Military

02/12/03 - MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFPN) -- In a back hallway of the 290th Joint Communications Support Squadron hangs a map with a pin in every country where a unit airman has served. The average American probably could not find most of these countries on a map before Sept. 11, 2001. Now countries with names like Afghanistan, Djibouti and Pakistan are the norm.

With their ongoing missions, the men and women of the Florida Air National Guard have proven the term "weekend warrior" no longer applies. Whether it is providing support for homeland defense or the global war on terror, the Florida ANG has found itself entering a new realm - an unexpected one.

The 290th JCSS provides communications to deployed commanders. Before the events of Sept. 11, the unit had prepared for war by participating in exercises around the globe, including Bright Star in Egypt, providing communications in Panama for Special Operations Command and providing communications during the Florida wildfires of the 1990s.

"I thought the chances for me getting mobilized for a natural disaster were greater than a national security mission," said Senior Airman Jeffrey Strazzere, a satellite wideband maintainer. "Now we are deployed supporting real-world missions."

Strazzere, who has been deployed to Afghanistan and the Philippines, said he is thankful for his employer's support. He had to take a two-year leave of absence from his job at a large communications company.

The 290th JCSS is not the only Florida ANG unit mobilized to support the war on terrorism; the 114th Combat Communications Squadron based at Patrick Air Force Base and the Southeast Air Defense Sector at Tyndall Air Force Base have been engaged in that fight as well.

The 114th CCS' satellite communications and its specialized jobs are in high demand around the globe. Thirty-five airmen from the 114th CCS were sent to the U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. Seven of those later deployed to Qatar to work on the mobile command center for Army Gen. Tommy Franks CENTCOM commander.

Since the terrorist attacks, the Southeast Air Defense Sector's homeland defense mission has grown to include monitoring aircraft flying over land and reacting to airborne threats against population and industrial centers.

"The Southeast Air Defense Sector has two missions," Maj. Todd Breitmann said. "The first is air sovereignty of the United States, and the second is to intercept anyone who enters that airspace. Essentially the two pieces were outward looking prior to 9-11. Since (then), we have to look inward as well."

Breitmann, the executive officer at SEADS, added that today SEADS has to work with different agencies to share information, including the Secret Service, the Transportation Security Administration and the FBI.