1/26/2010 - OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. (AFNS) -- To say there have been a lot of changes in the past 35 years would be a bit of an understatement.
To give a frame of reference, gas was roughly 50 cents a gallon, the Pittsburgh Steelers, who currently own six Super Bowl trophies, had yet to win their first, and the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States was in full swing.
However, there is one thing that has not changed and that's the E-4 sitting on continuous alert, ready to respond to any crisis at a moment's notice.
The E-4 is a militarized version of the Boeing 747-200 and serves as the National Airborne Operations Center for the president, secretary of defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It was delivered to the Air Force for operational use in December 1974 and assumed alert status from the EC-135J 35 years ago this month. Since then, the aircraft and her Nightwatch team have been continuously ready, serving "hot" alert 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
"The E-4B is the most technologically advanced airborne system in the world," said Lt. Col. David Gaskill, 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron commander, who oversees the day-to-day operations of the aircraft. "From the front to (the) back of the jet, we've got some of the brightest and most professional Airmen in the Air Force."
Originally known as the National Emergency Airborne Command Post, the E-4's mission during the late 1970s and 1980s was to provide the president a safe location to conduct wartime operations in the event of a nuclear attack, earning the jet the dubious moniker, "the doomsday plane."
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