Task force examines Andersen ISR plans

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Chris Powell
  • 36 Wing Public Affairs
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  A site activation task force met at Andersen for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnais-sance and strike aircraft beddown. Preparation for the future Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle and strike force to includes deployable bombers, tankers and fighters at Andersen. 

Pacific Air Force sent the SATAF here this week to lay the foundation for a smooth transition. 

The 80-member team, with functional experts from Andersen, Pacific Air Force and as far away as Langley Air Force Base, was sent here to accomplish several tasks, according to Maj. Jay Welborn, SATAF lead. 

The tasks were to identify, validate and document requirements associated to the beddown; capture funding requirements for future program objective actions; establish timelines and actions for development and construction; document issues and establish fixes for any problems that could impede development; produce a SATAF report; and, to establish a programming plan, the major said. 

While it's the SATAF's responsibility to find and resolve any issues that could hinder the beddown, they've already encountered a few hurdles. 

"The biggest hurdle is funding. We're in a constrained funding environment that's continued to be a challenge," Major Welborn said. "The next biggest is the construction capability on Guam. If the Marines move out of Japan to here, they're going to require a huge construction program and if we don't get ours rolling, we'll see a bottleneck [in construction]." 

The first phase of the beddown, which could bring up to three Global Hawks, six rotational tankers and bombers, and 24 rotational F/A-22 or F-15 fighters is slated to begin this fiscal year with the construction of the Global Hawk hangar and arrival of the first Global Hawks as early as fiscal year '09. Although the first phase is coming relatively soon, the three-phase beddown won't be completed until fiscal year '17 and is currently estimated to cost more than $2 billion, according to the SATAF's in-brief. 

"To finish the visit, the SATAF will have an out brief today, giving an assessment for the week on the snapshot of where we think we're at," said the major. "Then the team will go our separate ways, but continue to work the action items necessary to ensure a smooth transition."