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Balloons, Bombers, Oh My! The 142nd Air Wing
The 142nd Air Wing of the Oregon Air National Guard is located in Portland, OR. It is the only fighter wing from the Canadian border to Northern California. The 142nd is responsible for air defense and interdiction for the Pacific Northwest. There are approximately 27 F-15s based in Portland.
They share runways with PDX, which makes PDX a multi-use international airport. There are always two fully armed F-15s in the alert barn at all times. There are no red ribbons on their missiles. They are ‘hot’ and their pilots can be in the air within five minutes of the alert klaxon sounding.
It is not unusual to see F-15s flying over the Portland area. Living about an hour from the coast when I see two F-15s flying in formation toward the coast I wonder if they’ve been sent by NORAD to intercept a Russian bomber testing US airspace.
The following video includes some photos of Russian bombers the 142nd has encountered testing US airspace.
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Published in Military
Gutenberg books by James Norman Hall.
Fadedpage books by James Norman Hall.
My favorite, Doctor Dogsbody’s Leg is unavailable as an ebook.
Nice, pertinent comment on Doug’s interesting post.
The guard pilots like to read while sitting alert – suggestions always welcome.
James Norman Hall. He was in England on vacation when World War I broke out. He impersonated a Canadian and enlisted in the British Army. They sent him home when they found out he was a Yank. He came back and wrote Kitchener’s Mob about his experiences –his first book. He was sent to France to cover the group of American airmen who volunteered to fly for France known as the Lafayette Escadrille. He had such a good time with them that he joined up. When the US finally entered the war, he transferred to the US Army Air Service, so he fought for three of the Allies in World War I. He met another member of the Escadrille named Charles Nordhoff, with whom he wrote a bunch of books, including Mutiny on the Bounty.
When I was an AFROTC cadet I got a ride with an Oregon Air Guard Pilot who had just returned from the Vietnam War. He asked me if I wanted to fly over the Mt. Hood area or to the Oregon Coast. I chose the coast. We flew below the ridge lines and then popped over ridge lines with a roll and flew back and down over the second ridgeline. He said that the enemy can hear you but when you fly back down the second ridgeline you conduct a strafing or bomb run.
You can ride a roller coaster but it’s nothing like pulling 7G’s. What a great ride and experience.
My one regret from my time on the carrier in ’72. Just rode the ship’s transport plane onto the ship (a fun landing) and a helo ride into Subic after the riot stuff. F-4 pilots liked to fly the docs around in the back seat and I got an offer to do that but was too busy with lawyer paperwork to go.