ARLINGTON, Virginia – At first glance, the District of Columbia Air National Guard's alert facility looks more like a family room than the home of one of the nation's most critical homeland defense missions. Oversized couches face several large-screen televisions, a spacious kitchen surrounds a long dining table, and soft lighting gives the space a quiet, homey feel.
Then the horn sounds.
Within seconds, Airmen are jumping up and sprinting toward armed F-16 Fighting Falcons. A zig zag through narrow hallways that leads to a large bay, housing the jets. A path that the Airmen could run through in their sleep.
That is the nature of the job for Airmen serving the 113th Wing’s Air Control Alert, or ACA, mission – ready to launch at a moment's notice to defend the skies above the nation's capital. The wing recently received recognition for both its alert mission at home and the actions of its Airmen in combat.
"We're firefighters for the sky," said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Anthony Cristaldi, an Air Control Alert shift lead. "We literally sit around and wait for that horn to go off just like a firefighter does. While it sounds like a waste of time, if we're not here, if somebody tries, they're going to succeed. With us here, it's not happening."
The 113th ACA unit responds to air emergencies, sovereignty violations, and potential airborne threats in the National Capital Region, where its alert mission operates at a pace unmatched by other ACA units across the country.
Since its creation following the September 11th attacks 25 years ago, the 113th has recorded more than 8,180 alert events and generated 3,474 sorties in response to those alerts. They lead the nation in ACA activity, with more than twice as much activity as the next busiest facility.
"We have them multiple times a day here," said U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Terry Copic, the senior enlisted leader of the ACA mission. "It's completely different than any other alert unit across the country. It never ends."
Supporting that pace requires scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, inspections, and training to keep aircraft prepared to launch throughout the shifts.
"We always have to have our jets up and ready to go," Copic said. "If one of the jets breaks, we're calling people in from home because it's that dedicated and that serious."
Airmen assigned to the alert mission are also required to have extensive experience on the F-16.
"We don't let new people work down here," Copic said. "You have to be very experienced on the F-16 and know what you're doing because of this no-fail mission."
Cristaldi credits the Airmen carrying out the mission with the unit's success.
"My success is their success," he said. "If they're not successful, I'm not successful. I'm super proud of everybody here. They make us look good."
The 113th Wing's ACA unit was recently named the North American Aerospace Defense Command Air Control Alert Unit of the Year for 2025, NORAD's highest recognition for alert operations.
The ACA award is not the only recent recognition for the 113th Wing.
Three F-16 pilots assigned to the 121st Fighter Squadron — Maj. Benjamin “Boom” Saunders, Maj. Eric “Fume” Anderson and Capt. Ryan “Hammer” Boodee — received the Distinguished Flying Cross with “C” device for combat in February for their actions during a large-scale Iranian drone attack, April 13, 2024.
While deployed to Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, the pilots flew defensive counter-air missions as more than 100 Iranian drones approached. During the attack, 15 Iranian drones were shot down. After Saunders fired all his missiles, he switched to his F-16's 20mm cannon to down another drone at low altitude. Even after exhausting their ammunition, the crews remained in the fight, providing targeting information to other aircraft.
“We train like we fight,” said U.S. Air Force Gen. Steve Nordhaus, chief of the National Guard Bureau, during the award ceremony. “These Airmen worked hard to understand their aircraft, weapons, radar, tactics, and rules of engagement. The leadership of the 113th Wing set up realistic training.”
For the Airmen standing alert in the nation's capital, the mission continues around the clock, with the sound of the horn sending them toward their F-16s.
"We're the first line of defense for the capital region," Cristaldi said.
"At the end of the day," he added, "it's one of the most important missions that the Air Force has here in the States when it comes to air defense."