On the front lines

Pamela Martineau -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Sunday, Sept. 8, 2002

There's an edginess to military life these days. Personnel in a military significantly downsized during the past decade are finding themselves toiling longer hours to support the Afghanistan campaign as well as stepped-up security operations worldwide.

	Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield is a key support site for the military's efforts in the war on terror. A crew chief checks the underbelly of a C-5 cargo jet at Travis Air Force Base before takeoff last month. Another C-5, left, is washed down in a hangar. Senior Airman Ryan Wilcox, below, checks identification at the base's gate. Sacramento Bee/Randy Pench

In military jargon, it's called "operations tempo," and since Sept. 11, 2001, it has accelerated at warp speed.

"The vast majority of people are on 12-hour shifts, all of the time," said U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Don Gall, superintendent of the 60th Aircraft Generation Squadron at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield.

Talk to most any military personnel these days and they'll describe a post-Sept. 11 work life that includes long hours, around-the-clock cell phone calls and extended absences from home and family.

"For the vast majority of the past year, I've been gone," said Maj. Kevin Hampshire, 39, a KC-10 pilot stationed at Travis.

Workers in a military significantly downsized during the past decade are finding themselves toiling longer hours to support the military campaign in Afghanistan and stepped-up security operations worldwide.

At Travis Air Force Base, home to both cargo and air refueling planes, military personnel are charged with maintaining and repairing the planes that fly in and out of the base. Workers also are busy organizing the mammoth - and seemingly endless - cargo shipments that lift off from Travis to support the makeshift bases now operating in the Middle East and other areas.

Master Sgt. Gall, who supervises the Travis squadron, said that since Sept. 11, more than 1,300 service members have been deployed from the base, leaving for 45 different locations. That is nearly triple the number of deployments in a typical year.

	Another C-5 is washed down in a hangar. Sacramento Bee/Randy Pench

Many supervisors report that their service members are tired, but at the same time, rejuvenated. The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 served as a sobering reminder of the importance of the nation's military.

"9/11 happened and we realized why we were here," said Capt. Mike Dali, a KC-10 pilot with the reserves who flies out of Travis.

There's an edginess to military life these days. Hampshire described a new professional terrain in which he is tethered to his cell phone, expecting late-night and day-off calls from supervisors telling him to pack his bags for another mission. He even received a call at Disneyland during the only vacation he and his wife have taken this year.

Sept. 11, like Pearl Harbor before it, has left an indelible mark on service members, and their lives and jobs changed dramatically almost immediately after the attacks.

Airmen at Travis spoke with choked voices of the hours after the attacks, when they told their wives and children they would likely soon be leaving. They didn't know where or for how long.

"I walked into my office, called my wife and basically said, 'Put my stuff together, I'm leaving,' " said Hampshire.

The stepped-up work pace and the back-to-back deployments have been hard on military families, too. Family members know all too well the heartache of birthday parties, graduations and Little League games without Dad or Mom.

	Senior Airman Ryan Wilcox checks identification at the base's gate. Sacramento Bee/Randy Pench

And there's fear, too, about the dangers of war.

"It was pretty hard on my 9-year-old," Gall said, "because he's old enough to know."

At Travis, air combat patrols began within hours of the attacks. They continue to this day, although now they are flown by pilots with the Air National Guard.

Hampshire's crew was one of the nation's first to be deployed to the Middle East. The service members ate in the chow hall with the crew that dropped the first bombs on Afghanistan terrain Oct. 7. Hampshire said nearly all of the airmen from the makeshift base stood watch as the other crew climbed into the cockpit and took off.

"As tough as September 11 was, watching those first bombers go out the door and not being with them was tougher," he said.

Even though the campaign is winding down in Afghanistan, support bases in the war zone remain in place. And now the nation is turning its attention to Iraq, leaving service members to wonder whether they will be drawn into a new conflict.

"There may be an additional campaign coming and we need to be prepared for that," said Capt. Kim Garbett, a public affairs officer at Travis. "We could get the call anytime."

The Bee's Pamela Martineau can be reached at (916) 321-1074 or pmartineau@sacbee.com.