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Nato end patrols Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&u=/nm/20020501/ts_nm/nato_us_dc_1http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&u=/nm/20020501/ts_nm/nato_us_dc_1
NATO to End Unprecedented Air Patrols Over America
Wed May 1, 7:36 AM ET
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The NATO (news - web sites) military alliance said it was ending its unprecedented operation to patrol the skies of the United States, launched after the Sept. 11 attacks, because U.S. air defense security had been improved.
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NATO used seven airborne warning and control system planes, consisting of international crews, to watch over the skies of the United States to free up U.S. planes for the military operation in Afghanistan (news - web sites).
The planes were deployed Oct. 19 after NATO for the first time activated its mutual defense clause, which says an attack on one member is as an attack on the whole alliance.
"This decision concludes NATO's historic first deployment of assets in direct support of operations in the continental United States," said a NATO statement, released late Tuesday.
The Pentagon (news - web sites) last month reduced the number of U.S. fighter jets on round-the-clock combat air patrols over major cities, relying instead on intermittent sorties and improved security in airports and on passenger jets.
The AWACS squadron is a NATO unit with crews from 11 of the alliance's 19 nations. The unit is based at the Geilenkirchen base in Germany.
The alliance said the operation had ended after upgrades to the U.S. air defense system and enhanced cooperation between the U.S. civil and military authorities.
During the operation, the E-3A planes were based at the Tinker Air Force base in Oklahoma. NATO said that 830 crew members had patrolled the U.S. skies for nearly 4,300 hours in more than 360 operational sorties.
"This operation has been a concrete demonstration of allied solidarity," NATO said.
NATO also showed its support for Washington's declared war on terrorism by sending a flotilla of warships to the eastern Mediterranean in October.
With the British frigate Chatham as flagship, the force includes frigates from Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey and the United States, a Greek destroyer and a German refueling ship.
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