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take place here.  How would you characterize the response of
the various different agencies on the airfield to these
incidents?

Well, there was the human response of questioning ourselves.
What could we have done to prevent this?  There is the human
equation which asks, "What could we have done to prevent
that accident or situation from occurring?" Always
questioning yourself. There may have been a little bit of
blaming ourselves for not foreseeing the situations. I know
I felt like that. "I could have done this; I could have
anticipated this." I don't feel like that now, but I did
then.

The response that you asked about was the result of a lot of
people in a very organized fashion coming together
immediately and with certainty to eliminate any obstacle to
further the situations, such as the F-4 running out of gas.
We built a weather system that worked. We built an airfield
lighting system that worked. We built capability into this
airfield specifically sometimes in response to situations we
were seeing ourselves in.  I know the SOF (Supervisor of
Flight) program was a reaction to the situation.

The response was always not only by ourselves but by CENTAF
[US Central Command Air Force] to get us whatever we needed
to put an airfield together. It was not always what I would
consider the best way to approach something, but it was
certainly done expeditiously and done with the right heart
and the right method.

Some of the prepositioned assets we have in terms of
approach lighting or navigation equipment is not in the best
working order. When we get that kind of equipment here, it
is no good for use, and I would not allow it to be


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