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Barksdale reservists help recreate history

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Michael J. Andriacco
  • 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. --  Several flying units, including Air Force Reserve Command's 917th Wing, helped recreate a historical flight Aug. 24.

Barksdale's 2nd Bomb Wing and 917th Wing, along with the 53rd Wing from Eglin AFB, Fla., and the U.S. Air Force Weapons School from Nellis AFB, Nev., came together for the first time to fly a maritime intercept mission.

Three B-17s from the 2nd Bombardment Group, based at Langley Field, Va., flew the original mission May 12, 1938. Their mission was to locate and intercept the Rex, the flagship of the Navigazione Gernerale Italiana steamship line. The mission reshaped air power at the time.

Today's mission was designed with the same purpose in mind - to showcase the versatility and strike capabilities of the Air Force over any terrain.

Three B-52s flew about 1,600 miles to intercept the USNS 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo, a maritime prepositioning ship belonging to the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command.

The success of training mission shows the rapid-response, long-range nature of airpower and how the Air Force protects the homeland with the ability to intercept ships that are perceived to be threats to the homeland, said Lt. Gen. Robert J. Elder, 8th Air Force commander.

The Air Force used all three of its warfighting domains - air, space and cyberspace - to demonstrate its "global vigilance, global reach, global power."


One thing the B-17 crews didn't have in 1938 was the targeting system and data transmission technology on the B-52s.

If an enemy ship is well outside U.S. territory and poses a threat, the B-52 can identify the ship and transmit that data back to an intelligence team. With this information, U.S. officials make a determination to either stop the ship, sink it or continue to follow it, said Col. Robert Wheeler, 2nd Bomb Wing commander.

The close-working environment fostered by all the units involved was critical to the success of the mission.

"This mission couldn't have been accomplished without the interaction," said Lt. Col. Bob Nordberg, 917th Operations Support Flight commander and mission commander. "It was a total force initiative."  (Air Force Reserve Command News Service)