AFMC Command News

'Heritage' speakers offer insights on pride, sacrifice and service

  • Published
  • By Chuck Paone
  • 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  Col. William F. Andrews, who as a captain and F-16 mission commander was shot down over hostile territory and held prisoner of war during Desert Storm in 1991, highlighted another inspiring Heritage of Freedom event at the Minuteman Club Oct. 29.

Providing close air support to special operations personnel under heavy fire deep inside enemy territory, Colonel Andrews began considering the risks, he told the standing-room-only crowd. Everything had been going great for the first month and a half of the air campaign, despite a couple of close calls. But this time he began to wonder: "Is my number going to come up today?"

"When you start to feel a little bit of apprehension like that, it only takes the realization that there are Americans in harm's way, and [that] it's up to us whether they make it back or not," he said.

That mission, which required extreme precision due to the proximity of hostile forces to the entrapped U.S. forces, succeeded, and Colonel Andrews returned safely.

Just a few days later, however, on a similar mission, he was not as fortunate.

"[There was] a big explosion in the rear of my plane," he said. "It was like I was sitting at a stop sign and someone rear-ended me. ... I knew that in the next couple of seconds I had to get my hands from being pinned against the canopy down to the ejection handle."

He managed to do so and ejected safely. Unfortunately, he was parachuting straight into an infantry division of the Republican Guard.

He surrendered upon landing to "get them to stop shooting." Then Colonel Andrews saw an enemy surface-to-air missile fly by and saw his wingman flying overhead. Colonel Andrews instinctively reached for his survival radio and directed his wingman to break away from the missile and clear the area. His angered captors proceeded to open fire again, with AK-47 rounds passing all around him, though none struck.

It was the ire of Iraqi intelligence collectors Colonel Andrews fueled next, refusing to provide any of the information they sought.

"They kept telling me no one would know," he said. But I'd know." This was the ultimate test of integrity, and Colonel Andrews didn't want to fail. His refusal to cooperate eventually led to him being "roughed up," he said, sparing the audience the vivid details of his encounters.

Fortunately, his captivity lasted just eight days, since he was shot down on what turned out to be the second to last day of the war. The U.S. made immediate release of all POWs a non-negotiable tenet of the peace agreement, and he was turned over to the Red Cross soon after.

Colonel Andrews would return to the region in 1996, where he patrolled the skies during Operations Southern and Northern Watch, and yet again late in 2001, when the air war in Afghanistan commenced. He imparted lessons learned from each of those experiences, as well, tying in Air Force core values and heralding the pride that comes with being a member of an organization capable of doing what none other can.

Attendees also heard from Senior Master Sgt. Raul Ruiz, Electronic Systems Center and 66th Air Base Wing first sergeant, about his deployment to Joint Base Balad in Iraq. Discussing his role as a deployed first sergeant in a war zone, Sergeant Ruiz put some real meat on the bones of the oft-repeated pledge to "take care of people."

Sergeant Ruiz counseled Airmen who couldn't return home for the birth of children or for the death of a loved one, and worked out the best support he could for them. He also dealt with some very difficult discipline issues, some of which led to members being separated from the service.

A first sergeant takes care of people, doing whatever is required, he said. "Sometimes it's a pat on the back; sometimes it's a kick in the butt."

The afternoon's first speaker was Capt. Scott Carstetter of the 653rd Electronic Systems Group, who spoke about efforts to quickly deploy an urgent operational capability to warfighters in theater. The Battlefield Airborne Communications Node, known as BACN, is now enabling unprecedented levels of communication, he said.

Long-distance voice relay, range extension and frequency bridging capabilities are resulting in "real, quantifiable reductions in the kill cycle," he said. He also noted that, on occasion, program engineers here had worked to make real-time system tweaks to give joint service operators exactly what they need.

The bottom line has been a clear reduction in the time required for information to be passed between airborne assets and coalition forces on the ground, which has resulted in lives being saved. The feedback from operators in theater and from senior U.S. service leaders has been overwhelmingly positive, the captain said.

This was most diverse Heritage Forum to date, 66th Air Base Wing Commander Col. David 'Iron' Orr said.

"The Battlefield Airborne Communications Node briefing from Captain Carstetter showed ESC's ability to provide urgent need capability to today's war-fight, Senior Master Sergeant Ruiz captured the positive and negative mission impacts resulting from individual airman actions at Joint Base Balad, and Colonel Andrews brought together the tenets of our Airman's Creed in detailing his heroic actions in Desert Storm and Operation ENDURING FREEDOM," he said.