Nomads support president at Camp David Published Feb. 13, 2008 By Staff Sgt. Bryan Franks 33d Fighter Wing EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The 33d Fighter Wing secured the skies Feb. 8-10 over Camp David, Md. protecting the president in support of Operation Noble Eagle. The 33d FW conducted approximately 14 sorties during the ONE mission, guarding the skies over Camp David by enforcing the temporary flight restriction zone established by the Federal Aviation Administration. "Taking part in the protection of the president is an important job," said Col. Todd Harmer, 33d Fighter Wing commander. "The 33d FW is excited about the opportunity to once again support ONE missions." This is the second ONE mission conducted by the 33d FW since Air Combat Command cleared a portion of the F-15 A-D models to return to flying status Jan. 9. The first ONE mission was in support of NASA's Atlantis shuttle launch Feb. 7. "It was great for our pilots," said Lt. Col. Todd Jaax, 58th Fighter Squadron commander. "We've spent the last month ensuring our pilots were ready when the call came and when it did they executed the ONE mission flawlessly." Each sortie left and returned to Eglin AFB with an average flight time of seven hours. While it was a longer than average flight for the pilots it allowed normal flight operation to resume on Monday after the weekend ONE mission. This ONE mission was the first for 1st Lt. Brian Mead, 58th FS pilot. "It was great," Lieutenant Mead said. "After not being able to fly for a while it was awesome to do our J.O.B. again." ONE is North American Aerospace Defense Command's air defense missions conducted since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. ONE provides air defense over the U.S. and Canada in order to prevent a future 9-11 type attack. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, NORAD fighters have responded to more than 2,100 possible air threats and controlled more than 48,000 air patrol sorties in support of ONE.