January 24, 2008 Otis Air base closes 35-year mission Play video

(NECN) - For the final time on the Otis flight line, the horn sounded, the bell rang, the pilots scrambled and a pair of F-15 Eagles rolled out with a high, whining roar. They had done it hundreds of times but on Thursday, it was just for the memories.

Otis is changing its mission and the F-15s made their vertical take-off into a gray Cape Cod winter sky for the last time. Two of the most experienced operators ended the final scramble passing under a ceremonial arch of fire hoses. There were greetings from family and then a good champagne and water hosing down to keep with tradition. NECN's Greg Wayland has more.

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(horn and bell)

For a final time on the Otis flight line, the horn sounds, the bell rings, pilots scramble and a pair of f-15 eagles rolled out with a high, whining roar.

They have done it hundreds of times. But this time was just for the memories. -- A ceremonial last scramble for the benefit of all.

“It was nice having the family out. My kids got to see me actually physically fly for the first time ever which was really neat. “

Otis is changing its mission. And the F-15s made their vertical take-off into a gray Cape Cod winter sky for the last time. And the emotion ran from the general on down.

“It's a bittersweet moment. I mean this is the last alert scramble. Thirty-five years of excellence. It kind of puts a tear into your eye. “

For the last thirty-five years, three

hundred sixty five days a year, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week these guys have done the mission and this is the end of it.

“It's hugely significant. I mean we've been sitting alert guarding New England for a long, long time. Thirty-five years. Sitting alert. So to have to give it up and quit flying F-15s is hard on everybody.”

(roar of jet)

There were several roaring, wing-tipping flyovers by wing commander Col. Tony Schiavi and Maj. Dan Nash -- a kind of flamboyant long goodbye for the benefit of loved ones and well-wishers down below. The Otis 5-15s have had some memorable moments. September 11th and of course, everybody remembers the shoe bomber. It was Otis F-15s that intercepted that airliner and led it into Logan.

The new mission for the 102nd fighter wing will be land-bound, and focus on intelligence gathering.

Much of it's classified but it'll be a four hundred-man organization. We'll be working different types of intelligence working from imagery analysis....

“It's his command and control mechanism to say, ‘I want bombs here, I want this done, I want that done.’ This team of people builds that plan and they usually have to be real experienced operators.”

And two of the most experienced operators ended the final scramble passing under a ceremonial arch of fire hoses...there were greetings from family...and then a good champagne and water hosing down in keeping with tradition.

“Oh, yeah, it's really sad. I mean it's a great place to fly the jet. And I’ve loved living on the Cape, so ah, who knows how long it'll take to sell my house? Maybe I’ll be living here a little while longer. “

“Everybody’s got to hang them up at some point.”

At Otis Air Base on Cape Cod, Greg Wayland, NECN.