Wounded Eagle
Washington's Air Defense Shield is Down
by
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Quickly responding to the early warning of an aircraft attack became absolutely crucial to national survival. Once an aircraft was detected which did not match a fight plan in the NORAD and FAA databases, it would be labeled as "unknown" on the Direction Center display consoles and assigned for immediate identification. Radio contact would be attempted. If no response was received, fighter aircraft attached to the Direction Center would be scrambled to intercept the unknown aircraft to identify, intimidate or destroy the threat. Given appropriate authorization from the Command Director, a fighter pilot could shoot down the intruder or request BOMARC or Nike-Zeus missile support to accomplish that end. The importance of quick response to a potential aircraft threat was multiplied in the skies over our Nation's Capital. Eliminating Government and military Leadership with a single set of bombs would be an enemy’s major objective.
At 4:30 AM (EST) on Monday, 8 August 1977, the NORAD Command Post within the Cheyenne Mountain Complex in Colorado Springs was notified of a catastrophic computer system failure at the Fort Lee AFS Direction Center. No processed radar data could be provided for the Mid-Atlantic States including the Washington, DC area. The Nation’s Capital was unable to get advance warning of aircraft attack. The NORAD Command Director declared, "Wounded Eagle;" the Top Secret code word for significantly diminished capabilities for protecting the President and top Military Leaders in Washington.
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About the Book
“Wounded Eagle” is a fictional account of actual events that took place during the US-USSR Cold War of the late 1970’s. The title was a top secret code word used to describe situations which reduced or eliminated advance warning of an aircraft attack on the US Capital. Such warnings are provided based on a network of long range radar sensors deployed on or near the US coastline. Digital data from these sensors are combined and integrated into overall aircraft status pictures covering hundreds of miles over the ocean and an equal distance inland. The FAA and NORAD use these data jointly for real-time air route traffic control and early warning of intrusion or attack of the homeland. The Fort Lee AFS Direction Center in central Virginia provided data to NORAD to accomplish those functions for the Mid-Atlantic States including Washington, DC. At 0430 hours (EDT) on Monday, 8 August 1977, the NORAD Command Post within the Cheyenne Mountain Complex was notified that an air conditioning failure in the Fort Lee AFS Direction Center had caused severe damage to their air defense computers. The loss of all data from Fort Lee forced the NORAD Command Director to declare “Wounded Eagle.”
About the Author
Dr. Dave Felsburg offers a fictional novel from the technical side of his forty-year bivocational ministry career. The doctor holds engineering degrees at the bachelor’s and master’s levels, a seminary diploma, four years of post-graduate seminary work and a PhD in organizational behavior and management. His secular work was in the acquisition of missile warning, space surveillance and atmospheric defense sensors and command and control systems for the US Government. His career traversed civilian and military Government service, and executive management of the four companies he founded. He currently lives in central Florida.