5: 2, Community Relations, 1970: 47323287

Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.

Explains Captin Shirey, "We can either control an interceptor or let the computer control it entirely. Through the SAGE computer we can send coded electronic information to the aircraft, telling it how to steer, what altitude to fly to, and what course to fly. We can also tell the computer whether we want the aircraft to attack from the rear, the side, or the front. This is all accomplished by a coded message to the computer receiver aboard the aircraft.

"The pilot in the interceptor aircraft then has a choice. On the one hand, he can fly the plane manually, following the displays our instructions generate on his radar scope: The computer generates a dot in the center of the scope. If the pilot keeps the dot in the center of the radar scope, it will steer him to the target.

"On the other hand, he can turn his plane to automatic control, take his hands and feet off the controls, and watch as the aircraft, guided by the computer, automatically takes him to the target. All he has to do is move the throttle to reach the speed the computer indicates and squeeze the trigger when told to by the computer."

Active fighter squadrons are maintained primarily at Griffis Air Force Base and Niagara Air Force Base. With radar squadrons located at Lockport, Watertown, Saratoga Springs, and Montauk, on the extreme tip of Long Island.

Consider, for example, the 48th Fighter Interceptor Squadron located at Griffis, near Rome. This squadron comprises twenty F106 fighter planes, twenty-four pilots, and 470 support personnel devoted to keeping the planes flying.