Technical Services - Winter 2008 - (Page 7)

lcoe Global Hawk to the Rescue Pilotless plane aids SoCal firefighters, captures vital inferno images he latest firefighting technology this year wasn’t on the ground, but overhead. The high-flying Global Hawk unmanned aircraft became the newest addition to the nation’s firefighting arsenal during the October 2007 wildfires in Southern California. Called to service by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Global Hawk flew three separate flights, each ranging from 10 to 14 hours, and collected more than 750 real-time, detailed images for firefighters and other public safety officials. Global Hawk took off on its maiden disaster support flight on Oct. 25, soaring for more than 14 hours over California wildfires, including the unrelenting Poomacha Fire in San Diego County. The missions were flown by the 9th Reconnaissance Wing from Beale Air Force Base in Northern California, the Global Hawk’s main operating base. The Air Force and contractor team worked around the clock from early Oct. 23 through the evening of Oct. 29 to plan and fly the missions. T 1 2 1 2 Infrared images taken by Global Hawk of the Southern California wildfires in October 2007. (Images courtesy of the U.S. Air Force.) The Global Hawk answers Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s call to service in support of the October 2007 Southern California firestorms. The high-flying unmanned aircraft flew three missions and collected more than 750 images for firefighters. Capable of flying at extremely high altitudes, up to 65,000 feet for as long as 36 hours, Global Hawk was able to see through all the smoke to help officials battle the blazes and save countless lives and homes. Technical Services personnel provide Global Hawk support in California and Maryland. “The contributions of our mission planners and sensor operators were key to the success of these missions,” said Bruce Jinneman, Technical Services deputy site manager at Beale Air Force Base. TS 3 3 Northrop Grumman Technical Services 7

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Technical Services - Winter 2008

Technical Services - Winter 2008 Contents President’s Column Lake Charles Maintenance and Modification Center Celebrates Milestones F-18 Fleet Support in Malaysia B-2 Receives Upgrades U.S. Army Upgrades Entire Hunter Fleet Global Hawk Missions Flown in Support of California Wildfires Lanham Site Provides World-Class Support FSE Warner Robins Achieves CMMI Level 3 Rating TS Participates in Multi-Sector Conference Egypt and Volunteer Activities Fort Hood Team Prepares Warfighters for Combat; eSupport Team TS Team Members in Turkey Wallops Island Team Wins Kreiger Award TS Teams Win Chairman’s Award for Excellence ACS Program and Continuing Education; Space Gateway Training Team to Combat IED Threat Shoulder to Shoulder – Brad Britt; Saudi Arabia Service Milestones Warner Robins Training and Simulation I’m In! Ethics; ID/IQ Business; All-Hands Meetings

Technical Services - Winter 2008

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