THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 7, 1996 TAG: 9603070415
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A13 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
The Pentagon will send 34 Air Force jets to Jordan next month, including a dozen based at Langley Air Force base in Hampton, for a tour of duty that officials said Wednesday is unrelated to the recent terror campaign against Israel by Palestinian extremists.
The two-month deployment, a defense official said, is designed to fill an air power gap caused by the departure of the aircraft carrier Nimitz from the Persian Gulf. The planes will join in patrols designed to keep Iraqi warplanes from operating over the southern part of that country.
The Nimitz is wrapping up a six-month deployment in the gulf and the Indian Ocean. It's departure will leave the United States without a carrier in the area until the Carl Vinson arrives in early July.
The 30 Air Force F-15 and F-16 fighters, along with four KC-135 tankers, comprise what the Pentagon called an ``air power expeditionary force.''
The dozen F-15s in the package are part of the 94th Fighter Squadron, based at Langley. About 500 people - pilots and maintenance crews - will go with them, an Air Force spokesman said.
The 18 F-16s making the trip are from the 347th Wing at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., and the 366th Wing at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. The tankers are from the 96th Aerial Refueling Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash.
Brig. Gen. William R. Looney III, commander of the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley, will lead the expeditionary force.
Wednesday's announcement of the deployment was timed to coincide with the arrival in Washington of Jordan's King Hussein. The deployment will mark the first time U.S. warplanes involved in patrols over Iraq have been launched from Jordan.
The idea of using an air expeditionary force to fill a temporary gap in U.S. carrier presence in the gulf dates from last October. The Pentagon sent 18 F-16s for two months then to the gulf island nation of Bahrain.
It was unclear Wednesday why this deployment will be so much larger or what it will cost. by CNB