Prepared for action, Diego Garcia
is suddenly in the spotlight
By Rick Chernitzer,
Stars and Stripes
On the first day of airstrikes over Afghanistan, personnel at Diego
Garcia stood by the runway as the first planes rolled.
People waved American flags and cheered on the flight crews.
Diego Garcia, a tiny island in the Indian Ocean, has been ready for
action for nearly 25 years.
Before the Sept. 11 attacks, the base served as a “shell”
for a build-up of military might on the island, said Capt. Michael Lucarelli, commanding
officer of the island’s U.S. Naval Support Facility.
The time for action has come.
“The transition, we believe, went pretty smooth from the shell
to the organization that we have,” he said during a telephone interview last week
from his office on the 32-mile-long island.
The command was established in 1977, and it’s responsible for
maintaining and operating facilities that support ships operating in the Indian Ocean and
shore commands on the island.
Diego Garcia is a fully functioning base, Lucarelli said, and can
sustain prolonged operations.
“We have the full range of base functions, from power generation
to water plants, to fuel depot [and] runway,” Lucarelli said. “The whole span,
the whole spectrum of a base that has an airfield and a harbor.”
The 28th Air Expeditionary Wing, which is carrying airstrikes from
the island, comprises 52 units from across the Air Force. The wing began arriving on the
island around Sept. 24.
The vice commander of the 28th, who asked to not be named, said he
believed the island was chosen for operations not just because of the existing
infrastructure, but also “from a security standpoint, from an access standpoint [and
from] our ability to resupply [operations on island],” he said.
“We’ve been here before, we’re familiar with the place
and we have great infrastructure here. And, of course, we have bombers here, and bombers
have long legs so this is an ideal location for us.
“We hit the ground running, and within a few days we were able
to stand up a complete wing and start combat operations,” the vice commander said.
Pacific Air Forces has a detachment that maintains the supplies,
equipment and fuel for up to 2,000 personnel, 32 bombers and KC-135 aircraft, according to
the island’s Web site. The vice commander said the detachment’s job is to
“keep the place warm.”
“When we showed up here, everything was working. We didn’t
have to spend a lot of time [getting operations set up] … to make sure everything was
ready for us.”
The island is United Kingdom territory, and a detachment of the Royal
British Navy handles civil functions such as customs, immigration and judicial services.
The members of Naval Party 1002, as the detachment is known, also are responsible for law
and order on the island.
The British representative, Royal Navy Cmdr. Adam Peters, is the
party’s commanding officer. He also is the local magistrate and judge for legal
matters under British law.
“I provide absolutely everything that you would find in a normal
community, as well as that, of course, of a serving naval officer and I’m the Royal
Navy liaison officer, so I [deal with military issues] between the U.K. and the U.S.
forces here,” Peters said.
“From my point of view, I’ve integrated a lot of my people
firmly with the American forces on the island to provide added island security.”
Peters said he could not release specific numbers for British forces
on the island, nor information on how they augment U.S. security.
While the bombing campaign is viewed primarily as an Air Force
mission, the Navy plays a big part in airstrike operations, according to Lt. Cmdr. Jeffrey
Rad, the support facility’s operations officer.
He said the Navy has been providing refueling support, handling
aircraft and controlling air traffic.
“It’s been extremely busy,” he said. “And
it’s also been fun and exciting, extremely challenging to have the opportunity to
work with the Air Force, our brothers-in-arms, and all the other contingents on island.
And to have the opportunity to assist with the elimination of the terrorist menace.”
Grant |
Petty Officer 2nd Class Victor Grant, an air traffic controller, said
the pace has increased dramatically since the airstrikes began. Prior to Diego Garcia,
Grant was stationed at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., which handles many more flights
a day than Diego Garcia typically does.
Flight tempo here “actually picked up to the level almost of
Pensacola,” he said.
Grant said his contribution to Enduring Freedom has put him in
control of Air Force aircraft, a different experience.
“I guess you can say I’m directly tied in what’s going
on here, being an air traffic controller,” he said. The Air Force’s rules
“are a little bit different, but we compensate for that and get along very
well.”
Munchus |
Another sailor, Petty Officer 1st Class Jacki Munchus, said she
believes everyone on Diego Garcia sees themselves as making a difference in the air
missions.
“A lot of us are working more hours … because of the Air
Force being here and the increased mission,” said Munchus, a quality assurance
evaluator. “Now that we’re actually doing it, it’s a feeling of
completeness and of accomplishment that we’re actually getting to do more than just
wait.”
“People have been in good spirits; morale seems to be very
high,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Bobby Campbell, a production control supervisor
for the facility’s aircraft intermediate maintenance department. “I’m very
happy that I’m able to support our role that we’re doing here on the
island.”
The vice commander for the 28th said that since the day everyone
stood near the tarmac to cheer on the first wave of bombers, life has started to become a
bit commonplace, although extremely hectic.
Campbell |
“The first day there was a lot of anticipation, but we’re
into a rhythm now. We know what we have and what we have to do. The planes come back.
It’s routine. They’re met, we take care of their weapons, we debrief the crews
and we get right into rest, to turn them around again, both the airplanes and the crews.
“I see us continuing,” the vice commander continued.
“I don’t see any reason for us to stop … until the president tells us our
mission is accomplished. We plan to be here for a while.”
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