1983_02 Insight February 1983

              CENTERPIECE
Insight
Air Guard 'scrambles' to defense
Ueotenauit Ron "ABeroo" Yeltoo <left, prepare* to take off on a practice in-
tereea* et a Ml off the Caaatataaa Oaaat "rtese mbstoos. which ti^Uy take
a boat two bow*, are typical of what the Air National Guard use* to keep Its
pOata mgMraaary. lac Fist* (right), are aeartag tbe ead ef their sUy la
Fresno aad will soon be replaced by the F-4D Phantoms. The
beside* having two pilot* and two engine*, has four extra weapons
aad. a » mm cannon which will give tbe Fresno Squadron
-.-. JEFFOLSEN
-Air NaUonal Guard Ueutenant
C&onel Dave Cobb was on a waiting
Usi for a year-andVa-baU before he
waa assigned flying duties with the
Guard in 1868.
-.Second Ueutenant Ron "Aileron'
four years before be
;. Both Cobb and Yelton, F-106 pilots
with the Fresno squadron of the Air
National Guard's 144th fighter-
inrjtrceptor wing, agree that becoming a pilot, especially a jet fighter
pij>t, takes a great deal of determina-
Z "To become a pilot takes desire,
dedication and perfection. Perfection
is standard, said Cobb, who has been
a faxfessional pilot for 21 years. "You
have to have a certain amount of
stfek-ttvit-iveness.'"
• Yelton, the youngest of the Fresno
'l&V pilots, said, "I think everyone
netds goals. My goal was frying."
• Cobb began bis professional flying career 21 years ago with tbe U.S.
Ah-: Force after graduating from
CSUF. A native of Fresno, Cobb was a
" r of tbe Air Force ROTC unit
February 1962 shortly after gradua-
ti*l.
•'Cobb remained on active duty,
winch included flying missions over
Southeast Asia in F-10S Thunderchief
strike fighters, until 1966 when he left
tha> Air Force and returned to Fresno
to-Qerp run bis family's ranch.
[-Along   With   "arming
CeQb tok a "second Job'
P4a American Airlines
year later be also started flying for
tbe Guard. Cobb has since left Pan
Am and is currently frying for
Fresno's newest airline. Pacific Express. He is tbe captain of one of
Pacific's Rolls Royce-powered DAC
111 jet airliners.
Cobb simply states, "Flying has
been my life."
^Yelton, a 1977 CSUF graduate,
took a much different route Into the
cockpit After being turned down by
tbe Air Force because be "lacked tbe
technical background required for
pilots at tbe time,'' be enlisted in the
Guard with hopes of eventually being
selected for flight training.
Four years of determination and
hard work finally paid off and Yelton
was seaaVto flight school. Now frying
almost full-time with tbe squadron, he
sums up his success by saying, "I'm
getting paid to have fun."
Tbe mission Cobb and Yelton perform when flying the F-106 Delta Dart
fighter-intercepter is an important
one for the security of the U.S. As the
name "fighter-interceptor" implies,
tbe Guard's primary mission is to intercept any unidentified or hostile aircraft entering U.S. controlled
airspace, thus providing tbe country's
first line of airjjeiense.      <j
In order to maintain a continual
state of air defense readiness, tbe
Fresno squadron has two F-l06s on
alert 24 hours-a-day. Tbe two "alert"
planes are fully armed with "live"
weapons and are guarded by sentries
with M-16 rifles.
Tbe Guard pilots take turns being
alert and, should the signal be given,
can be in the plane and ready to fly in
** i moment's notice. When tbe signal to
nble" Is given, tbe planes will
be in the air in five minutes Baaaaaal
for its targets.
The order to "scramble" is given
by the Air Defense Command located
in Arizona. Tbe Command, known as
"Arizona Pete," monitors a network
of radar installations along the
Pacific coast which watch for any
unidentified aircraft.
Should an aircraft fail to properly
identify itself, the order to
"scramble" Is given to the squadron
nearest tbe target. Other squadrons
of the 144th are located at George
AFB In southern California and In
Portland, Oregon.
Once they are scrambled, tbe
Fresno F-l06s, capable of speeds over
1,500 miles per hour, or Mach 2, can
reach the Pacific coast in less than 15
minutes. According to Yelton, tbe
F-106 is known as the "cadillac of jet
fagWersC"" *~
Like Yelton and Cobb, the majority of Guard {allots are part-time and
have other occupations — anything
from airline pilot to grocery store
manager. Because tbe Guard is mostly part-time, with only a small full-
time staff, they can provide-, air
def ansa at half the cost of a regular
AJff Force aquadron. Air National
Guard units throughout tbe U.S. provide the nation with more than 60 percent of its front line air defense.
Although on tbe surface tbe
Guard's duties may sound relatively
simple, it is a task that requires an ex-
tise. Were tbe Guard to have a motto,
it might be something like "practice
makes perfect"
"Being a professional pilot is tbe
same as being a professional athlete
or a doctor," »»»pi»'iwH Cobb. "You
have to practice, practice, practice.
You have to have tbe desire for
perfection and use the equipment as it
was designed to be used."
If there is one thing the Guard
does a great deal of, it is practice.
Each day the Fresno squadron flies 10
to 12 training missions with tbe
average pilot flying three times a
week. Overall, the Fresno based
F-108B are In tbe air approximately
500 hours every month, quite an accomplishment considering most of tbe
planes are more than 20 years old.
Because tbe planes are so old,
they require, extra maintenance to
keep them in good shape.
"The Air National Guard has probably the best maintenance crews of
any of the services, "said Captain Jim
McNab, who worked in maintenanee
before becoming a pilot. "They do a
great job keeping these planes In (M
shape. That really makes a diflerencV
when you're flying."
Unlike active duty Air Force
squadrons, which have a high turnover rate among ground personnel
and pilots, tbe Guard is able to maintain an extnarftfjyathigh level of ex-,
perience* •x^aueV-They are-able to',
keep theaame pecaWTor much longer:
time periods. Many Guard pilots have
well over 3,000 hours flying time in
high performance jets, quite a lot by
anyone's standards.
Whether 4hey have 3,000 or 300
hours, all of the Guard pilots have one
thing in common, tbe desire to be as
close to being tbe "perfect" pilot as
"We take great pride In what we Lt ■ Yelton climbs aboard his F-1M Delta Dart to store his flight gear for tbe    '
do here," said Cobb. "That's pretty *■>'• mhrion, whkh Is a typical practice exercise.
much characteristic of any profes- ,/'     *                                                                                                 «'
sional." <gjj              -                                         Photos by ROGER JERKOVICH
Tule: Reservation residents
take Watt's words lightly
^yatt: Asked to resign
an-emergency   meeting  to  decide
whether to ask for Watt's resignation.
> Seville's  prediction  that  tbe
majority of the tribal representatives
paf»jved correct. ITie
alt-post   unanimous   in  their  vote
«" of Watt
after Watt took office,
during which 150 Indian leaders called
foCwatt's resignation
: "The other things he (Watt) said
(about the failures of socialism) are
bad enough," SariBa said. "But If be
calls for (J* abolition of reservations.
angrily to tbe
by Watt. Ron
i director of the
American
largeat Indian
oraanizatlon. said "They'
(reservations)
risa.li 11 .not of
rwatt's rem
hart com* at.
phsitossss
a    failure
meeting at tbe White House of Indian
leaders. The meeting was intended aa
an attempt to t~
Watt's remarks are thought by
some American Indian leaders to be
part of a much bigger Issue, that of
debate between tbe administration
and the Indians over planned
administration budget cuts and
prograi '
affairs.
Indian leaders claim that the
Reagan Administration has tattpoautl
a one-third cut In federal Indian
policy statement professing
dedication to the existing policy of
protecting Indian resources while
encouraging them to determine their
own destiny.
Prior to Watt's remarks, President
Reagan had signed an executive order
which establishes a presidential
commission to find ways to Improve
I  don't  apologize  for  the
!," Watt said, and went on to
advise tribal leaders not to "muff"
Eh he (Watt) bad
to "attack these
Continued from page 1
be a place of activity.
Under one of tbe half-fallen and
abandoned sheds, four men stand
around a fire which has been made
with parts of tbe sheds. A bottle is
passed among them as they stare
warily at a stranger's approach.
No, they don't know who Jim Watt
is, and no, they don't care to answer
any questions. Again tbe bottle makes
its rounds.
Further down the road, a lone
stands in front of tbe
boarded up building that
unbelievably still bouses a gas station, again for Indian use only. On tbe
wall behind him stands a hand-
lettered sign with directions to tbe
reservation alcohol treatment center.
Across the street a big brick
building of fairly recent construction
stands. It bouses tbe community
center for tbe tribe and also houses a
medical center, an educational center
and the alcohol treatment center.
A man who said be worked at tbe
tribal center agreed to answer a few
questions, providing his name was not
used.
He had lived on tbe reservation all
his life. Yes, be bad beard of tbe
remarks attributed to Watt and hadn't
liked what be had heard. He did agree
that some 67 tbe comments Watt
made had some truth in them,
especially tbe part about tbe lack of
work. From a glance around at the
discarded beer cans which were
everywhere, yes there did appear to
be a problem on tbe reservation with
those who drink a lot
According to the elderly
gentleman, the tribe has taken no of
ficial position on tbe drinking problem, although there has been some •'
Efforts to obtain contact with the :
tribal council in the following days.'
proved unsuccessful, as the elderly;
man said they probably would. \
Other residents of tbe reservation •
who were willing to talk, expressed:
little interest with what WaU bad to*,
say. Some were unemployed and look- J
iftg for work, others were unemployed«
and did not care. A few had jobsr
"down the bill."
A few of tbe bouses on tbe reser- r
vation are well maintained and show £
that the owners care about ap-p
pearances. Many of tbe houses, £
however, are little more than shacks rj
and show a lack of care. """■	
Watt's remarks, at least to tboa
few contacted, have had little meat
ing and no Impact on these people.
the  use  of additional  federal   the
"I have given you an opportunity,
don't muff it" Watt said. "Baaed on
what I had to go tJirough, I don't know
if you will ever get another secretary
of the Interior to address these
don't let them sweep It
Watt blamed what he called the
news reports about his comments and
coixeedad that ha may have used
"But" ba added, "boy, I got
attention."
Watt claims to have spent two
years trying to bring attention to
Indian rarobkms. He said he was the
first interior secretary to rjersonally
visit tha two largest Indian
rrawvstfajiai, those of tbe Navajo and
Traffic Court: Few 'innocent'
cans on tbe floor of tbe car had long
been empty. "When tbe cop looked at
the cans, they were dry," Gomez
says.
The Commissioner explains that
Gome* has a right to a court trial if he
believes he is innocent. Gomez turns
be doesn't want "the hassle of a
trial." A few sympathetic chuckles
"I have had people calling for my
gnation for a long time," Watt
said.   "That's  nothing new. The
are   theirs  and  they
"I must ten you," says tbe Commissioner, "that If you plead guilty,
your license will be suspended for 15
days and you must pay a 838 fine."
Commissioner York pauses for effect
with lowered bead and arched
eyebrows. Gomes glances anxiously
back at tbe middle-aged couple. They
"So bow do you plead?" asks the
Commissioner.
"Guilty," Gomez replies, and a
moan of Commissioner York tells
Gomez to get out his license and hand
it over to tbe bailiff. Then she adds,
"You know you do not need an attorney to represent you if you choose
to have a trial." Gomez looks over his
shoulder again, and quickly changes
his plea to "not guilty."
There Is a crackle of applause as
tbe Commissioner sets a court date
for the defendant
Tbe right to a trial within 45 days
is guaranteed by law; but most defendants waive that right and agree to a
r>ostponement. Sometimes there Is a
delay of several months before space
is available In tbe crowded court
tlocket
Trials are held two days a w
Traffic Court, and up to 38 caa
heard in a day. Of 173 cases trie
December, all but six ended with a jj
verdict of guilty.
"Elizabeth Avery?" the Commia- I"
sioner calls out. *»
A stooped, middle-aged woman J
steps forward, frowning. She is accus- ^
ed of driving a car with faulty lights n
and Invalid registration. She S
scknowledges the offenses, but adds: 5
'I'm not responsible for the dr- """
Chuckles ripple through the s
crowded courtroom as Avery laun- ;
ches into a complex narrative featur- 2
ing crooked salesmen, broken pro- ;
mises, arid unresponsive bureaucrats. ;
The charges against her are >
*aiivlaaed. As Avery leaves tha cour- s
troom she is still frowning, but she !
stands a little taller.