552nd Air Control Wing
Tinker Air Force Base, OK
Colonel Langdon looked over the still-smoking ramps of Tinker Air Force base with disgust. From where he stood in the hastily repaired control tower, he could see his entire command, twenty-six E-3 Sentry aircraft sitting in various states of destruction. Several of them had burned to the ground including the two ready birds which had been fully fueled. Some of them looked fine from a distance, but all of them had major shrapnel damage and not one of them was air worthy. Not one. Of the two currently deployed in Europe, one was down for maintenance and the other was still being prepped for flight back to the USA. That left them with a grand total of one AWACS aircraft for all of North America and that bird was fully committed to the fight in Alaska.
“Sir, you asked to see me?”
Langdon turned to see the commanding officer of the 964th squadron, Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Amee enter the tower. Most of the crews had survived the attack, which was great news, but they had no aircraft to fly, which was not.
“Do you know General Wilkes?”
“No, sir.”
“He saved my ass in the SCS war. His boss bought it when Northern Command took a direct hit. He’s running Northern Command now.” Langdon smacked his fist into his palm. “It’s killing me that we are completely down. They need us up there.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Amee, I just got off the phone with the Boeing tech rep; they say that Renton wasn’t hit in the attack and that they have an E-7 sitting on the ramp.”
“Sir! My flight was the lead assessment team before the E-7 program was canceled!”
“Yes, Amee, I know that. This isn’t a social call.”
“Of course, sir.”
He pointed to the C-37 sitting on the ramp. “Get your ass on that transport. I need that bird in the air yesterday.”
“Yes, sir!” Aimee literally ran out of the tower.
964th Airborne Air Control Squadron
Renton, WA
Amee wasn’t used to flying on a fancy VIP transport like the C-37. Basically a Gulfstream business jet, it was the type of aircraft that senior generals and the Secretary of Defense used when travelling. Normally, when an aircrew needed to go somewhere, they flew commercial or grabbed a ride on a normal cargo plane like a C-17. Looking out the window, she could see the sprawling Boeing facility where civilian 737s were built alongside military variants like the E-7.
The E-7 Wedgetail was a strange story. Originally developed to support a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) requirement, it had never been intended for US service. However, with the success of the RAAF program, the USAF had decided to replace all their E-3 Sentries with Wedgetails. After the program had gone all the way to producing the first operational aircraft, the purchase was abruptly cancelled with very little explanation and no official plan for replacing the truly ancient E-3 fleet. This abrupt cancellation had left Boeing with a fully operational E-7 but no customer for it. Last Amee had heard, Boeing had been using the plane originally destined for the USAF as a test bed.
As Lieutenant Colonel Amee and her crew exited the VIP transport onto the tarmac at Renton, they could immediately see the E-7, sitting on the ramp. While it was basically a 737, the massive wedge-shaped antenna on the roof made it easy to pick out. The plane was still painted in USAF colors, which was interesting since the plane was owned by Boeing as far as Amee knew. There was a portable staircase pulled up to the plane and people everywhere. Walking up to the staircase, Amee stopped and looked back to her crew which had followed her off the plane. They all looked as confused as she felt.
She randomly grabbed a technician who hurried down the staircase with a toolbox in their hand. “Who’s in charge here?”
“Samuels, inside.”
As Amee started up the stairs, she noticed a large pod attached to the left wing. “What the hell is that?” Unlike the P-8, the E-7 version of the 737 wasn’t designed to carry weapons and wasn’t supposed to have hard points. That pod must be part of the testing Boeing had been doing. Inside the aircraft was even more chaotic than outside. At least a dozen technicians were working, and half the interior panels had been removed. Exposed wiring was everywhere. A large black man with grey hair was sitting at the command station in the back, bellowing at the top of his lungs. “Goddammit! Get that panel closed up! This bird is leaving!”
Amee walked over and stuck out her hand. “I assume you’re Samuels, Amee.”
He returned her handshake firmly and nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Welcome to your new ride. We’ll get her buttoned up shortly.” He pointed over his shoulder to an older Asian woman sitting quietly at one of the operator stations. “Meet your new crewmember.”
The woman stood up and offered a hand. Her grey hair was neatly tucked up in a bun and she had manicured nails. Amee noticed them in passing, regretting that she had missed her bi-weekly session at the nail salon, her one “girly” treat she allowed herself. “Qu Han, Principal Consulting Engineer, Northrup. Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
“Nice to meet you Ms. Han, but there seems to be some mistake, I brought my own crew.”
“No mistake, I’m the field tech rep for the Smart Node Pod.” She gestured vaguely towards the wing.
“Is that the pod on the wing?” Amee had heard about the podded BACN nodes but had never seen one. The Smart Node Pod effectively turned the E-7 into a full-blown communications gateway for pretty much anything in the US inventory. Exactly what was needed so urgently on the West Coast right now.
“Yes, ma’am. It’s supposed to be operated from the ground, but the integration with the E-7 isn’t fielded yet, so I need to operate it from here.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t take a civilian into combat.”
Han patted Amee’s hand. “You’re sweet, Colonel, but I did my twenty in the back of a Compass Call. Two tours in Iraq, one in Afghanistan. I’m a two-alfa-nine.” 2A9 was the job code or AFSC for the enlisted electronic warfare specialists in the Air Force.
“I assume that this has already been cleared?”
“Oh, yes, I can assure you that General Wilkes and crew will be thrilled. I understand he called my boss’s boss personally to get me out here.”
“And why is that?”
“Because, sweetie, we are about to win this goddamn war.”
2 E-7 Wedgetail is currently being used in the Iran war. When did you write the background for this chapter? Other than that, the Smart Node Pod effectively turned the E-7 into a full-blown communications gateway for pretty much anything in the US inventory. is new info
My understanding is that the E-7 currently deployed to the gulf is an RAAF aircraft. Are you aware of a deployed USAF aircraft? Do you have a link for me?