Base on full alert

Mountain Home AFB remained on a high state of alert Friday, prepared to respond if called upon by the National Command Authority.

Following Tuesday's terrorist attack the base immediately went to Force Protection Condition (FPcon) Delta, the old Threatcon Delta status, which was the highest state of alert. Wednesday afternoon that status was lowered slightly to FPcon Charlie, although for anyone trying to get on the base the difference was totally transparent.

Armed security police guarded the gate and perimeter of the airbase. The presence of machine-gun armed crews and vehicles at the gate, combined with bomb-sniffing dogs, reinforced the sense of heightened security that is in force at all U.S. military installations in the United States and around the world.

Only military members, their families, retirees and civilian employees who work on base were being allowed through the gates, and identification papers were being closely scrutinized, resulting in long lines outside the gate each morning this week.

366th Wing public affairs officials said the wing had not been directed, as of Thursday afternoon, to conduct any specific contingency planning. The only deployments that took place were a small number of medical personnel who were sent to Maguire AFB in New Jersey, but they were returned by the end of the week.

"Us being the 911 on-call wing, it was decided they should be here, instead, in case we get a call" to deploy, said Sgt. Terry Nelson of the wing public affairs office.

Gunfighters who spoke with the Mountain Home News said the mood on the base basically reflected that of the rest of the nation -- anger, shock and sorrow -- but with the added awareness that they may actually be able to do something about it if ordered by the president to assist in what is seen as almost certain military retaliatory actions that will be launched in the next few days or weeks. "We're just waiting to see what happens right now," Nelson said.

"We're ready to do whatever the president of the United States tells us to do."