United States Air Force

The United States Air Force (USAF) was one of the five service branches of the United States armed forces, responsible for aerial military warfare and operations, as well as monitoring and policing domestic airspace. However, the Air Force was forbidden, under posse comitatus, to take part in federal law enforcement on American soil. ("Day 2: 1:00am-2:00am")

Organization

Insignia of the Air Force during Day 8

The President of the United States was the commander-in-chief of the entire armed services. For official business, the President traveled on a 747 designated with the call sign Air Force One; an aircraft carrying the Vice President was designated Air Force Two. ("Day 2: 10:00pm-11:00pm", "Day 6: 12:00pm-1:00pm")

The Chief of Staff of the Air Force was its highest-ranking officer, and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who advised the President and his cabinet directly on critical matters. ("Day 2: 8:00am-9:00am")

Air Force Special Operations Command, based at Eglin AFB in Florida, was the official special ops division of the Air Force, often taking part in joint missions by the United States Army's Delta Force. (Findings at CTU)

Prospective officers attended the Air Force Academy. One of the service branch's highest decorations was the Air Force Silver Star. ("Day 4: 10:00pm-11:00pm")

Divisions

• Air Force Intelligence (Vanishing Point)
• Air Force Combat Applications Program ("Day 5: 2:00am-3:00am")
• Air Force Special Operations Command
• Air Force Systems Command (Vanishing Point)

Service history

According to an urban legend, a World War II-era Air Force bomber had been ditched under the Hell Gate Bridge in New York City and then vanished without a trace. (Operation Hell Gate)

The Air Force, along with the Air National Guard, were alerted to the possibility of an aerial attack against the Sky Mount Round Table conference, and monitored the air space for several hundred square miles in the vicinity. (Head Shot)

The Air Force and the Navy were responsible for patrolling the sea-lanes in the Persian Gulf, used to transport oil from Saudi Arabia. (Storm Force)

Day 4

Radar image of Air Force One and escort moments before impact

In one of a series of violent terrorist attacks across the country, Habib Marwan hired former Air Force pilot Mitch Anderson to steal an F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter from a base near Los Angeles, in order to destroy Air Force One as it flew over the Mojave Desert. Anderson and an accomplice, Nicole, held Captain John Hansen's family hostage to compel him to get Anderson onto the base, after which Anderson killed Hansen and cut off his thumb. Anderson used Hansen's thumb print to get past security, then shot and killed a mechanic so that he could impersonate the mechanic and clear the fighter for take-off. After he was in the air, Anderson was contacted by CTU agent Jack Bauer, who had learned of his plan and begged him to stop while he still could. Heedless, Anderson cut off communications and fired an air-to-air missile at the President's plane while it attempted an emergency landing, causing it to crash in the Mojave. Intercepting planes shot down Anderson a few minutes later. ("Day 4: 8:00pm-9:00pm", "9:00pm-10:00pm", "10:00pm-11:00pm", "11:00pm-12:00am")

Early the next morning, an Air Force F-18 pilot, Captain Clarke, was responsible for destroying a nuclear missile that Marwan had launched toward Los Angeles. ("Day 4: 6:00am-7:00am")

Day 5

After intercepting chatter about a possible attack on Russian President Yuri Suvarov's motorcade, CTU coordinated with Edwards Air Force Base to monitor the airspace in the northern part of Los Angeles County. ("Day 5: 4:00pm-5:00pm")

Day 6

General Walsh

General Walsh, stationed at Edwards Air Force Base, was the primary contact for CTU Los Angeles as they worked with the Air Force to locate and destroy a nuclear aerial drone launched by Dmitri Gredenko and Abu Fayed. Walsh scrambled F-16s to intercept the drone's last-known position, but was forced to order them into a holding pattern after the drone disappeared from CTU's satellite grid. Ultimately, CTU managed to locate the drone piloting station and prevented it from detonating its payload in San Francisco. ("Day 6: 7:00pm-8:00pm")

Day 7

The Air Force scrambled an F-16 fighter jet to intercept Global Skies Airlines Flight 117, after it was cut off from Northeast Air Traffic Control and fed false landing vectors by Tony Almeida. However, the jet was still ten minutes away when Almeida directed it into a near-collision with another flight while landing at JFK International Airport. ("Day 7: 9:00am-10:00am")

Day 8

Air Force helicopters flank Falcon 1 over Manhattan

In light of a possible dirty bomb detonation in Manhattan, President Allison Taylor relocated her staff and the other peace treaty delegates to McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey. After the bomb was recovered and the separatists stopped, they returned to the United Nations building to hold the signing as planned. ("Day 8: 4:00am-5:00am", "8:00am-9:00am")

A pair of Air Force AH-64 helicopters stationed near New York City were sent to intercept Jack Bauer, after Bauer captured a CTU helicopter before he could be taken to McGuire Air Force Base. Jack managed to out-maneuver the other two aircraft, making a landing on the roof of the Cooper Building and disappearing from view in the busy pedestrian traffic. ("10:00am-11:00am")

Aircraft

Air Force One in flight

• AH-64 Apache
• Boeing 737-200
• Boeing 747 – commonly used as Air Force One, Air Force Two
• Boeing Sikorski LO-88 Blackfoot
• F-16
• F-22 Raptor
• F/A-18 Hornet
• F-117A Nighthawk
• Lockheed C-130 Hercules
• Lockheed MC-130 Combat Talon

Installations

McGuire AFB, New Jersey

• Andrews Air Force Base, Washington, D.C.
• Edwards Air Force Base, California
• Eglin Air Force Base, Florida
• McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey
• Glenning Air Force Base
• Groom Lake Air Force Base, Nevada
• Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico
• Lower Heyford Air Force Base, Lower Heyford, UK - jointly held with Royal Air Force
• Minuteman missile silo, Moosejaw, North Dakota
• Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada
• Rockland Air Force Base, Texas

See also Vandenberg

Personnel

Active

• Sam Amato - F-16 pilot
• Captain Clarke – F-18 pilot
• Lieutenant Peter Dennon - 18th Reconnaissance Squadron
• Captain Greg Denovo
• Captain John Hansen – F-117A pilot
• Horter – mechanic
• Jones
• Lenkov – mechanic
• Bob Lundquist - F-16 pilot
• Sergeant Phillips
• Lieutenant Chris Tanner - 18th Reconnaissance Squadron
• General Walsh
• Major Scott Wilcox - CIA liaison

Groom Lake AFB

• Dr. Philip Bascomb
• Captain Brent
• Dr. Beverly Chang
• Trudi Hwang
• Dr. Megan Reed
• Steve Sable
• Corporal Stratowski
• Tom
• Dr. Alvin Toth
• Dr. Dani Welles

Retired

• Mitch Anderson
  • Graduated top of class, United States Air Force Academy
  • Air Force Silver Star
  • Dishonorably discharged
• Cynthia Richel – intelligence officer

External links

• www.af.mil - official site
• United States Air Force at Wikipedia