This story was written by Capt. Dale Brown, 715th BMS, in May 1986 and is published with his permission.

What is the mission at Pease? Well, we fly planes around here, that's for sure. The supersonic FB-111A swing-wing bombers with no nickname (unofficially called the 'Aardvark') and the KC-135 'Stratotanker'. They fly early-morning sorties which provide the Seacoast area a free wake-up call at 6:45 a.m., and they remind us that 'Dynasty' is on when they rattle the windows again at nine o'clock at night. But what are they doing? Why are they flying?

Well, the tankers do aerial refueling. The almost unbelievable task of pumping thousands of gallons of volatile jet fuel between two aircraft which are separated by a mere 15 feet and traveling hundreds of miles per hour. The bombers fly low-level bombing and navigation runs, flying at treetop level at 500 mph or more, guided by a thin radar beam. So that's it, then! Refueling and bombing. That's the 509th Bombardment Wing's mission, right?

The wing's primary mission is deterrence. Well, what's that? The 1960 U.S.Air Force Dictionary didn't even have the word in it! The term means: 'Measures taken by a state or an alliance of states to prevent hostile actions by another state.' Our mission, then, is to maintain a strong and credible force of manned bombers and tankers to demonstrate to our foes (and friends) that an attack will never surprise us and that, should deterrence fail, we would retaliate with all of our available military power and skill. The entire reason for our existence, our primary mission of deterrence, sits on the south end of Pease's 2 mile-long runway. the planes are fully loaded, fully fueled, configured to start at a moment's notice and take-off within seconds. But they never fly. Thankfully, they never fly. They are the alert force, the men and women locked in the half-underground alert facility (also known as the 'bunker', 'mole-hole', 'the pad' and a lot of unprintable names). Let's take a look at this critical but often forgotten part of our country's deterrent force by putting you on alert for a week!

On changeover day, you assume sole responsibility for a multi-million dollar weapon system and the mission associated with it. You take charge of several important documents, including those for command and control of the sortie. You must ensure your plane is ready for immediate engine start and take-off by doing a careful preflight inspection immediately after coming on alert. Afterwards, you attend a series of mandatory briefing designed to give you a quick refresher on the most important faces of alert, command and control procedures and tactical doctrine. You can expect at least one examination on alert or sortie procedures, decoding emergency action messages, or Strategic Air Command tactical combat procedures. The afternoon is spent carefully studying your combat sortie. Unlike 'Dr.Strangelove' or 'Fail-Safe', you are well-briefed and well-studied about the route of flight, targets and enemy defenses you may encounter. Again, you can expect a test on SAC tactical doctrine procedures or, if you're really lucky, a no-notice EWO (Emergency War Order) certification before the wing commander on your mission. That first day of alert is the most important, and probably the busiest. Compared to changeover day, the rest of the week seems quiet. You can kick back and relax... right ?

Not so fast! While you're on alert, you are considered the perfect square-filler. You have monthly, quarterly, and semi-annual and briefings and classes to attend, and alert is when you get most of them. You can expect one or two of these classes in the next few days, classes in survival, egress, aircraft systems, security, combat tactics, weapons, the list seems endless. Another event tailor-made for the alert crew member is the flight simulator. the simulator is available six days a week, fourteen hours a day, and since the alert crews don't fly for real, the 'sim' is perfect for them. You can expect at least one 'sim' during your tour, ranging anywhere from a quick two-hour emergency procedures 'flight' to an exhaustive eight-hour check-ride profile. If you're an instructor or panel operator, you can expect to operate or instruct two or three simulator flights during your tour.

What else do you do ? A lot of additional duties, you are the primary and the alternate for several additional duties in the squadron which require your attention. Has it been 3 months since your last emergency procedures test ? Better get ready for your next one on Monday morning! Working on a masters degree or professional military education ? This is a pretty good time to work on all that! Is the 1st Combat Evaluation Group or the Operational Readiness Inspection due ? Yes, the CEVG is coming soon! Better get ready for that, too! For CEVG preparation, there is one emergency procedures test a week due, plus publications page-counts and Saturday morning sim flights. For the ORI, you need to study, study, and restudy the wing 'game plan' over and over!

Sounds like a typical week, right ? You can expect at least one very non-typical occurrence each alert tour, an alert force exercise. On a regular basis, the wing and SAC test the ability of all alert crews to respond to an emergency by sounding the klaxon, the raucous, God-awful horn tested every day at 2:00 p.m. When it goes off, crews must respond to their assigned aircraft, start engines, and copy and decode a message transmitted to the crews. We call it an 'exercise', but you don't know (you never know!) if it's an exercise or not until the message is decoded and the appropriate checklist is run. At another time, you might expect it to be an exercise. Today ? Well...you don't know. That's why every crewmember, even the 'old heads', nearly jump out of their skins and check their watches every time the klaxon goes off. Even if you've had an inkling that an exercise is coming, your heart always races faster as you spring for your jet.

Life is definitely not all work on alert, though MSgt Keefe, 509th BMW's chief Alert Management Division, and his staff have overseen the complete remodeling of the 30-year-old alert facility, making the 'mole-hole' look less like a big bomb shelter and more like a comfortable place to live and work. The alert facility has its own dining hall, game room, weight room and movies, as well as 24-hour access to the base gym. There is a family lounge, a separate building outside the barbed wire and guard dogs where families can visit crew members on alert, share a meal, and watch TV together.

Are you a prisoner at the facility ? Not exactly. You are generally free to roam the base, but your locations must be carefully monitored and you must stay in constant communication with the alert force controller or the command post. You carry a radio where you can receive messages from the command post, and all locations available to you must have klaxons installed nearby. Alert crew response timing has been carefully surveyed from every possible location on base, and the speed at which a crew can respond from any location to their aircraft, start engines, taxi, and take-off is a primary concern. This is why alert crews are allowed to go to the head of a line at the BX, and why there are reserved parking spaces everywhere. Alert crews would be prohibited from going to any location where such special reservation weren't in place.

That's an alert tour! Not so bad, was it ? Well...

The fun of being an aircrew member is definitely the flying. There is nothing in the world like flying 500 miles an hour over northern Maine at 300 feet above the ground! the wing proves itself every year with the Operational Readiness Inspection, so we really 'make our money' on these important exercises. But our mission, the whole reason for our existence will always remain the same. To support those planes at the end of the runway that never go anywhere. If anyone, aircrew member, crew chief, security police, weapons loader, anyone! forgets what part he or she plays in our mission, everyone will suffer. We are all an important part in our country's national defense, and it takes each and every person in this wing to make it work!