This year the Seattle Seahawks will take on the Denver Broncos for rights of Super Bowl Champions at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. This year’s matchup will see Payton Manning take on the Seahawks known for their 12th man which experts call the loudest fans in the league. But one thing that will not be seen during game day is the countless months of preparation and planning that has taken place for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine (OAM) to prepare for this event.
Over the past year OAM has planned and developed a team that includes agents from Tucson, Miami, Detroit, Plattsburgh, Ronkonkoma and Manassas, Va. to make this year a success. The logistics also included bringing in Citations out of Tucson, UH-60 Black Hawks out of Detroit and Miami and also AS-350 A-Stars out of Detroit and Plattsburgh.
During the game OAM will provide both rotary aircraft and fixed-wing aircraft that will assist the New Jersey State Police, Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security. The mission game day will be to enforce the temporary flight restrictions (TFR) that will be put in place prior to and throughout the event. While the TFR is in effect OAM will intercept any aircraft that violates the air space and escort them out of the area or conduct additional response actions if necessary.
While enforcing the TFR, OAM will also assist the state, local and federal authorities with a real-time aerial video downlink that will be fed into numerous command centers around the stadium. This live downlink feed will give law enforcement on the ground the ability to make informed decisions of any situation that may arise in the sky or on the ground.
Even though the big game is not scheduled to kick off until Sunday night, OAM officially kicked off their operation on Monday January 27 when all 7 aircraft arrived on Long Island, N.Y. to support the Super Bowl.