93rd Bomb Squadron awarded Best Bomb Squadron

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Dave Leedom, 93rd Bomb Squadron commander, and Col. Keith Schultz, 307th Operations Group commander, proudly take hold of the LeMay Trophy as members of the 93rd Bomb Squadron (BS) gather on stage during the Global Strike Challenge awards ceremony at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., Nov. 9, 2011. The Global Strike Challenge is the world's premiere bomber competition and the LeMay Trophy is awarded to the best bomb squadron. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Greg Steele/Released)

93rd Bomb Squadron awarded Best Bomb Squadron

Members of the 93rd Bomb Squadron make their way to the stage after winning the LeMay Trophy during the Global Strike Challenge awards ceremony at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., Nov. 9, 2011. The Global Strike Challenge is the world's premiere bomber competition and the the LeMay Trophy is awarded to the best bomb squadron. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Greg Steele/Released)

Barksdale Reserve bomber unit wins LeMay Trophy

Published Nov. 14, 2011
By Jessica D'Aurizio
307th Bomb Wing

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. -- The 93rd Bomb Squadron here won the LeMay Trophy for the best bomb squadron during the 2011 Air Force Global Strike Command Global Strike Challenge Nov 9.

The 93rd BS is part of the Air Force Reserve Command's 307th Bomb Wing.

Global Strike Challenge is a competition that includes operations, maintenance, and security forces participants from both the missile and bomber communities. This year, approximately 400 service members competed to be the best of the best.

"Mission timing, electronic countermeasure, communication, in-flight planning, time on target, bomb score and numerous other items are factored in for the final win," said Lt. Col. Dave Leedom, 93rd BS commander. "It shows that our maintenance personnel consistently give us great equipment to accomplish the mission."

Much of the Global Strike Challenge took place at the respective units' home bases over the last several months, with B-1s, B-2s, and B-52s flying sorties to and from various ranges.

"It's interesting to note the highest scoring B-52 wing operations was the 307th BW. The combination of the 93rd and the 11th Bomb Squadron scores, with both squadrons using jets provided by our excellent Total Force Enterprise maintainers," said Leedom. In July, the 93rd completed its bomber operations portion for the competition but had to wait until the score posting this week to get the final results.

"The credit should go to the maintainers that generated the jet, the munitions troops that loaded the bombs, and the crew doing their jobs well," said Maj. Jesse Hildebrand, 93rd BS pilot for the competition mission. "Everyone I flew with were combat veterans and had a wealth of experience in the B-52."