Alert area

Last updated September 29, 2019

An Alert Area is a place of alert for military aircraft at United States Air Force bases. During the Cold War, bomber aircraft would be stationed on the Christmas trees within the area, ready to take off at a moment's notice. Oftentimes, tanker aircraft would be stationed in a separate area of the base, and would take off along with their bomber counterparts. At the Alert Area at Loring Air Force Base, the area consisted of a forty acre high-security area located to the southeast corner of the runway, and bordered to the east by forest. It also contains a Christmas tree and mole hole, among other buildings.^[1]^[2]

The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial and space warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially formed as a part of the United States Army on 1 August 1907, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the U.S. Armed Forces on 18 September 1947 with the passing of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the youngest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, and the fourth in order of precedence. The USAF is the largest and most technologically advanced air force in the world. The Air Force articulates its core missions as air and space superiority, global integrated intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, rapid global mobility, global strike, and command and control.

Cold War Geopolitical tension after World War II between the Eastern and Western Bloc

The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the Soviet Union with its satellite states, and the United States with its allies after World War II. The historiography of the conflict began between 1946 and 1947. The Cold War began to de-escalate after the Revolutions of 1989. The collapse of the USSR in 1991 was the end of the Cold War. The term "cold" is used because there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two sides, but they each supported major regional conflicts known as proxy wars. The conflict split the temporary wartime alliance against Nazi Germany and its allies, leaving the USSR and the US as two superpowers with profound economic and political differences.

Christmas tree (aviation) alert area (aviation) during the Cold War

A "Christmas tree" was a type of alert area constructed by the United States Air Force for the Strategic Air Command (SAC) during the Cold War. Oftentimes, bombers or tanker aircraft were stationed next to a readiness crew building (RCB), also known as "mole hole" facilities. The alert apron, also known as an alert ramp, received the name "Christmas tree", because in planform it resembled a tree of the same name.

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References

↑ "Written Historical and Descriptive Data Photographs" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-08-25. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
↑ Lowe, James; Staley, David P.; Roxlau, Katherine J. (August 1997). "A Systemic Study of Air Combat Command Cold War Material Culture Volume II-16: a Baseline Inventory of Cold War Material Culture at Loring Air Force Base". United States Air Force Air Combat Command . Retrieved 25 January 2013.

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[HAER-1] "Written Historical and Descriptive Data Photographs" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-08-25. Retrieved 25 January 2013.

[Mariah-2] Lowe, James; Staley, David P.; Roxlau, Katherine J. (August 1997). "A Systemic Study of Air Combat Command Cold War Material Culture Volume II-16: a Baseline Inventory of Cold War Material Culture at Loring Air Force Base". United States Air Force Air Combat Command . Retrieved 25 January 2013.