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Offutt jets are probably relaying intelligence on Afghan air forces

By Joe Dejka

They were Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf's ears when the other Bush was president. Now the reconnaissance jets of Offutt Air Force Base are lending their ears to President George W. Bush as America mounts a staggering intelligence effort to track down and punish the perpetrators of Tuesday's terrorist attacks.

Spokesmen for the Air Force's 55th Wing and the U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt would not comment on the role that Offutt personnel are playing. But even before the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the 55th Wing, based at Offutt, had about 500 of its members deployed around the world. Many are engaged in one of the wing's primary missions: providing reconnaissance to U.S. military commanders and civilian leaders.

John Pike, a leading expert on defense, space and intelligence policy, said last week that reconnaissance planes from the base probably are gathering information on Afghanistan's air defenses, possibly from the Indian Ocean or with the cooperation of bordering countries. The 55th Wing works closely with the Defense Intelligence Agency, one of several national agencies that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Wednesday have teamed up to investigate Tuesday's attacks. During the Persian Gulf War, the wing provided 24-hour-a-day reconnaissance of the region and real-time information to theater commanders.

Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, said from Washington, D.C., that another Offutt unit, the Air Force Weather Agency, is generating daily weather reports that, in the event of a military response, would help planners plot aircraft courses and air-to-air refueling points. Offutt's national importance to the country's leaders was demonstrated Tuesday when President Bush sought safety at the U.S. Strategic Command while measuring his next step.

Pike and several retired Air Force officers said the pit stop came as no surprise to them. "There's no better place in the world than Offutt, with the possible exception of Cheyenne Mountain (in Colorado)," Pike said. Early on, he said, national leaders would have had no idea what size of an attack was in progress or what might be in store for later in the day. Bush was in Florida at the time of the attacks. He was flown to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana before coming to Offutt.

Moving the president around the country made sense, as did putting him close to the nuclear command center, Pike said. "Particularly when the front office of the country is under attack, it makes sense to put the commander close to the trigger."

Pike said Bush, in flying to Offutt Tuesday afternoon, probably followed emergency travel plans laid out months or years ago. The plans allow officials to avoid confusion and second-guessing during an emergency. Pike speculated that while Bush was hopping around the country, analysts at the Strategic Command were hastily checking on the nuclear-alert status of other countries, missile tests in hostile countries such as North Korea and the status of their communications systems. He said Offutt continues to be the nerve center of America's strategic defense.

That Offutt fits so snugly into the nation's crisis plans comes as no surprise to retired Air Force personnel, who said Bush's visit made sense. "It's kind of like Patton sitting at the edge of the battlefield and then deciding what to do," said Tom O'Hara, a retired Air Force colonel and a former Sarpy County commissioner. "It has tremendous command and control capabilities. It also is home to the National Emergency Airborne Command Center. It was quite logical."

Offutt operates military versions of the Boeing 747 aircraft as airborne command centers during crises and also supports the U.S. Strategic Command, which is responsible for planning, targeting and employing the nation's nuclear deterrent forces.