk, which is a high-flying UAV, has participated in this effort.

     And this has been a unique blend of types of war throughout the whole scope of war, where we have had our special operations forces on the ground essentially traveling around by horse, and you have the case of the person on the horse with a laptop computer sitting on the saddle horn hooked up to a satellite that's giving that person its precise location, going into position and using then laser devices to guide weapons from the ground.

     So you have the whole spectrum of conflict here from the horse. And I have every expectation that my friend, General Shinseki, will come and ask for a revision of the cavalry capability of the past in the U.S. Army just for this reason. But it's high tech and low tech and an interesting combination. And I think one of the lessons we have learned, that the more primitive methods the enemy uses requires us to use some of the most sophisticated technology we have to locate them. And that's been a consistent lesson throughout this war.

     Another lesson that we have capitalized on from our recent experience in contingency operations around the world is the importance of command and control to make sure that every bomb we drop, every weapon we release, is done with appropriate regard for the potential for collateral damage in our interest not to hurt anything that is not military. We're never perfect in that regard, but I think we have demonstrated our competence to do a good job of considering collateral damage and the safety of the non-combatants.

     So there's much to be proud of. We are absolutely grateful and delighted for the participation of our NATO allies as they help us fly defensive caps over the United States and the performance of the coalition as we have tracked down and neutralized the influence of the Taliban and al Qaeda inside of Afghanistan.

     And with that, I'll be glad to open up and take a few questions.

     Q (Inaudible) -- Press Trust of India. Warfare itself seems to have revolutionized in Afghanistan. And one thing that surprised me, when I read the Washington Post article, was that Predators are also used by the CIA. I was wondering, what role does intelligence service have in coordinating with the Air Force operations? And also, another question I have is we were reading about the future space plane. Is it a dream or is it nearing a reality?

     GEN. JUMPER: Right. With regard to the use of the Predator, it's not appropriate for me to talk about the many ways we're using the Predator, so I can't go into any detail there. But it is extensively used over there and it's been very, very functional and profitable for us to take advantage of the full capability of the Predator UAV.

     As far as the space plane goes, there are several programs ongoing to explore the use of space for future types of delivery systems and methods. Certainly one of those is to explore -- and we've had a program ongoing -- actually, the National Aeronautics & Space Administration has had a program going for years to explore a space plane that can go up in orbit and then come down and perform missions.

     This is a strictly research project and it's an extension of many of our old test programs from the past. But, yes, we're very active and interested in this. It is not something that's going to happen in the next year or two, but it's something that we will continue to work on and develop.

     Q Despite assurances by the administration recently, could you maybe elaborate on any concerns that you have about the air bases in Saudi Arabia?

     GEN. JUMPER: Right. I just got back from a trip over to Southwest Asia, and to include Saudi Arabia, and visited my many friends there. I have been assured, as has, I think, everybody in the administration who's been involved in this issue, that the Saudis support us fully, and there's no intention for them to ask us to leave.

     We do have a long-standing relationship with them. They have been very supportive over the years.

     And there's nothing in their declaratory policy or their behavior toward me, certainly, when I was there that would lead me to believe otherwise. So I think the relationship, at least for the time being, continues as it is as we try to be as good a guest as we possibly can in their country.

     Q (Inaudible) -- Italian News Agency ANSA. Two questions; first on the Predator. Do you consider acceptable the number of Predators that were lost in this campaign? Second, on the national defense in the American skies, the Pentagon is now expected to announce a reduction of the 24-hour missions. If that happens, there will be a reduction in the AWACS operations in the American skies?

     GEN. JUMPER: On the first issue of the Predator, we have lost some Predators in this operation. Most of those losses are explainable, but the ones that are due to pilot error we are not happy with. The Predator came into service with us -- it was first given to us in 1994. It was really in 1995 and 1996 that we started to deploy it and use it. It has remained an experimental system up until the last couple of years, and we have really only had the operational version of the Predator, which we fly today, for about a year and a half.

     So this is not a mature system, and we are still learning to operate it. And there have been some pilot-error accidents caused by mistakes that should have been avoided that have caused us the loss of Predators that we do regret. We're working very hard to correct those through proper training and revision of procedures, and we plan to do that.

     On the second part of your question, there is under consideration a modification to the way that we will provide the air patrols over the United States that would include a different and a reduced demand on all of the assets. That's under consideration right now between North American Air Defense Command, the Joint Staff and the secretary of Defense. And I won't presume how that might come out. But you are correct; there is a modification that is being considered.

     Q Yes, thank you. My name is Ben Bengura (sp). I would like to know what you foresee as problem (as risk?) for the operation, for the security, air patrol you're going to be doing on American skies.

     GEN. JUMPER: Well, we put the airplanes up there right after the 11th -- I mean, starting on the 11th of September -- obviously, to prevent the same thing that happened when the terrorists attacked the World Trade Center. And our intent, of course, is to be able to identify all aircraft that are in the skies over the United States. And every day, we have flown intercepts against airplanes that show up on the radar that are not otherwise identified.

     Most of these -- as a matter of fact, all of them to date have turned out to be usually small, light aircraft, privately owned, that have made a mistake in a flight plan or have not identified themselves properly. And when asked to land, they land immediately and the issue is straightened out right away.

     Obviously we pay close attention to each one of these, and that's why we've continued these patrols. And they will continue. We will continue to have to pay attention to this sort of problem now for some time to come until we fully restructure and rethink the issue of how aircraft file flight plans and how, if any, modifications might be required to the air space.

     Yes.

     Q I was wondering how much money this operation cost you -- (inaudible).

     GEN. JUMPER: Actually, it doesn't cost us any more money because the money is already in the budget for these airplanes to fly to do training. So now they're flying for another reason, so there's no increase in the budget that is directed specifically at the patrols.

     If we calculate that more money will be used -- and we believe that the money we are allocated to fly the AWACS will increase -- we will address that separately as a supplemental budget that will have to be addressed. But I can't give you a figure right now. But right now we're using training money to finance those patrols.

     Q (Inaudible.) This is regarding the air bases in Turkey. Now that President Bush has identified Iraq as a nation of evil, are there concerns about any kind of, I don't know, retaliatory effort? Is there a heightened sense of alert regarding -- in that area?

     GEN. JUMPER: My opinion on that is that nobody is anxious to be in the business of attacking America right now. It is not a growth industry. And I think that we have heard very little from Saddam Hussein, and I think that it's no surprise to anyone that Iraq is one of those countries that has both the will and the capability to do harm to not only its neighbors but to the United States. So none of that comes as a surprise. But, no, I don't expect that there would be any effort to lash out at Americans -- (inaudible) -- as a result of Iraq's being identified as what we already know it to be.

     Q (Inaudible.)

     GEN. JUMPER: Yes, sir.

     Q At this very moment, are you using the Predator on other countries than Afghanistan?

     GEN. JUMPER: We have predators deployed in the Gulf area, and we're using it as part of our force structure there. And other than that, we're prepared to use it anywhere it needs to be used. But mainly right now, we're using it in south -- in the Gulf area and in Afghanistan.

     Q Let me be more specific. Are you using the Predator on Somalia?

     GEN. JUMPER: I'm not prepared to talk about -- in anything we might have either in planning or in operations with regard to other countries. But we use the Predator where we need it.

     MODERATOR: Not every day you get a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff here. (Laughter.)

     Okay, General. Well, thank you very much for coming here.

     GEN. JUMPER: My pleasure. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you all. 

 

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