Vigilance Remains High on Base
By Corey Lyons
Contra Costa Newspapers
March 21, 2003
As U.S. cruise missiles whistled through Baghdad, a sense of organized calm fell over the Bay Area's largest military base.
A few rifle-toting guards watched the main gate. The pace was slow, the business routine.
Travis Air Force Base, the city's largest employer, took on the look and feel of a sleeping giant Thursday.
Scores of active-duty military personnel had already boarded huge cargo planes loaded with supplies, headed to classified destinations. Others are on the way.
The absence of so many men and women clad in their combat greens is not lost on this Solano County seat, which grew up around the base decades ago.
In this growing city of 100,000, some say the unmistakable presence of the base gives a distant war a personalized feel. Even if folks can't put a finger on it.
For Jessica Vedder, owner of a dry-cleaning shop in a strip mall across from Travis, business has plunged 80 percent in recent weeks.
Her cramped shop was loaded with freshly-pressed camouflage whose owners have vanished. "Everyone needs to come back safely -- that's all," Vedder said. "They are fighting for America."
Travis, built in 1942, is the West Coast site for the 60th Air Mobility Wing, a critical transport arm of the Air Force. The base sends giant C-5 transports or KC-10 Extender air-to-air refueling planes whenever they are called into action.
"Beans to bullets," is how a base public relations manager explained the mother lode of military supplies sent from Travis.
Base officials refuse to say how many people they have deployed or where they went because of security concerns.
Countywide, emergency officials ramped up response plans as the first missiles hit a bunker in Baghdad.
The county reopened its Office of Emergency Services branch on Wednesday, identifying key areas that may be attractive to terrorists, including Travis. Still, the county is operating under a "Level 1" alert, or its lowest of three.
Response teams are in place, equipped with gas masks and chemical suits. Deputies will patrol the perimeter of the base more regularly, just in case.
"I'm mostly worried about the possibility of chaos and panic more than anything else," said Bob Powell, who manages the emergency services arm. "I think people need to be more prepared at home."
In pubs or small businesses, folks tried to make sense of the vague, brilliant images of TV war.
Len Harris, waiting for a haircut across from Travis, watched a grainy TV image as news unfolded about a U.S.-led ground invasion underfoot.
"I think as far as pushing the Iraqis into Baghdad, that will happen quickly. But the urban warfare scenario could be a challenge," said Harris, a chemical plant operator who lives in Vacaville.
He predicted that the war would be over in six weeks.
For many of the 45,000 or so veterans in Solano County -- including a sizable population in Fairfield -- supporting the war is about patriotism -- plain and simple.
"We should have wiped 'em out 12 years ago," said Don Kingsley, a 56-year-old Vietnam veteran, puffing on a cigarette downtown.
Contra Costa Newspapers
March 21, 2003
As U.S. cruise missiles whistled through Baghdad, a sense of organized calm fell over the Bay Area's largest military base.
A few rifle-toting guards watched the main gate. The pace was slow, the business routine.
Travis Air Force Base, the city's largest employer, took on the look and feel of a sleeping giant Thursday.
Scores of active-duty military personnel had already boarded huge cargo planes loaded with supplies, headed to classified destinations. Others are on the way.
The absence of so many men and women clad in their combat greens is not lost on this Solano County seat, which grew up around the base decades ago.
In this growing city of 100,000, some say the unmistakable presence of the base gives a distant war a personalized feel. Even if folks can't put a finger on it.
For Jessica Vedder, owner of a dry-cleaning shop in a strip mall across from Travis, business has plunged 80 percent in recent weeks.
Her cramped shop was loaded with freshly-pressed camouflage whose owners have vanished. "Everyone needs to come back safely -- that's all," Vedder said. "They are fighting for America."
Travis, built in 1942, is the West Coast site for the 60th Air Mobility Wing, a critical transport arm of the Air Force. The base sends giant C-5 transports or KC-10 Extender air-to-air refueling planes whenever they are called into action.
"Beans to bullets," is how a base public relations manager explained the mother lode of military supplies sent from Travis.
Base officials refuse to say how many people they have deployed or where they went because of security concerns.
Countywide, emergency officials ramped up response plans as the first missiles hit a bunker in Baghdad.
The county reopened its Office of Emergency Services branch on Wednesday, identifying key areas that may be attractive to terrorists, including Travis. Still, the county is operating under a "Level 1" alert, or its lowest of three.
Response teams are in place, equipped with gas masks and chemical suits. Deputies will patrol the perimeter of the base more regularly, just in case.
"I'm mostly worried about the possibility of chaos and panic more than anything else," said Bob Powell, who manages the emergency services arm. "I think people need to be more prepared at home."
In pubs or small businesses, folks tried to make sense of the vague, brilliant images of TV war.
Len Harris, waiting for a haircut across from Travis, watched a grainy TV image as news unfolded about a U.S.-led ground invasion underfoot.
"I think as far as pushing the Iraqis into Baghdad, that will happen quickly. But the urban warfare scenario could be a challenge," said Harris, a chemical plant operator who lives in Vacaville.
He predicted that the war would be over in six weeks.
For many of the 45,000 or so veterans in Solano County -- including a sizable population in Fairfield -- supporting the war is about patriotism -- plain and simple.
"We should have wiped 'em out 12 years ago," said Don Kingsley, a 56-year-old Vietnam veteran, puffing on a cigarette downtown.
posted by Corey at 4:15 PM
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