MIAMI, Fl. (AFPN) - On Feb. 4, 2007, the Indianapolis Colts played the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI in Miami's Dolphin Stadium.
As the Colts' offense took the field with 1:32 left in the third quarter, the crowd got to its feet and started making noise.
Some cheered for the Colts, encouraging their team to get more points.
"Let's go team!"
"C'mon guys ... let's get a touchdown."
Others hoping the Bears defense would make a stop.
"Defense! Defense!"
Amid this tumult, the Colts stepped up to the scrimmage line and hiked the ball. Their quarterback took three steps back, looked left, then right and cocked his arm, ready to release the ball.
At that instant a small plane came out of nowhere, crashed into the stadium and exploded. In the blink of an eye, thousands of people were killed or injured and the tragedy was called the worst in the nation's history.
Only, it never really happened.
No plane crashed into the stadium, not one person was killed and the Colts went on to win Super Bowl XLI, 29-17.
The tragedy never happened inpart because of a small detachment of active Guardsmen in the southern region of Florida who provided aerial security for the event in the form of two F-15 Eagles. If any threat had presented itself, these fighters would have intercepted it and shot it from the sky.
These F-15s and the Airmen who fly them and work on them belong to Det. 1 of the 125th Fighter Wing at Homestead Air Reserve Base, Fla. Their mission is simple: Protect and defend the United States from any known, unknown or suspicious threat in the air. The unit is one of several scattered across the country who perform this mission as part of Operation Noble Eagle.
"Our area of responsibility is basically the Florida peninsula and the waters surrounding it," said Lt. Col. Michael Birkeland, the detachment's commander. "So if anything suspicious enters this territory, we're alerted and take off to either investigate or intercept the threat."
To respond to these alerts, the detachment always has two F-15s "at the ready," meaning the fighters are able to launch at a moments notice. The detachment also keeps two pilots and a maintenance crew on call 24-hours a day to ensure any alert received can be responded to within minutes.
"Typically, we can be in the air within six to seven minutes after notification," Colonel Birkeland said.
The pilots take turns pulling alert duty in teams of two. They and the on-call maintenance crews live in a small building complete with a kitchen, living area and sleeping quarters. Two hangars on either side house the detachment's F-15s.
"It's a sort of an "aerial" fire station," said Senior Airman Marcus Holling, an F-15 maintainer with the detachment. "Except instead of responding to fires, we're responding to threats in the sky."
These threats range from an unidentified aircraft entering U.S. airspace to a pilot that logs the wrong flight plan. Occasionally, drug traffickers also attempt to sneak drugs into the country using illegal and non recorded flights.
Once one of these situations occurs, the detachment is alerted and the fighters are scrambled.
"Nine times out of ten, these threats are benign," said Col. James Eifert, an alert pilot who is also the 125th Operations Group commander. "But there is an element of excitement because you never know what the mission will be until we're in the air and headed wherever we're needed."
All around the country, pilots and maintenance crews assigned to units such as Det. 1 go about their jobs waiting for the alarm to sound -- a fact that can make for an anxious work atmosphere. As if this isn't difficult enough, the men and women of Det. 1 also hold the distinction of being the only Fighter Alert Force using F-15s that is located separate from its home unit.
"The 125th FW is located in Jacksonville and we're down in the southern tip of Florida," Colonel Eifiert said. "But, aside from the obvious logistical concerns, this really doesn't impact our ability to accomplish the mission."
This is due in large part to the fact that the unit is staffed by a very capable team of maintenance experts, each of which is proficient in at least two specialties, the colonel said. From ordnance loading and off-loading to tire repair and engine calibration, the detachment's maintenance personnel can handle it all.
While some may see this total self reliance as a drawback, the detachment sees it as an advantage.
"Living together, working together and knowing we have to rely on each other only makes us a tighter, more close-knit family," Airman Holling said. "We trust each other and know the mission will always get done."
When this mission is protecting the nation, to include the more than 74,000 fans at Super Bowl XLI, there is no room for failure.