Article

2020-01-15 Government

The US Air Force is fixing up a remote base that could help keep an eye on Russia

[Business Insider] US airmen ventured north to the island of Jan Mayen in the Norwegian Sea in November to survey the isolated island's airfield.

Members of the 435th Contingency Response Squadron assessed runway surfaces, glideslope obstructions, and firing capes, according to an Air Force release.

Jan Mayen is north of Iceland and between Greenland and Norway, the latter of which administers and supplies it with regular flights by C-130 aircraft.

It has been used for centuries for whaling, hunting, and, more recently, meteorological monitoring. During the Cold War, it was used as a base for communications and navigation systems. Though it doesn't have a usable port, its airfield can be used for research and search and rescue.

The island is also above the Arctic Circle and, the release notes, "along sea-routes connecting Russia to the Atlantic Ocean."

Posted by Besoeker 2020-01-15 09:22|| || Front Page|| [11 views ] Top

#1 Remember when we were looking for places to send the insubordinate Pentagon REMF Officers that had been promoted in the last administration ... Et Voilà!

Posted by magpie 2020-01-15 11:46|| 2020-01-15 11:46|| Front Page Top

#2 ...though I always favored someone being the Ecologic Awareness Officer at Diego Garcia.

Posted by magpie 2020-01-15 11:47|| 2020-01-15 11:47|| Front Page Top

#3 How cold? Brass monkey cold.

Posted by Besoeker 2020-01-15 13:01|| 2020-01-15 13:01|| Front Page Top

#4 Looks like a great place for the new headquarters of the EPA...

Posted by Raj 2020-01-15 13:06|| 2020-01-15 13:06|| Front Page Top

#5 Looks like a great place for the new headquarters of the EPA...

That would be Johnson Atoll.
A nice tropical deployment.

Posted by Skidmark 2020-01-15 15:23|| 2020-01-15 15:23|| Front Page Top

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