Did Italian Jets Patrol the American Border after 9/11?

[Ro_Laren]

I’m watching Jericho for the first time and one of the characters said something that confused me. He said that foreign jets flew in America only once: when Italy patrolled the borders after 9/11. That really confused me ‘cause I don’t remember that happening. But, I was in the hospital at the time so maybe I missed it. Did Italy really patrol part of the American border after 9/11, lol?

No Jericho spoilers please… I’m watching it for the first time!

 

[Roger Wilco]

I highly doubt it.

 

[DimesDan]

Is Jericho a documentary? If not, I too highly doubt such a situation would occur.

 

[Rhaven]

Italy has an Air Force?

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Is Jericho a documentary? If not, I too highly doubt such a situation would occur.

While it strikes me as unlikely, it also strikes me as unlikely that you would just drop this information as a fact for no reason.

 

[DimesDan]

Is Jericho a documentary? If not, I too highly doubt such a situation would occur.

While it strikes me as unlikely, it also strikes me as unlikely that you would just drop this information as a fact for no reason.

I know you quoted me, but are you addressing me? I didn't create this thread, never heard of the programme in question before and was only concurring with Roger's post which was directly before mine.

 

[MacLeod]

I would doubt it. But it is possible if there were other NATO forces in N. America.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Is Jericho a documentary? If not, I too highly doubt such a situation would occur.

While it strikes me as unlikely, it also strikes me as unlikely that you would just drop this information as a fact for no reason.

I know you quoted me, but are you addressing me? I didn't create this thread, never heard of the programme in question before and was only concurring with Roger's post which was directly before mine.

He's using "you" to refer to the writers/producers of Jericho.

Here's the quote from the episode:

"Red Flag"

Eric: Since when do we let foreign jets fly through our airspace?
Hawkins: It happened only once. Italy patrolled the border after 9/11. But that was it.

I can't find anything online so far about Italian jets patrolling US borders post-9/11, and I can't really imagine why that would be necessary since we certainly have no shortage of fighter planes.

The actual quote itself is wrong, though, in that we frequently allow foreign military aircraft to fly in our airspace as part of airshows, training for new export aircraft, military exchange programs, or joint exercises in the US, such as Red Flag exercises, which gave the episode its name. That's one possibility for the presence of Italian jets patrolling the border on 9/11 if true (though I would have to think it would be a little easier to find information on it online, if it were accurate). They could have already been here as part of an exercise or exchange program and scrambled along with US fighters when needed.

 

[Roshi]

Italy has an Air Force?

The US have an Education System?

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Is Jericho a documentary? If not, I too highly doubt such a situation would occur.

While it strikes me as unlikely, it also strikes me as unlikely that you would just drop this information as a fact for no reason.

I know you quoted me, but are you addressing me? I didn't create this thread, never heard of the programme in question before and was only concurring with Roger's post which was directly before mine.

Sorry, "you would" as in "one would." My point is, even though it's not a documentary, it's still a strange thing to say unless it's important to make up for the plot. That being said, I don't find anything suggesting it is true during a quick google search.

 

[Roger Wilco]

I don't think Italy even has the ressources to deploy planes over that distance, unless they were already there for some NATO manouver by coincidence. Not that the US would even need any help in that regard, even in a one-in-a-century emergency.

Why they would make it up - no idea. Hollywood screen writers don't always make sense.

 

[Rhaven]

Italy has an Air Force?

The US have an Education System?

It was a valid question. No need to be confrontational.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I don't think Italy even has the ressources to deploy planes over that distance, unless they were already there for some NATO manouver by coincidence. Not that the US would even need any help in that regard, even in a one-in-a-century emergency.

Why they would make it up - no idea. Hollywood screen writers don't always make sense.

I found a pdf online that mentioned the Italian Air Force and border security after 9/11, but they were talking about their own border, not the US. It's possible someone just misunderstood the title and tossed it in as an offhand reference in the episode.

The same question about Italian jets patrolling the US border after 9/11 did get asked in one Yahoo Answers page, but there was only one smartass comment in reply. They probably got the question from the Jericho episode too.

This does have me curious though, now. I wish I could find a more definitive answer.

 

[Gotham Central]

Getting back to the original post, no it does not appear that Italian planes patrolled our skies post 9/11. However, the writers may have confused this with the fact that NATO AWACs did patrol the skies for about a year after the incident. The AWACs were originally based in Europe and had European crews.

Here is an article from the NY TImes: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/02/us/nato-planes-to-end-patrol-of-us-skies.html

 

[FPAlpha]

Italy has an Air Force?

The US have an Education System?

It was a valid question. No need to be confrontational.

No it was not.. it was an insulting and demeaning question because it insinuates that Italy is so backwards that they can't afford an air force on their own.

It's the same type of question like "France has a military?" and you got an appropriate response.

And to the question: No... no foreign jet flew immediately after 9/11 as everybody except the US military was grounded.

And even after 9/11 no other air force patrolled US borders as the US didn't invoke a NATO emergency and called for aid.. i think the United States is perfectly capable of patrolling their own borders and wouldn't require help. In fact it may be counterproductive in a crisis situation to include a foreign element (as well meaning as it is) because it induces the risk of mistaken identity and accidents.

Without having seen this episode i'd attribute it to writers imagination and carefree attitude about historical correctness.

 

[eastman23]

If there were any foreign (to the US) jets patrolling American airspace on or immediately after 9/11, they would likely have been Canadian CF-18s operating under NORAD command.

 

[J.T.B.]

The only way I can see that happening is if there was an Italian unit already in the US for training. Otherwise it's an awfully long way to go for a mission that the US really didn't need any help with. It could be done with aerial refueling, but why?

I don't know if the Aeronautica Militare trains in the US at all. The German Air Force has a training center at Holloman AFB in New Mexico, do other Tornado-equipped NATO forces use it? The RAF has also trained squadrons at various US bases, but I don't know about Italy.

Justin

 

[Rhaven]

The US have an Education System?

It was a valid question. No need to be confrontational.

No it was not.. it was an insulting and demeaning question because it insinuates that Italy is so backwards that they can't afford an air force on their own.

Excuse me, are you reading my mind? Do you know just what my intent was?

It's the same type of question like "France has a military?" and you got an appropriate response.

Now if I had done that or written a LOL after my original question, then you'd be justified in jumping in with both feet.
So please, remove your boot from my 4'th point of contact.

 

[{ Emilia }]

You must consider us incredibly naive if you think we're buying the "I didn't mean it like that!"-nonsense.

Italy is a country with 60 million inhabitants, NATO member and the 8th biggest economy on Earth.

What do you think? Does Italy have an air force?

Does Italy have beaches?

 

[Locutus of Bored]

It was a valid question. No need to be confrontational.

No it was not.. it was an insulting and demeaning question because it insinuates that Italy is so backwards that they can't afford an air force on their own.

Excuse me, are you reading my mind? Do you know just what my intent was?

It's the same type of question like "France has a military?" and you got an appropriate response.

Now if I had done that or written a LOL after my original question, then you'd be justified in jumping in with both feet.
So please, remove your boot from my 4'th point of contact.

C'mon, dude, you're really going to try and pass that off like it was a serious question? Tiny little island nations can manage to put together a few planes for an air force, do you really think a founding NATO member and G-20 economy like Italy couldn't afford one?