The commander at Grand Forks Air Force Base says the military likely will not be the first to launch umanned aerial vehicles from the base.
That's because the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine likely will have UAVs flying in and out of the base as early as this spring.
"I'm kind of surprised, actually, but it makes perfect sense. The base will be able to work out bugs in the system before the Air Force UAVs arrive," said Col. Diane Hull, commander of the 319th Air Refueling Wing, the base's largest unit.
The base continues its transition from a primary air refueling tanker base to one that specializes in unmanned drones by order of the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommendation last year.
President Bush accepted the recommendation, and it later became law. With the law's passage, the Grand Forks base is losing its identity as a KC-135 air refueling tanker base. The first of its four squadrons officially was deactivated in June.
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End of era meets future
Hull, 45, recently wrapped up her first year as commander.
"In some ways, it's sad to see the end of an era," Hull said. "But the UAV is really the wave of the future."
The change at the base comes at a time when the Air Force is cutting 50,000 positions worldwide. There are 2,200 military personnel in Grand Forks, down about 300 since the transition was announced, Hull said.
Wade Pearson, chairman of Grand Forks' military appreciation committee, said residents are warming up to the UAVs.
"This is going to be the main area of the country for development and training of the UAVs. That's pretty exciting," Pearson said. "You've got a lot of partners that will be working on cutting-edge projects."
The Customs and Border Patrol Air and Marine held an open house over the weekend to tout its North Dakota Air Branch as one of five new northern border security centers.
The air branch headquarters, located next to the Grand Forks airport, will join new CBP border sites in Bellingham, Wash.; Great Falls, Mont.; and Plattsburgh, N.Y. Another new air branch is set to open in Detroit in the spring.
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The CBP has had older northern-tier air branches in Spokane, Wash.; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Houlton, Maine.
The CBP, North Dakota Air National Guard and UND all are involved in UAV projects at the base. The National Guard will fly the Air Force UAVs from its Fargo base.
Spring arrivalJuan Munoz-Torres, a CBP spokesman, said that the CBP should accept its first $10 million unmanned aerial system, including the Predator B vehicle, some time this spring. Officials have said that the CBP could run as many as six systems out of the base. Pilots in Riverside, Calif., would fly the CBP systems. Hull, herself a tanker pilot, said base personnel are embracing the technology of unmanned systems. The UAV operators are either trained Air Force pilots or navigators who hold civilian pilot's licenses.
"We don't just take somebody out of the video arcade," Hull said. "You have to be trained and have good air sense and know all of the rules of the road, if you will."
The commander also said the base would be able to handle new KC-X tankers that are expected to be ready by 2011. Construction recently was finished on a new runway, and other facilities have been improved.
Hull said the high and low points of her first year at the helm both involve current missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. She called the base's contributions a success.
"But I really do wish I could have some control on how often people have to deploy," she said. "We have many people who are gone over half the year. It seems like as soon as they come home, we send them out again."
Pearson said Hull has continued the base's close relationship with community members.
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"I don't think things have changed a lot from an outsider's perspective," he said. "I'm always just amazed by the quality of the men and women out there."
Herald staff writer David Dodds contributed to this article.
