A 'Flock of Eagles' descends upon Moody

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Parker Gyokeres
  • 23rd Wing Public Affairs
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, GA. (ACCNS) --  Team Moody handled an unusual situation July 1 when 22 fighter aircraft from two Air Force bases in Florida landed here due to severe weather over their home stations.

While Moody's airfield is a pre-arranged alternate or "divert" location for many local bases, the arrival of the eight F-15 Eagles from Tyndall AFB and 14 F-15s from Eglin AFB came as a complete surprise to transient alert technicians, said Thomas Clark, Defense Contract Services Incorporated.

"Inbound transient aircraft normally provide at least 24 hours notice," said Mr. Clark, transient alert program manager. "This time, we found out about the first four jets after they had already landed."

Despite the no-notice arrival, everything went smoothly, he said.

"The communication we had with the tower was exceptional," Mr. Clark added. "We realized right away jets couldn't just taxi up as they arrived; it would be chaos. I called the tower and they kept the arriving planes stacked up on the taxiway in order to clear aircraft into parking locations only two at a time."

There were so many aircraft on the transient ramp, the 41st Rescue Squadron was asked to give up two of their parking locations for incoming F-15s. This created another small problem, said Mr. Clark.

"Those last two parking spots were inside a restricted area," he said. "We had to quickly coordinate with base operations and security forces to allow us to 'break red' and drive over its borders to park and service the aircraft."

There were only three people on duty to direct and park two squadrons worth of aircraft, to say nothing of inspecting and fueling them for the trip home. The task could easily have become overwhelming, said Mr. Clark. With this in mind, the unit called in their reserves.

"I called in everyone I had, including a person that was on vacation," he said. "There ended up being six of us on the line. There is no way we could have pulled it off without the professionalism, dedication and skill of these guys."

Multiple other agencies also stepped up to assist in the effort, said Lee Walters, 347th Operations Support Squadron deputy airfield manager.

"We had representatives from the logistics readiness squadron fuels delivery flight ensuring refueling trucks were on the right locations as we needed them," said Mr. Walters. "The 347th OSS Airfield Management Flight coordinated with wing safety and the 23rd Security Forces Squadron to protect the people and assets. The (vehicle management flight) also stepped up to move pilots. From start to finish, it was a team effort.

"Moody was able to recover 22 F-15s in 53 minutes with no notice, refuel them with 42,000 gallons of jet fuel, provide transportation to the aircrews, and launch 20 of the 22 F-15s within a two-and-a-half hour window," he added. "I have been working at airfield management for 12 years. During that time, this is the most weather-diverted aircraft Moody has received and turned in such a short amount of time. This speaks volumes about the training and mission readiness of Team Moody."

This professionalism and skill also impressed the visiting aircrew, said Lt. Col. Matthew Isler, commander of Eglin's 58th Fighter Squadron.

"This was definitely the largest unplanned deployment of F-15s that I've seen in 16 years flying -- it represents two squadrons' worth of flying aircraft," said Colonel Isler. "Turning 22 F-15s in less than three hours is an incredible accomplishment for a normal 350-Airmen aircraft maintenance unit, but seeing a six-man team complete the same mission was inspiring. Those six guys, along with the airfield management staff, fuel shop and air traffic control all worked together to get us back to our home station before sunset."