Holloman retires MQ-1 aircraft from service
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE — Holloman Air Force Base retired its MQ-1 mission to transition to the MQ-9 Reaper during a special ceremony at the base Monday, Feb. 27.
Commander of the 6th Attack Squadron at Holloman Lt. Col. Geoffrey S. Fukumoto and 49th Wing commander Col. Houston R. Cantwell were joined by unmanned aerial vehicle technology pioneers James “Snake” Clark and Abraham E. Karem.
The General Atomics MQ-1 Predator is a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) used primarily by the U.S. Air Force designated in the early 1990s as the RQ-1 for aerial reconnaissance and used for forward observation roles.
The Predator became known as the MQ-1 when it was modified to carry and employ AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. Since then the MQ-1 has seen combat in Bosnia, Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Africa and other locations around the world.
The 6th Reconnaissance Squadron was activated Oct. 23, 2009 at Holloman Air Force Base to serve as the MQ-1 formal training unit. At Holloman, Predator pilots and enlisted sensor operators received initial qualification training to fly and operate the MQ-1.
In the seven years since its activation, the 6th Reconnaissance Squadron has trained 752 pilots and 544 sensor operators.
Clark, who is known as the Godfather of the MQ-1 Predator, is Director of the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Modernization and Infrastructure of the U.S. Air Force in Washington, D.C.
Clark closed the chapter of the MQ-1 Predator at Holloman and recognized its importance to aviation and U.S. Air Force history.
“The Predator was a revolution. It changed the way we think and I’m honored to be a part of this legacy,” Clark said. “Risk taking leadership and innovators saw the vision of the MQ-1 and made this airframe a success.”
Clark said the MQ-1 has almost four million flying hours with 92 percent of those being combat hours.
“Today, we kind of say goodbye to the MQ-1 Predator, it’s just like the Energizer Bunny, it just won’t die,” he said. “There is 101 of them still out there today and they fly 1,200 combat hours a day around the world.”
Karem, president of Karem Aircraft Inc., is the founding father of unmanned aerial vehicle technology who designed the technology of the Predator which turned drones from unreliable oddities into military necessities, starting a technological revolution that is now spreading to civil aviation.
Karem spoke a few words about the MQ-1 and his love of aeronautics that stemmed from childhood. At the age of 14, he started building model aircraft which lead him to start his own innovative company that worked closely with the U.S. Department of Defense.
“The first Predator was unreliable, crashed all the time and was expensive,” Karem said.
Little did Karem know that the MQ-1 Predator would become one of the U.S. Air Force’s go to aircraft for combat missions.
Cantwell said they are retiring the MQ-1 only at Holloman but it will later retire throughout the U.S. at an undetermined time.
“It is an important milestone for the Air Force. It is a precursor across the Air Force that the MQ-1 will officially retire throughout the entire air frame yet to be determined,” Cantwell said. “We are the schoolhouse so we retired them first.”
49th Wing Command Chief Master Sgt. Barrington E. Bartlett said he believes it was a momentous occasion for Holloman because it’s not often that the U.S. Air Force retires an aircraft..
“This is a proud moment for Holloman Air Force Base,” Bartlett said.
Cantwell said he was grateful that the MQ-1 inventors and innovators were able to attend Monday's ceremony because it is not often that true Air Force icons gets to join in on the festivities.
“Nor is it often that true icons of Air Force history get to come out to commemorate that,” Cantwell said. “The inventors of the MQ-1 were here and innovators James Clark and Abe Karem, so for that we thank them because they flew all the way to Alamogordo to be here with us.”
A static MQ-1 Predator will be on display in Heritage Park at Holloman Air Force Base.