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Utility Radio Review Homeland Insecurity by by Steve Douglass |
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To get a photo like this, you’ve got to get close, but hanging around military bases and airports could get you noticed by the authorities. Planning ahead will keep you out of trouble. This C-17 USAF transport from Altus AFB, Oklahoma, was captured while it was practicing landings and take-offs at Rick Husband International Airport. (Photos by Steve Douglass) |
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Many monitoring enthusiasts have reported that new U.S. homeland security policies have made “on scene” monitoring (such as near military bases and airports) difficult at best and hazardous at worst. Security concerns since 9/11 are understandable, especially near large airports in light of recent arrests involving terrorists trying to obtain Stinger-type missiles. In my city there is a special spot at the end of a runway at the local airport where aircraft enthusiasts and monitoring hobbyists gather to watch aircraft come and go. It’s a great spot on public land where aircraft on approaches and take-offs fly just dozens of feet over an observer’s head. I have taken many, many photographs of every type of military aircraft from B-52s to B-2 bombers there and would like to continue to do so. Plus it’s a great place to scan the bands and watch the activity at the same time. Now called Rick Husband International Airport, formerly Amarillo International, the airport is heavily used by the military for training because of its extra long runways. Runway Two-Two is over 13,000 feet long and was part of the now closed Amarillo Air Force Base, a former SAC base and once home to B-52 and B-47 heavy bombers. When the base closed, the runways and facilities were given to the city under the condition that the military could continue to use them, and they still do. On any given day you’ll see many F-16s from Cannon AFB or C-17s from Altus doing practice landings and take-offs. And, with a new Bell Helicopter Textron plant on the south side of the airport building MV-22s, occasionally one can catch the Ospreys on test flights.However, in light of the new era in terrorism, security at the local airport has been more than beefed up. Security patrols on the perimeter are constant and the days of sitting in a vehicle watching the aircraft unnoticed are long gone. Sit at “the spot” for longer than five minutes and the airport police are bound to notice you. Sometimes the local police are dispatched to find out who you are and to discourage you from parking anywhere near the airport. I’m not alone in experiencing this. Many monitors all over the world have reported or complained about being run off by security police. Some have even been detained and questioned. For some reason, a car bristling with antennas and occupied by guys watching the aircraft is considered suspicious. Go figure! In response to this, I have two equal but opposite reactions. First of all, as a member of the flying public I feel more secure knowing that the security police are doing their best to keep the airport secure. On the other hand, in reality I know that if terrorists were to pick a spot near an airport from which to fire a hand-held missile from, chances are no one would ever see them because of the vast acres of real estate under the flight path of an airliner. It’s doubtful they would pick a spot anywhere near where an airport security patrol could spot them. |
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