Time Trek (eBook)

A Flight to Area 51

James F. Casey (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2023 | 1. Auflage
350 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-0759-9 (ISBN)

Infos

'Time Trek' is a novel that blurs the lines between science fiction and scientific fact. At times, it is difficult to see the difference between fact and fantasy. This novel races from the blistering heat of the Nevada desert bombing range to the frigid war-torn skies over Nazi Germany. From Valley Forge to Hiroshima, this story takes readers through American history and into a post-apocalyptic future. 'Time Trek' has something for anyone who has wondered about travel through time and space.

---

"e;Time Trek"e; is a novel about travel through space and time. The story is segmented into three parts that roughly correspond to the present, past, and future. The first part is the tale of a journey to the most-secret facility in the country, deep inside the restricted area of the Nevada desert. The second part is about traveling into the recent past. "e;Time Trek"e; is for everyone who has wondered what they would do if they had a time machine (after they got the winning lottery numbers). Take a trip through time and stand on the battlefield with George Custer as he fights his disastrous battle at the Little Big Horn. Later, take to the sky during World War II and fight your way deep into Nazi airspace in the pilot's seat of a B-17 bomber. Talk to Washington and Lincoln and find out what motivated them to greatness. Then, the story moves on to a tortured, post-apocalyptic future and a fight for survival against aliens who are intent upon the destruction of Humanity. "e;Time Trek"e; is a wild ride that goes in many different directions. This story is often thought-provoking, insightful, and informative, but never dull. Buckle up and hold on tight.

Textauszug

The Box

It was September of 1986. I had been flying the F-15 for several years by that time and I was a Flight Lead and Instructor on the airplane. My squadron was deployed to Las Vegas for two weeks of Red Flag.

Red Flag was the name given to a large-scale air combat simulation exercise that took place in the Nevada Desert just north of Las Vegas. Each Red Flag session was tailored to an active-duty Fighter Wing that was referred to as the Core Unit. At that time the Core Unit was usually an F-4 or an F-16 ground-attack Wing.

The F-15 wings were never the ‘Core’ because we were support units.

Other support units were the Wild Weasels whose job it was to neutralize surface-to-air missiles, various electronic jamming assets and the AWACs airborne control elements. The fighters of many NATO and other foreign nations participated as well.

A typical Red Flag exercise involved about 90 aircraft. At that time, most (but not all), of the air units that participated in the exercise were temporarily based out of Nellis AFB on the north side of Las Vegas. This allowed for mass briefings and de-briefings by the participants. Due to ramp space restrictions, the tankers that supported Red Flag flew out of other bases around the southwestern US. Occasionally, B-52s participated and they flew from their home bases when they did.

The concept for Red Flag came from the US Air Force’s experience in Viet Nam. Post-war data showed that most fighter pilots who were shot down were shot down on one of their first five combat sorties. If a pilot could survive those first five missions, he was much more likely to complete his entire tour of combat.

The typical Red Flag was a six-week long affair that was divided into three two-week long segments. Since the normal Fighter Wing at that time had three squadrons, the Red Flag Scenario would reset every two weeks and different squadrons would deploy to participate.

The goal was for every squadron pilot in the Core Unit to fly his five missions in the two-week long segment. In order to be successful, each Red Flag mission had to be as realistic as possible. This made it very dangerous.

We also were tasked, from time to time, to participate as the Red Air (the bad guys) so we spent a lot of time at Nellis and became very familiar with the range complex there.

In my previous assignment as a Forward Air Controller based in Tucson, Arizona, we supported not only the Red Flag operations but also the F-4 and A-10 Fighter Weapons Schools, both of which were based at Nellis. We operated single-ship, single pilot much of the time so we were allowed a great deal of independence on the range. Far more independence than any fighter would be allowed. We often supported multiple strikes over the course of a four-hour mission. Rather than fly back and forth to Nellis in between flights, we normally would wait on the range. These long periods of idle time afforded us the opportunity to explore the ranges and we became very familiar with them.

The Fighter Weapons school sorties initially used the southern areas, R-4806 and R-4808 which were to the south of the Red Flag range, R-4809.

When I first started flying in the Air Force in 1980, we, Forward Air Controllers, were allowed to move pretty freely throughout the entire range complex. We were told that there was an airbase at Groom Lake which we were supposed to avoid. Each of us was instructed to draw a red square around the Groom Lake Field on our personal navigation maps, to remind us to avoid this area. We were told that the runway, which we could clearly see from the air, was usable in an emergency but should be avoided otherwise. The range officers called the red square, Groom Lake or R-4806. UFO fanatics called it Area 51. We simply referred to it as ‘The Box’.

Initially, flying through the range complex wasn’t such a big deal but over the years it kept becoming more restrictive. Pahute Mesa was a broad, relatively flat area just to the south of the Red Flag ranges. I was told that the Mesa had been the sight of nuclear tests that had been conducted twenty years or so earlier. The area was pock-marked by several large craters that I was told were caused by underground nuclear explosions.

At some time during the early nineteen-eighties, The Department of Energy took control of this area. They further sub-divided it into smaller areas known as R-4808 north and R-4808 east. At first, we were still allowed to fly over them but eventually they became just as restrictive as the Box. Along with these restrictions, the red square around ‘the Box’ got larger and the range officers became much more serious about avoiding it. We were briefed that the runway could still be used in an emergency, but anyone who flew into there could expect to be de-briefed for 72 hours or so before they were sent home. Sent home, as in, back to your home station. No more Red Flag participation. I didn’t personally know anyone who had flown into the Box, so I wasn’t sure how much was fact and how much was fiction.

In military airplanes, we routinely monitored a separate radio frequency that was reserved for emergency communications. It was called Guard and any transmission on it would be received by every military airplane in the area. From time to time, as the seriousness of an incursion into the Box increased, we would hear transmissions such as “This is Nellis Control on guard, Cylon 22 turn north immediately to avoid restricted airspace!” It was like the voice of God emanating from some unseen location.

It was not uncommon, in the heat of battle, for a pilot to misjudge his1 position and inadvertently cut across the northwest corner of the box. Pilots who accidentally cut through the Box would get a warning if it was just a minor incursion. There were a few blatant incursions that I was aware of, and I can’t say for certain what happened to the pilots, but I know that they didn’t attend the de-briefing and we didn’t see them again for the remainder of the Red Flag session. The Powers above us had gotten very serious about security in the Box.

I was leading a four-ship sortie of F-15s on a pre-strike sweep through the range complex. It was our mission to sweep the area of enemy fighters so that the strike package could get to their targets unmolested. Another four-ship formation of F-15s would be mixed in with the strikers as close-escort.

This was the kind of mission that we loved to fly because we would be the first ones into the target area. We could shoot virtually anything we saw since there were no friendly aircraft ahead of us.

The Red Flag missions were designed to simulate a real combat mission as closely as possible. Before we stepped out to the jets, we removed the unit patches from our flight suits and stowed them in a locker. They were attached by Velcro so that they could be easily removed and replaced. We also stowed our wallets and wedding rings along with the patches. It was called sanitizing and it was part of the process of preparing to fly a combat sortie. If you were shot down and captured, the unit patches could be used by the enemy to tell which units were arrayed against them. Rings and wallets are traditionally the first items to be stolen from captured fliers. Also, bulky items like wallets would interfere with the operation of our anti-G suits which had to fit snugly against our legs and abdomen to work properly.

At one time, the rank that we wore was attached with Velcro as well, but someone astutely realized that with no patches and no rank, the flight suit was no longer a uniform. People who are captured in a combat zone who are not wearing a uniform, can be shot as spies. Consequently, our rank was sewn on to our flight suits. We wore survival vests and were issued handguns which fit into a holster on the left side of the vest. It was bulky and uncomfortable, but the idea was to be as authentic as possible.

Lt. Scott Lawton was my wingman, Capt. Dave Flanagin was number three and Lt. Randy Moore was number four. Scott and Randy were both somewhat new to the squadron and both had come straight from pilot training. This was the first Red Flag deployment for both of them. They were good pilots and nice guys. Scott was married with an infant daughter. Randy was single. Dave was a good friend, and he had more time in the F-15 than I did. He had checked me out as an instructor, but I was leading this one because we passed around the leadership baton so that everyone got a chance.

The four of us stepped out of the life-support facility at around 0730 and walked out to the jets. It was already uncomfortably hot. We could feel the heat rising off the black pavement as we made our way to the flight line.

Thankfully, the F-15 was part of a newer generation of fighters that could provide adequate air conditioning on the ground once the engines had been started. Each of us performed a pre-flight inspection of his jet, made our way up the ladder and strapped in. We anxiously awaited the time to start engines when we could close the canopy and enjoy the comfort of air-conditioning.

At the designated time, all four of the F-15s in our flight started engines and I quickly checked each of them in on the radio. Our flight’s call-sign was Fazer Four-one. As lead, I was Fazer 41, Scott was 42, Dave was 43 and Randy was 44.

The check-in went well. There were no problems with anyone’s jet. We taxied out to the end of the runway together in single file with the three other jets...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 29.8.2023
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3509-0759-9 / 9798350907599