Nellis units staying home

Thursday, March 25, 1999 | 12:18 p.m.

At least two units at Nellis Air Force Base are ready to go to Kosovo if called, but otherwise it is business as usual at the Las Vegas military facility.

"The units can be ready to go with little notice," said Mike Estrada, chief of external affairs at Nellis. "They are the helicopter rescue squadron and the unmanned aerial vehicles at Indian Springs."

Both are well-seasoned combat-support units. The 66th Rescue Squadron consists of about a dozen Sikorski-built HH-60G Pavehawk twin-engine helicopters and is one of only two such squadrons in the nation.

Nellis' rescue squadron has been deployed to Southwest Asia five times since 1993 and has logged more than 1,600 flight hours and 850 sorties. It has participated in rescue operations and exercises around the world and has assisted in numerous local civilian rescues.

In September two of the squadron's helicopters crashed during night training exercises in the rugged terrain 25 miles north of Indian Springs, killing all 12 aboard.

The unmanned aerial vehicles are remote-controlled planes that last year were stationed in Hungary to support peacekeeping efforts in Bosnia, next to the latest skirmish in Yugoslavia.

Meanwhile, the rest of Nellis Air Force Base continued today with its usual business, including the Green Flag training mission.

"Those exercises tend to keep us busy," Estrada said.

Nellis remains at "Threatcon Alpha" -- the heightened security status at which it has been for the past several months, he said.

"Threatcon Alpha" is the first level of heightened alert, Estrada said. There are three higher levels of alert.

Nellis continued to maintain the status today.