Operation Eagle Assist

Operation Eagle Assist
Part of the Home Front of the War on Terror

NATO AWACS Eagle Assist badge.
Location United States
Objective Homeland security
Date October 9, 2001 - May 16, 2002
Executed by  NATO
Outcome Successful operation

Operation Eagle Assist began following the September 11 attacks on October 9, 2001,[1] after the North Atlantic Council's October 4 decision to operationalize Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. In total, 830 crew members from 13 NATO nations executed 360 operational sorties, totaling nearly 4300 hours, over the skies of the United States in NATO AWACS aircraft.

The decision to terminate what was NATO's first deployment "in the defense of one of its member countries"[1] "was made on the basis of upgrades to the U.S. air defense posture, enhanced cooperation between U.S. civil and military authorities, and on mandatory evaluations of homeland security requirements."[2]

The operation ended on May 16, 2002.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 AWACS: NATO's eyes in the sky – 4. AWACS Operations, NATO On-line library.
  2. NATO Concluding AWACS Support for U.S. Homeland Security, April 30, 2002, U.S. Mission to Italy
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