Bomber surge: 103 sorties in less than three days
By Staff Sgt. Jess Harvey
7th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam - Although B-52 Stratofortresses and B-1B Lancers have become a common sight in the skies here, their presence has been more visible the past few days.
Bombers from the 7th Air Expeditionary Wing here, successfully completed 103 sorties in less than three days as part of a surge in operations March 30 through April 2.
"[This] performance is easily one of the three best military accomplishments that I've ever witnessed and clearly the most aggressive self-induced challenge," said Col. Jonathan George, 7th AEW commander. "After this week, I have complete confidence that our team can do anything."
He had intended the surge as a way to gauge what needed improvement.
"Initially, my intent for this effort was to see where we stood as a team, help us mature and determine what our weak areas might be," said Colonel George who described this test as a bomber version of baseball's spring training. "I knew that our team would work hard and put forth a great effort.
"What I wasn't prepared for was a championship performance," said the commander. "I've been around military jets and [operations] for 22 years, and no one could have done better.
"[They] turned spring training into a winning World Series," said Colonel George. "And lots of people have noticed."
"It proved, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that the 7th AEW is ready and capable to take on virtually any challenge," said Col. Robert Dickmeyer, 7th Expeditionary Maintenance Group commander. "Safely launching 103 bomber sorties in just 67 hours is an extremely aggressive tasking, but everyone stayed focused through the entire exercise and proved that the American spirit is our greatest weapon."
Colonel George said it was almost unbelievable for some.
"We've received a load of calls and e-mails asking for a correction to our typos on the sortie count," said Colonel George, who added he's not sure they believed him when he responded that the 103 sortie count was accurate.
Of those, 54 were B-52s and 49 were B-1s.
He mentioned the outstanding schedule they maintained was more demanding than any pace they'd ever see in normal operations.
Colonel Dickmeyer, noted that since the 7th AEW started flying March 10, they averaged around 21 sorties during any three-day period, and even that's not so easy to do.
"The typical turn-time for a bomber is roughly four to five hours," said Colonel Dickmeyer. "This period is needed to accomplish all required aircraft inspections, refuel the jet, and if necessary, load munitions."
Completing all the required tasks takes airmen from many career fields.
"The group has [a lot of] munitions and aircraft maintenance professionals all working in harmony to ensure each and every sortie is as successful as humanly possible," said Colonel Dickmeyer.
Lots of folks made this victory happen, Colonel George said. The backshops, supply folks, flightline maintenance troops, munitions troops, weapons loaders, supervisors and aircrew all made it happen.
But so did a lot of folks who are often overlooked like transportation, fuels, life support, air traffic controllers, intelligence, weather, security forces, medical and many others, according to Colonel George. "It's easy to miss folks when we have a big operation,.he said"
Col. Dickmeyer agreed this accomplishment involved everyone.
"The tremendous success achieved must be credited to the sheer determination and absolute professionalism of the 7th AEW team," said Colonel Dickmeyer who noted that he couldn't be prouder. "This was a team effort of epic proportions."
Colonel George agrees.
"[They] worked as a team, helped each other and remained flexible while staying focused and proved that American airpower rocks," he said. (PACAFNS)
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