Navy association with Tinker ‘rewarding’, commodore says

Published Aug. 27, 2012
By Mike W. Ray
Tinker Public Affairs

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- The Navy is observing its 20th anniversary at Tinker Air Force Base, and the association has been rewarding, according to Capt. Charles Baker, commander of Strategic Communications Wing ONE and Task Force 124.

Sailors "occupy the same turf, use the same galley, and share the same services and facilities onboard Tinker AFB." There are other similar Navy-Air Force alliances, such as Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, a merger that occurred in 2010, "but we were the trend setters," the commander said.

Captain Baker was deputy commander of SCW1 for a year and a half, and became the commander five months ago, on March 16, when Capt. Tim Pedersen retired.
As commander of SCW1 and Task Force 124, Captain Baker is the overall supervisor of almost 1,700 Navy personnel. They include approximately 1,200 stationed at Tinker, and another 500 at three forward operating bases: Travis AFB, Calif.; Offutt AFB, Neb.; and Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md.

SCW1 has two missions. One is coastal very-low frequency communications with the Navy's fleet of ballistic missile-equipped submarines, conducted in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

In addition, after the "cold war" between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. ended, the Navy assumed the "Looking Glass" mission from the Air Force. As a result, the Navy's fleet of E-6B Mercurys provide command and control for all U.S. nuclear forces in the event that ground-based command centers are destroyed or otherwise rendered inoperable.
"I wear two hats but have one focus: make sure these units are ready to execute our mission should we be called upon to do so," Captain Baker said. The commodore pointed out that Aug. 6 was the 67th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945.

(The title of commodore is given to a Navy captain who's temporarily commanding a small number of ships or squadrons detached for a special purpose.)

Captain Baker noted that his is the last of the cold war generation still on active military duty. The fall of the Berlin Wall, which separated East from West Berlin, began on Nov. 9, 1989, and the Soviet Union formally dissolved in late December 1991.

For several years, "Our propellers never stopped," he said. "We finally stood down" from non-stop airborne missions in February 1991. Although the Navy no longer maintains continuous airborne alert, the service still remains on either ground or airborne alert around-the-clock, 365 days each year.

Captain Baker recently celebrated 26 years of service in the U.S. Navy.

He was graduated from Davis & Elkins College in West Virginia with a bachelor's degree in computer science and mathematics. "After I got a job as a computer programmer, I decided that I really didn't like it," he said. So in July 1986, "I went to the Navy recruiter's office and took a test which eventually led to a commission." He drove to Pensacola, Fla., for Officer Candidate School and received his Navy commission in 1987.

The next year he was designated a naval aviator, and subsequently became a test pilot. Initially he qualified in the EC-130 aircraft, a four-engine propeller-driven Airborne Battlefield Command and Control Center like the one displayed at the entrance to TACAMO's sector on the south side of Tinker AFB.

During his career, Captain Baker said, he has flown approximately three dozen models of airplanes and helicopters. He has amassed more than 4,000 hours as a pilot and "probably close to 8,000 hours" total flight time, he estimated.

"I really thought that after my six-year commitment was up, I'd go fly for some airline," he said. "Twenty-six years later, though, I'm still here."

Captain Baker reported to the Ironman Squadron of VQ-3 in 1996 for his first tour of duty at Tinker, serving as the safety officer and assistant operations officer. After graduating from the Naval War College, he returned to Tinker to the Shadows of VQ-4 in late 1998 for his department head tour, serving as the operations officer for 18 months.

In April 2004 he reported to VQ-4 as the executive officer, and assumed command of the Shadows in April 2005. After a year he reported to the Pentagon, where he served as the E-6B Requirements Officer for three and a half years.

Captain Baker and his family returned to Oklahoma in January 2010. He had to get requalified in the E-6B and was "on the training track" for several months. In August 2010 he reported to SCW1, Task Force 124, as deputy commander.

Uncertainty is what most troubles the commodore about the continuing round of federal budget cutbacks. "We are in demanding times," he said. Nevertheless, "I have the greatest job in the Navy." The Sailors assigned to SCW1 are "amazing," he said. "I'm honored to be their commander."