[MilCom] SEADS Ends Operations

[MJ Cleary]

http://www.1af.acc.af.mil/media/archive/story.asp?id=123032293

SEADS ends operations, becomes AOC

After more than 37 years of monitoring America's airways, the flip of a 
ceremonial switch today marked the close of operations here for the 
Southeast Air Defense Sector.

More than 100 members of the tight-knit SEADS fraternity looked on as 
Continental U.S. NORAD Region leaders marked the passing of the SEADS 
mission while celebrating its impending transformation to the 601st Air 
Operations Center.

"It's an emotional and historic event," said Colonel David Kriner, former 
SEADS, and now 601 AOC, commander, "as we are now actively re-rolling this 
mission, closing one chapter and opening another in supporting this 
war-fighting headquarters as an Air Operations Center."

SEADS responsibility for air defense of the southeastern United States began 
in April 1982 following its transfer from Duluth, Minn., where it had served 
as the 23rd Air Division under the Aerospace Defense Command since November 
1969. In October 1996 SEADS transitioned completely to the Air National 
Guard and became a Geographically Separated Unit assigned within the Florida 
Air National Guard.

Since then its responsibility for defense of approximately 1,000,000 square 
miles of airspace, and 3,000 miles of coastline from Virginia to Texas, 
marked SEADS as the busiest of CONR's three sectors.

That responsibility now rests with CONR's Northeast Air Defense Sector in 
Rome, N.Y., and Western Air Defense Sector at McChord AFB in Washington 
state.

"This decision was made nearly four years ago to first modernize the air 
defense system, and then consolidate CONR's three air defense sectors into 
two as we transitioned into an AOC" said Col. Kriner. "To facilitate that 
CONR moved the WADS responsibilities further to the east, while NEADS area 
of responsibility extended further south, all the way down to the Straits of 
Florida."

As for the 601 AOC, Colonel Kriner said the next step in the migration 
involves training.

"We've got more than 250 full-time Air National Guardsmen that need to be 
trained and integrated into the processes of an AOC in providing air tasking 
order and strategy-to-task functions," he said. "We've been working nearly 
four years toward this, and everyone's excited for what they're going to do 
next, what they're going to learn, and how we're going to work together as 
an AOC and Air Force Forces staff in support of CONR."

Brigadier General Charles Campbell, AFNORTH vice commander and Florida Air 
National Guardsman, lauded the SEADS team on their accomplishments.

"You know, these days, a lot of people talk about finishing well. Well I can 
tell you, this team finished well," he said. "They held it together while we 
moved toward the AOC mission through holidays, hurricanes and missed time 
with families - it was truly a job well done."

And this:

NEADS to double its air space responsibilities

    The Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) became responsible yesterday 
for the air space over the entire eastern half of the United States, more 
that doubling the amount of air space it controls.
    The NEADS name and its supporting New York Air National Guard 
organization will likely undergo a name change and receive a new unit 
designation in the near future, said Col. Clark Speicher, NEADS commander.
    The unit anticipates gaining more full-time military personnel and 
contractors to support controlling the increased area of responsibility, 
which will total more than one million square miles of air space with 13 
"centers of gravity," or major U.S. cities.
    Currently, there are Air Force, Army, Navy, Air National Guard and 
Canadian Forces, as well as federal civil service civilians and contractors 
working at the sector, which operates out of the Griffiss Business and 
Technology Park in the state of New York.