There are F-16, F-15 and F-35 fighter jets sitting alert 24/7 guarding all the borders of the US. And yes alert jets are near Washington D.C.
They don’t have their motors running. But they are fueled, armed and attached to electrical power so they can be started immediately.
The pilots are in an alert facility near the jets. Pilots sit shifts round the clock so they are always ready to go at a moments notice.
If the alert warning goes off the pilots and ground crew race to the jets. They have a set number of minutes to launch the aircraft. Given their proximity and speed those fighters are on site within minutes.
In addition, there are alert aircraft providing escort and top cover protection for the President.
I know some retired pilots and they have told me stories of intercepting Russian fighters and bombers encroaching on the US borders. And chasing off errant private pilots who stupidly fly into restricted zones.
We live near an airport which is the home of an alert duty fighter squadron. Whenever I hear the noise from those jets I remember this:
“That’s the Sound of Freedom!”
No, that is not true. There are fighters at strategic military bases on alert. They don’t have engines running.
A typical squadron or Air National Guard base will have at least two fighters on a 5 minute from alert to wheels up. When relieving the pilot from the 24 hour alert that he had, you do your own pre-flight and set it up for yourself with your helmet and mask. Systems are checked and you check in that you are “on 5″. Then you go to the alert building where you relax, eat, nap, read, study and watch movies.
I flew out of Key West Naval Air Station. We had 2 on 5, 2 on 15 and two for training. We had two phones. One red and one black. We could get a scramble on the red phone or over the klaxon. The phone was definitely preferable. Cell phones were not required or advisable due to security.
When on the 5 minute, we kept our flight uniforms on. Our boots had zippers. I slept in full flight dress. You’re not the only one on alert. All the ground crew is also. They scramble just like you.
If the two 5 minute birds scrambled, the other 2 on 15 came up to be 2 on 5. So we had 4 birds and 4 pilots 24/7/365.
We had good relations with our GCI site at Homestead AFB and they usually gave us advance warning of a possible ADIZ violation. When they did this, it came on the black phone and we got into our cockpits and waited. There was also a light in the hangar with red, amber and green lights that we could watch just like a traffic light, without our helmets being on. Key West was very hot and humid.
Concerning the area around Washington, DC, I’m pretty sure the same thing goes on today. As a commercial airline Captain, I flew into and out of DCA about twice a week. The controllers are the best. They are in constant touch with the White House and Security, which is right off the North departure and just to the left when landing to the South.
It is interesting to note that the day of 911, some of the F-16’s were not armed. They might have been on training missions but when the SHTF, they went after the commercial aircraft. There was a discussion of just how they could stop the hijacking. It would have to be a midair and ejection which had never been done or trained to perform.
