News

Super Bowl air coverage provided by U.S. Air Force

  • Published
  • By Jenny Gordon
  • 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  There will be Panthers and there will be Broncos in this Sunday's Super Bowl 50 - but F-15s? 

Thanks, in part, to work done at Robins, the answer is a resounding yes. The teams won't be the only ones commanding a presence during one of the country's most anticipated annual sporting events. So, if you're lucky enough to score tickets, you'll be in very good company.

That's because the skies above Levi's Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, in Santa Clara, Calif., will be a well-protected fortress, defended by one of the most feared weapon systems in the Defense Department's inventory.

Air Force F-15 Eagles, from the California Air National Guard, have been training in the weeks leading up to the big game, along with Cessna's from the Civil Air Patrol. That training includes practicing interception techniques should they ever have to locate and guide wandering aircraft who into restricted airspaces, such as those imposed during Sunday's event. 

Those F-15s, by the way, are the same aircraft maintained by the 561st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at the Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex. 

That's right, right here in Middle Georgia. At some point in an F-15's service life, it will have been touched by someone from Robins Air Force Base. The aircraft's worldwide reach is possible due to the contributions from hundreds of people at Robins. 

There are folks in the Fabric Survival Equipment Shop who inspect and pack parachutes. If you're coming out of an airplane at 20,000 feet, it's critical those chutes open in time. Each parachute has a service life of 13 years.

Then there are those in the 572nd Commodities Maintenance Squadron who work on the aircraft's wings. Workers de-panel the wings, tear it down, remove plumbing and foam, then hydroblast sealant and debris. It's inspected and repairs are made as needed before build-up. Mechanics here also work on the aircraft's protective canopies that cover its cockpit and enclose the aircrew. 

High-quality visibility is paramount in an F-15, especially when flying in air-to-air combat environments. When an F-15 leaves Robins, it does so with a brand new piece of protective glass.  There are the program managers in the System Program Office who plan the work performed on the F-15 fleet; and foreign military sales professionals who engage with international partners who purchase these high-value assets.

The Rewire Flight maintainers remove and replace every single piece of wire inside the fighter aircraft's C and D models. That workload will soon end when the final aircraft is scheduled to leave the complex later this month.  
The hundreds of engineers, schedulers, planners, sheet metal and aircraft mechanics who come to work daily to perform programmed depot maintenance have also contributed to fiscal 2015 numbers that exist due to continuous process improvements in the 561st AMXS.

That resulted in the delivery of 73 Eagles back to the warfighter in the last fiscal year.   So you see it takes a true team effort to keep these aircraft flying, not only overseas engaging with enemy forces, but also here in the homeland protecting tens of thousands of citizens who want to enjoy a football game. 

Now, back to that big game. 

The training F-15 pilots conducted with the Civil Air Patrol is interesting. The California wing and two Cessna 182 aircraft from CAP flew at least twice this past week to ensure the safety of the airspace around Sunday's event. Cessna's acted as aircraft to be intercepted by the F-15s, providing training for what would happen when approaching another aircraft intruding restricted airspace. 

This is the 15th year CAP has participated  in the North American Aerospace Defense Command's air-defense exercises, specifically designed to protect the airspace above the Super Bowl. The non-profit organization is an auxiliary of the Air Force, with primary missions in aerospace education, cadet programs and emergency services. 

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, there will be temporary flight restrictions prohibiting certain aircraft operations within a 32-mile radius of the stadium on game day. 

Things won't just be crazy on the ground, with metal detectors and bag checks, long lines, congestion in the streets, armed security guards and law enforcement personnel throughout the stadium and city, but the sky, too, will be off-limits. 

So what happens if you're a pilot and you decide to take a quick, casual detour to peek at game-day activities below? Or, maybe you're just out for a nice flight, get lost for a few minutes, and are unaware of your surroundings? 

Either way, probably within a matter of seconds, expect you'll be intercepted by a pair of F-15 Eagles.  In the unlikely event that happens, there's an FAA guide explaining how to react, in case you haven't received training on interception procedures. 

In the meantime, sit back, relax with family and friends, enjoy a few nachos, and know that a good old fashioned American pastime will once again bring us all together.