TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - Tony Crowder can't say enough good things about 1st Air Force.
As the director of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Air and Marine Operations Center in Riverside, Calif., Crowder is very familiar with the ongoing working relationship between his Homeland Security organization and 1st Air Force.
He described the relationship in glowing terms during a March 4-5 visit with Maj. Gen. Henry C. Morrow, 1st Air Force's commander.
"(He) has been a great host for a visit that will help strengthen our ongstanding and successful partnership," Crowder said. "We have a two-way working relationship in which we share information and assist each other in the successful execution of our combined air defense/law enforcement missions."
The director said AMOC and 1st Air Force's ability to combine their respective civilian and military capabilities to address air threats against the U.S. is a huge advantage for both organizations and the nation.
"Together, we figure out how to help keep America safe," he said.
AMOC is a state-of-the-art law enforcement radar surveillance center that was established in 1988. The center, which includes long-range P-3 Orion aircraft operations, works to secure the airspace at all U.S. borders. The organization's main mission is to detect and monitor terrorist and drug activities and other threats in the continental U.S., Puerto Rico and beyond.
Crowder said CBP's Air and Marine division placed under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security after Sept. 11, 2001 is proud of its 40-year, 24/7/365 collaboration with 1st Air Force's Western and Eastern Air Defense Sectors.
"There is always (threatening) activity at the borders," Crowder said. "We can address low, slow threats with civilian law enforcement, but the Air Force can better handle the high, fast air threats."
While most threats are comprised of illegal border crossings, drug activity and potential terrorist concerns, all activities that could potentially harm the U.S., including natural disasters, can be addressed through the organizations' combined efforts, Crowder said. "We overlap and touch each other in our various missions."
Relating a recent example of a combined team effort, Crowder described how two Western Air Defense Sector F-16 fighters were quickly able to come to the AMOC's assistance during a potential air threat in Arizona.
"We learned we had two slow-moving air targets and scrambled to get our (AMOC) jet to intercept," Crowder said. "However, because our plane was delayed, we called WADS and asked them if they could help. They immediately scrambled their F-16s and shadowed our target until we got our jet airborne.It turned out the target was simply two glider pilots who were lost, but we didn't know that earlier. This is just one example of great team work."
Crowder understands that most people are not aware of the level of protection offered by the combined missions of AMOC and 1st Air Force. "Basically, our work is unseen, but we are proud of our important success stories."
Ed Salinas, AFNORTH's liaison officer to AMOC, said he agrees with the director that the two organizations complement each other well with their focused homeland security missions. "We work well together to protect the country. There is nothing else like it in the world," he said.
By 2015, AMOC is expected to oversee the CBP's Unmanned Aircraft System Predator B program that is being expanded this year and next into U.S. northern and coastal borders. Currently, the Predator B program is used to identify and intercept potential terrorists and illegal border crossings along the southwest border of the U.S. only.
CBP Air and Marine has a fleet of 258 aircraft and a staff of more than 1,200 law enforcement and support personnel to conduct counter-terrorism actions, anti-money laundering efforts, weapon and drug smuggling operations and intelligence operations along U.S. southern and northern borders, Central and South America, the Eastern Pacific and the Caribbean.
Since its inception, CBP Air and Marine operations have established an impressive history of successful illegal drug seizures, thousands of arrests and capture of thousands of undocumented aliens.