Politics & Government

Joint STARS Keeps Watch as Nearly Nine-Year War Ends

The 7th Expeditionary Airborne Command and Control Squadron has more than 50,000 flying hours over Iraq.

By Senior Airman Sara Csurilla, U.S. Forces Central Command Combat Correspondent and Sgt. 1st Class Roy Henry, Georgia Department of Defense Public Affairs,

From the beginning of the Global War on Terror, Air Force E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, or Joint STARS, aircraft from Warner Robins’ 116th Air Control Wing have helped American and NATO ground forces track and engage enemy combatants.

While Joint STARS crews and their planes continue doing that mission in Afghanistan, their job in Iraq came to an end this past month as the last of the Allied ground forces made their way out of Iraq and headed home. 

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"Team J-STARS has been an integral part of operations in Iraq since 2003. We deployed for what was then Operation Southern Watch, which grew into Operation Iraqi Freedom, and then transitioned into Operation New Dawn,” said Brig. Gen. William Welsh, who commands the 116th. “Pilots, air and ground crews from the 116th and the 461st Air Control Wings have been on the ground from day one until the final day when the last convoy pulled out of Iraq and into Kuwait.”

Team J-STARS has, from start to finish, Welsh adds, provided a myriad of support, ranging from supporting convoy operations, surveillance and reconnaissance and combat operations in Fallujah and other hot spots over the years.

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“I sincerely believe that, without us, I don't think the folks on the ground could have got the job done,” he continued. “For the nine years that we [the 116th and the 461st] provided direct support to the Army, Navy, Airmen and Marines on the ground, our Airmen and military intelligence Soldiers have established a record that is just phenomenal. At the same time, the performance of our aircraft systems is a testament to the skills of our maintenance organization and our aircrews, something we can all be proud of as our operations in the skies above Iraq come to an end.”

The last E-8C made its last flight with an all active duty crew in the skies above Iraq on Dec. 18, while the last C-17 Starlifter, carrying cargo and passengers, took off out of Talil Air Base the day before.

According to Lt. Gen. David L. Goldfein, U.S. Central Command’s Combined Air Forces Component Commander, “Dec. 19, 2011, [the day after the last J-STARS mission in Iraq was flown] marked the first day since Jan. 17, 1991, [after the first Gulf War ended] that we did not produce or fly an air tactical operation in Iraq.”

"That's incredible," 1st Lt. Carter Matherly, an air weapons officer from the 7th Expeditionary Airborne Command and Control Squadron (EACCS), said to himself as fellow aircrew members gathered around his screen to watch live video feed of the last U.S. combat forces convoy roll out of Iraq and the gates behind it close. Matherly was among the crew onboard the last E-8C sortie to fly over Iraqi airspace. Its mission was to provide surveillance and acquisition radar command and control capabilities to ground forces on the last convoy.

"It's a good feeling to watch those last convoys roll out; it's a historic occasion," said Lt. Col. Curtis Bass, 7th EACCS commander and native of Meridian, Miss. "We were able to cover and support from the air the last boots on the ground going across the border, bringing a close to a nearly nine-year war in Iraq."

The 11-and-a-half hour flight departed well into the night with more than 20 aircrew members from the 7th EACCS, comprised of Airmen and Soldiers deployed from the 116th Air Control Wing, 461st Air Control Wing and the 138th Military Intelligence Company – all out of Robins Air Force Base, Ga., and one Airman from Fort Hood, Texas, uncommon to a Joint STARS' aircrew.

Tech. Sgt. Eric Rideaux, a joint terminal attack controller and a native of Appaloosa, La., was on the Joint STARS to provide detailed coordination in close proximity to friendly forces. Rideaux was not only part of this historic crew, he was also the last U.S. Air Force JTAC in Iraq.

Figures provided by Goldfein, showed that, over the past 20 years, fighter and bomber crews working with JTACs like Rideaux, elevated responsive airpower to a new level as aircraft routinely arrived overhead in less than nine minutes from the moment the JTACs called for support—and in countries larger than the great state of Texas.

"It's an honor to be the last JTAC in country. There are a lot of guys that did a lot of hard work out there," said Rideaux, who has spent his fair share of time in Iraq, carrying out countless missions. "I'm honestly happy to see that it's finally come to an end; it's been a long time. I'm also glad that I had the opportunity to fly with the J-STARS because it's not something many JTACs can say they had that opportunity to do. The experience was an eye-opener to some things I didn't realize, as far as their perspective. It was a great learning experience."

Although he was not part of the last E-8C mission, Georgia Air Guard Tech. Sgt. Michael Farrand said he certainly understands the emotions of those who made that flight. Farrand, an airborne radar technician with the 116th’s 128th Airborne Command and Control Squadron, has himself, been there and back.

"I was there for the first night of Operation Iraqi Freedom when our forces ‘went over the top’ and headed for Baghdad,” he said. “As much as I wish I could have been there for that last flight, it makes me nonetheless prouder as a J-STARS member to finally see things come to a close with the last sortie and the end of Operation New Dawn.”

According to unit statistics, the 7th EACCS has more than 50,000 flying hours over Iraq. Although this mission was its last, the proud members of the 7th EACCS are prepared to keep executing their mission no matter where they are.

“I see that as true for any of us who have been there, done that and gotten the flight time for it,” Farrand said. “Being a part of something that's bigger than oneself should make us all proud to be a member of Team J-STARS, and a part of history. It's been a long road that we've been on for the past ten-and-a-half years, and I know I’m ready to close this chapter and be prepared for anything else that our country calls us for."


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