The Western Air Defense Sector at McChord Air Force Base is a very protected place. It contains lots of classfied information, much of it on computer screens. Needless to say, visits there by the media are not frequent.
I did visit there today, part of a story we were doing on WADS' unprecedented involvement in the huge California firefighting effort. The men and women who work there are from the Washington Air National Guard, along with members of Canadian Forces (all under NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command).
Together watch two thirds of the country for any unknown aircraft trying to enter U.S. airspace. There are two other Defense Sectors - one on the East Coast and one in Canada.
The operations center which is loaded with screens was sanitized of classified material before our arrival. Certain screens were darkened or covered up, and certain data was taken off.
Usually, these kinds of events are pretty uneventful. But while we were there, an unidentified plane flew into U.S. airspace from Mexico. While we were escorted out, so they could bring those classified screens back up, we were able to witness how WADS personnel in a very calm fashion went to work to start identifying the aircraft and scramble fighters from Davis-Monthan AFB into the air to take a look.
WADS also watches out for drug-smuggling flights.
Turns out, the plane was quickly identified as friendly before the fighters even left the ground, and everything went back to normal. The screens were sanitized again, and we went back in to finish what we came to do.
But it was a glimpse, if just a glimpse, of something we normally don't get to see. People really do these jobs... even though few of us never get a chance to see what they do.

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