Bomber maintenance crews deploy to Guam
March 17, 2003
By Staff Sgt. Jess Harvey
7th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, GUAM -- Airmen in the 7th Air Expeditionary Wing here are starting to feel at home after being deployed to this tropical isle.
Thanks to some help from Team Andersen and each other, airmen associated with the B-1B Lancers and B-52H Stratofortresses are finding that deploying to a new location doesn't have to be all bad.
Staff Sgt. Daniel Vanderleest, a B-52 crew chief from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., said things here are improving since he arrived.
"It's getting better," said Sergeant Vanderleest. "It's just like starting any other deployment up when you have nothing, and we've done a really good job of getting up and running."
A lot of it had to do with their readiness, he said.
"We were all pretty prepared," he said. "We all knew this was going to happen, and we were just waiting for the phone call."
Senior Airman Brad Mills, a B-1 avionics specialist from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, said he was surprised when he got here.
"It's been a lot better than I expected," he said. "Last time I deployed, it was to worse conditions."
During his previous deployment, like many others around the world, Airman Mills was living in tents but here, 7th AEW folks are all living in permanent buildings.
"Where I'm staying is great," said Senior Airman Joshua Brennan, a B-52 avionics specialist. "It's pretty much just like Air Force billeting, and I have no complaints."
Sergeant Vanderleest said living in these facilities makes life easier. "You're not living in tents where you have to get up in the middle of the night and leave the tent to go to the bathroom."
"I've been on nine deployments, and this definitely isn't the worst," said Staff Sgt. Derek Bussard, a B-52 avionics specialist, who has been in for more than 13 years. "Overall, I have nothing to complain about as long as I have a roof over my head and a place to keep my tools."
He said the location and the job here couldn't be better, and others tend to agree.
"The job is good," said Airman Brennan. "It's a steady paced workload; there's always something to do, and there's a good balance of free time and work."
That workload began on day one.
"Even before the B-1s got here, there was plenty to do," said Airman Teal Kolakowski, a B-1 crew chief who's been in the Air Force for less than a year. The first few days were spent setting up tents to work out of.
Tech. Sgt. Wendi Dunn, a B-52 aircraft maintenance scheduler, said they also spent their first few days setting up shop.
"It's been busy," said Sergeant Dunn who has been in for 17 years. "I've never deployed before, and it's been kind of hectic setting things up."
She mentioned that being busy isn't necessarily bad. "The days have gone by fast, and we haven't had a slow day yet."
With no previous deployment experience, she compared it to a TDY.
"When you go TDY someplace, the base usually has already set up a facility and everything is set to go, but before we moved in here, the place was just an empty building and a mess.
"We had to clean everything up," she said. "It was like we were starting from scratch."
They also had to get ready for the bombers.
"We had a lot of details to do to make sure things were prepared for when the aircraft did arrive," said Airman 1st Class Tara Rice, a B-1 weapons loader. They had to make sure the aircraft parking areas and ramps were cleared and ready.
Although busy, Airman Rice said she was happier than most to be here.
"For most people, being deployed is harder because they don't get to see their families, but for me, I am actually closer to my family," said Airman Rice who is a Guam native. "It's great to be back and see my family. It's wonderful, I love being home."
For the other airmen though, being a team has made it easier.
"I think [most all the B-1 maintainers] are from the same squadron, so we've been working together for months or, for some, even years," said Airman Kolakowski.
Sergeant Dunn said they've been working with their counterparts quite a bit.
"We work real close with the B-1 schedulers," she said. "The cooperation has been fantastic."
The avionics troops, who normally don't see each other, have been working together also.
"We worked hand-in-hand to identify a secure location for some of our equipment when we first got here," said Sergeant Bussard.
Staff Sgt. Daniel Smith, B-52 crew chief from Barksdale AFB said there's always been a little rivalry between B-52 and B-1 troops, but it hasn't been too bad here.
"I normally see it in the younger guys who have a lot of pride in their airplane," he said. He pointed out that it's important that all the deployed troops work as a team.
"We're all here doing the same thing, doing one mission," said Sergeant Smith. (PACAFNS)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
