![]() The Defense Department and First Air Force were not involved in any decision to place the F-15C on an alert status for civilian disturbances, military spokespersons said. “That jet has one mission and one mission alone - to go up and shoot down other airplanes,” said retired Gen. That federal alert mission is separate from any use of the jets for civilian purposes. ![]() It is expensive to operate, costing nearly $25,000 per flight hour, according to the Guard.Īt Fresno, the jets are used to train pilots for combat, and a few are kept on around-the-clock alert to respond immediately to attacks by enemy aircraft on orders from the Pentagon as part of NORAD. The F-15C can hit supersonic speeds, fires air-to-air missiles and is outfitted with a 20-millimeter cannon. He said readying the F-15C for potential deployment over a protest was “definitely unprecedented” in his experience.Ĭruz did not respond to interview requests. “It’s a war machine, not something you use for civil unrest,” a third source told The Times. While that order never came, the sources said, the fact that their leaders might even consider using the F-15C over civilian crowds alarmed Guard members. Jeremiah Cruz, sent an email to several officers, saying that “there is no expectation that the F-15C will be used in any way in support of civil unrest.” He went on to instruct the recipients to keep him apprised of “any requests or upcoming requests” from California Guard headquarters in Sacramento. With concern mounting among Guard officers and others, the then-commander of the 144th Wing, Col. The sources said the aircraft in question was the F-15C. aircraft availability” for the potential mission. We may need to work on Saturday and maybe Sunday to ensure we have. The message also said “aircraft availability” for a domestic mission would be “at a premium next week with the election. That meant a pilot and launch crew had to be available to reach the Fresno base within 90 minutes or so of receiving an order to deploy the jet, the sources said. The week before the election, a lieutenant colonel sent a message to Guard members who maintain the F-15C, advising them that a jet must be “ready to take off within two hours,” beginning the Monday morning before the election. “No F-15s were contemplated,” Shiroma wrote.īut The Times reviewed other internal Guard documents that show the jet was placed on an alert status for a possible election-week mission and that officers discussed concerns in March 2020 as well as that summer about using the F-15C for domestic purposes, including to intimidate civilians. He released a list of aircraft that he said were “postured to support any potential civil unrest missions” leading up to the election it included two planes - a C-130J and an HC-130J - but no fighters. He said the California Guard “never made such a request.” Shiroma also said that assigning jets at the 144th Wing to respond to civil unrest would have required the approval of First Air Force, which oversees the air defense of the continental United States for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). “We do not use our planes to frighten or intimidate civilians,” Shiroma wrote in reply to emailed questions from The Times. The Guard reconnaissance aircraft flew over peaceful protests in the upscale community of El Dorado Hills, the location of Maj. Jonathan Shiroma, denied that the F-15C was placed on an alert status for a potential response to civil disturbances.Ĭalifornia Spy plane was sent to monitor protest in affluent suburb, home to head of California National Guard David Baldwin, who leads the California Guard, did not respond directly to interview requests for this story. The sources said the directives from Guard headquarters made their way down orally or in text messages, rather than in formal written orders, which was unusual and heightened their concerns that the jet would be used inappropriately. “Our military is used to combat foreign aggressors.” “That’s something that would happen in the Soviet Union,” said a second of The Times’ sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation from their superiors. “It could look like we’re threatening civilians.” “It would have been a completely illegal order that disgraced the military,” one source said. They said the jet was also placed on an alert status - fueled and ready for takeoff - for possible responses to protests over the murder of George Floyd by a police officer and to any unrest sparked by the Nov.
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