<hi style=afpcap>Morale plummeted in the Boeing E-3 Sentry community when a lowly captain became the only officer, among dozens involved, to be court-martialed for the "friendly fire" shootdown of two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters in Iraq on 14 April 1994. Spirits were already bleak enough: AWACS flying radar stations are among the "most deployed" aircraft in the Air Force, their crews on the road 150 days per year. The view gives us a clear look at the long, slender Boeing 707 fuselage of the E-3. The Sentry is so chock-full of electronic gear that even this spacious fuselage has room only for a crew of 20, consisting of pilot (aircraft commander), co-pilot, navigator, flight engineer, and 16 AWACS mission specialists. The rear-cabin crew is under a mission crew commander, typically a major or lieutenant colonel, and includes weapon controllers, radar operators, and communications specialists. All of the Air Force's Sentrys belong to the 552nd Air Control Wing at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma.</hi>
