The Daily Astorian
Friday, September 28, 2001
“We’re trying to defeat evil”
By BEN GILBERT
The Daily Astorian
Oregon Air National Guard members are trained and ready to fight terrorism.
Their mission is unspecified, but reservists whose lives changed with their call-up this month have been told it could last two years. But most say in all the upheaval of activation, one thing hasn't changed. They've always been ready to go.
One told her questioning child: "We're trying to defeat evil." One week you’re a traffic engineer, living in the city with your husband and two kids, spending one weekend a month doing drills at the coast to pay off some college loans and serve the public good. The next, you're told to wait by the phone for a call that's surely coming.
That was the case with Tech. Sgt. Laura Wilson of the 116th Air Control Squadron at the Rilea Armed Forces Training Center, who works on traffic signals for the Oregon Department of Transportation in Salem.
A radio maintenance team chief for the squadron, Wilson was selected as the Oregon Air National Guard's Airman of the year last year. She enlisted in 1987, but has never been gone for more than three weeks. This deployment could last as long as two years.
"My husband's going to end up with a lot more than he bargained for," she said, referring to children's sports and ballet lessons. After many long talks, her 8-year-old son is starting to understand. "I told him it was like Batman and the Joker. We're trying to defeat evil."
Last week's mobilization, when all 127 members of the squadron were called up, was the first time the 116th has been fully activated for federal service. The squadron granted interviews Thursday among tight security, though even the commanding officers don't know yet where they'll be going..
For now, they're in a holding pattern, focusing on homeland defense.
Staff Sgt. Buddy Casper, a construction contractor, single parent and volunteer athletic coach from Pacific County, Wash., said while his son will stay with family, he took his dad's departure pretty hard. "He needs to feel the same thing that I do, that sense of freedom that I do."
There seems to be a consensus that even with the unorthodox nature of this conflict, this unit is confident and ready to go.
"We're the type of unit that likes to get out and get the job done," said Master Sgt. Bob Clevenger, a Portland police officer. "Everybody here is pretty gung-ho."
Members say the unit is made for worldwide deployment, and some suspect they won't be stationary long. The entire gamut of equipment can be broken down and loaded into just a few cargo planes.
"Where to, I don't know. But I'm ready to go there," Casper said. The squadron members haven't settled into a regular routine and their shifts and activities change daily.
"There seems to be a sense we could tear down and go within hours," he said.
The squadron's main function is to control air traffic - to be the eyes on the ground for fighter pilots within a 250-mile radius. Theoretically, they would be set up somewhat back from the front lines and tell U.S. pilots where friendly and enemy planes are lurking and what they're doing, and control packages of airplanes as they deploy, flying in close quarters.
As advancements in Air Force technology have outpaced the supporting units' ability to keep abreast, the Kosovo conflict showed how important auxiliary air control squadrons like the 116th are in giving commanders a complete picture of the theater, Brig. Gen. James Cunningham of the Oregon Air National Guard said. There are more air control squadrons in the Air National Guard than there are in the Air Force.
U.S. Rep. David Wu, D-Ore., toured the base later in the day after a visit with Astoria High School students, and told airmen that legislation recently passed to help active duty guard members with rent and mortgage payments.
"A lot of these people are taking a big cut in pay to serve their country," said Lt. Col. Joel Pannebaker. "It's good to know someone is looking out for them."