USAF Lakenheath - A Primer
black wave | 16.11.2002 22:22
USAF Lakenheath - A Primer
About Lakenheath
(italicized text is from the base website)
Mission Statement
To provide responsive air combat power, support and services to meet our Allies' and our nation's international objectives.
Without wishing to sound pessimistic about anyone's motives, it would appear that these objectives bear a marked resemblance to those of Italy in its 1935 "pre-emptive" attack on Ethiopia, or Japan's spirited "defense" of Manchuria in the same decade. The effects on international peace and stability are likely to be somewhat similar, in the long run. The fact that the US has now secured Security Council backing from the United Nations does not make the war more legitimate in the eyes of the world; it will probably only make the UN less legitimate.
Location
Royal Air Force Station Lakenheath, United Kingdom, is located 70 miles northeast of London and 25 miles from Cambridge. Nearly 5,000 U.S. military personnel and 2,000 American and British civilian employees are assigned to the base. RAF Lakenheath is the largest U.S. Air Force-operated base in England and the only U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) F-15 fighter wing.
We would add only that Cambridge is a 45 minute train ride from King's Cross tube station, and that if you give Cambridge people advance notice that you're coming they will do what they can to provide transportation to the base itself.
Mission
Historically, the 48th Fighter Wing has been the foundation of USAFE's combat capability and remains so today. The Liberty Wing led the El Dorado Canyon raids into Libya in 1986 and was the first F-111 fighter unit to deploy to the Gulf during Operation DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM. We flew in the nation's two most recent combat contingencies: Operation NORTHERN WATCH and Operation DELIBERATE FORCE. NATO and U.S. leaders have asserted that if America is needed in this region, the 48th Fighter Wing will be called out first.
We leave you with the following Veteran's Day (November 11) gem from the base newsletter.
The
VETERANS among us
By 1st Lt. Chris Watt
48th Fighter Wing public affairs
If you search and listen carefully, you will find Liberty Warriors here who've served during conflicts such as Operation Allied Force in Kosovo and Operation Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf. There are also veterans here who were at the Pentagon Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists struck and who fought in the subsequent war on terrorism called Operation Enduring Freedom.
Like many veterans, most of their stories will be told long after they retire or separate from the Air Force. But the lessons they learned in these conflicts reflect in the way they perform and lead the Air Force today.
'I've learned that whenever there's a need, there are people who will rise to the occasion and succeed,' said retired Maj. Andy Baker, 48th Fighter Wing treaty compliance officer, a 29-year Air Force veteran. 'It may not always be pretty, but we will always get a positive result. That's the beauty ' to watch people make things happen under pressure.
'I've also learned that watching 112 B-52s taking off from Guam is pretty awesome,' Baker said of his Vietnam War experiences.
(italicized text is from the base website)
Mission Statement
To provide responsive air combat power, support and services to meet our Allies' and our nation's international objectives.
Without wishing to sound pessimistic about anyone's motives, it would appear that these objectives bear a marked resemblance to those of Italy in its 1935 "pre-emptive" attack on Ethiopia, or Japan's spirited "defense" of Manchuria in the same decade. The effects on international peace and stability are likely to be somewhat similar, in the long run. The fact that the US has now secured Security Council backing from the United Nations does not make the war more legitimate in the eyes of the world; it will probably only make the UN less legitimate.
Location
Royal Air Force Station Lakenheath, United Kingdom, is located 70 miles northeast of London and 25 miles from Cambridge. Nearly 5,000 U.S. military personnel and 2,000 American and British civilian employees are assigned to the base. RAF Lakenheath is the largest U.S. Air Force-operated base in England and the only U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) F-15 fighter wing.
We would add only that Cambridge is a 45 minute train ride from King's Cross tube station, and that if you give Cambridge people advance notice that you're coming they will do what they can to provide transportation to the base itself.
Mission
Historically, the 48th Fighter Wing has been the foundation of USAFE's combat capability and remains so today. The Liberty Wing led the El Dorado Canyon raids into Libya in 1986 and was the first F-111 fighter unit to deploy to the Gulf during Operation DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM. We flew in the nation's two most recent combat contingencies: Operation NORTHERN WATCH and Operation DELIBERATE FORCE. NATO and U.S. leaders have asserted that if America is needed in this region, the 48th Fighter Wing will be called out first.
| In other words, these men have been in the forefront of many of the most serious breaches against the peace of nations of the last twenty years. At virtually no risk to themselves, they have destroyed the civil infrastructure of several countries - water stations, electricity grids, sewage treatment plants, and all of the other necessary technologies that sustain civilian life in modern economies. While no one has exact figures, the death toll in Iraq last time probably came to about 100,000 civilians; bombing of infrastructure coupled with the effects of sanctions has probably knocked off another million or so, not counting the half-million children under the age of 4. The consequences of the anti-Muslim crusade of the 48th Fighter Wing are quite clear - less security for the West, more money for some of the most vicious and ecologically destructive organizations in our society (oil corporations and the military), the imposition of of a national security state in the United States, the fuelling of imperial appetites in Washington, and an ever-renewed hatred of the West across the Muslim world. |  Sparky the Fire Dog visited Lakenheath Elementary School students for Halloween Oct. 31. Senior Master Sgt. Donald Lane, 48th Civil Engineer Squadron, helped hand out candy to the LES students as part of an RAF Lakenheath fire department initiative to remind children about Halloween safety. |
We leave you with the following Veteran's Day (November 11) gem from the base newsletter.
The
VETERANS among us
By 1st Lt. Chris Watt
48th Fighter Wing public affairs
If you search and listen carefully, you will find Liberty Warriors here who've served during conflicts such as Operation Allied Force in Kosovo and Operation Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf. There are also veterans here who were at the Pentagon Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists struck and who fought in the subsequent war on terrorism called Operation Enduring Freedom.
Like many veterans, most of their stories will be told long after they retire or separate from the Air Force. But the lessons they learned in these conflicts reflect in the way they perform and lead the Air Force today.
'I've learned that whenever there's a need, there are people who will rise to the occasion and succeed,' said retired Maj. Andy Baker, 48th Fighter Wing treaty compliance officer, a 29-year Air Force veteran. 'It may not always be pretty, but we will always get a positive result. That's the beauty ' to watch people make things happen under pressure.
'I've also learned that watching 112 B-52s taking off from Guam is pretty awesome,' Baker said of his Vietnam War experiences.
black wave
Comments
Hide the following 3 comments
Weapons Inspection December 5
16.11.2002 22:41
It is believed that there are at least 30 nuclear weapons at the base, and the US Department of Defense declared a first-use policy in its last strategic defence review.
black wave
USAF Fairford Weapons Inspection: 14th Dec
17.11.2002 12:42
THIS MAY BE OUR LAST OPPORTUNITY TO UNDERLINE PUBLIC OPPOSITION TO THIS WAR. PLEASE COME ALONG, START SPREADING THE WORD, & BOOK YOUR COACHES NOW.
DEMONSTRATE: Sat 14th Dec. 12.00noon. Fairford. Gloucester.
The Gloucestershire Weapons Inspectors are coming:
This is intended as a peaceful demonstration, but we will be encouraging protesters to surrond the base in a show of strength.
BRISTOL COACH TICKETS: £10 waged / £4 unwaged
AVAILABLE FROM: Greenleaf Books. 82 Colston St. BS1 5BB
(Top Of Christmas Steps. City Centre)
COACHES LEAVE: 10:00am Anchor Rd. Sat 14th Dec.
(Behind The Watershed Complex. City Centre)
DIRECTIONS: CLICK BELOW
Bristol-Stop-The-War
e-mail:
james@venables.plus.com
Homepage:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bristol-stop-the-war-coalition
more on Lakenheath
19.11.2002 21:01
Lakenheath Action Group exists to oppose the presence of American nuclear weapons at Lakenheath (around 30 B61 mod 10 freefall bombs, 0.4 - 80 kiloton yield).
LAG is organising a series of events in opposition to Lakenheath:
First Wednesday of every month - vigil at main gate on A1065, 5 - 6pm.
Monday 3rd February - day of action at Lakenheath.
14th April - John Bugg Walk and vigil for those killed by F-111s from Lakenheath boombing Libya on 14th April 1986
October 2003 - A really massive day of action (date tbc)
on the day the war starts - special vigil at main gate form 5pm.
Lakenheath Action Group
e-mail:
info@lakenheathaction.org
Homepage:
http://www.lakenheathaction.org