917th Wing shines at Bomb Comp

Published March 5, 2009
By Tech. Sgt. Jeff Walston
917 Wing

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. -- Air Force reservists from the 917th Wing took top honors in every event they competed in during the Giant Sword II/Proud Shield II Bomb & Load Competition and Symposium here.

The wing's 93rd Bomb Squadron B-52 crew won Best Bomb B-52 and Proud Shield II Best Bomb during the last weeks of February.

"The B-52 and Team Barksdale won the top-two spots for bombing accuracy and timing out of all of the bombers competing including the B-1s and B-2s," said Col. Edmund D. Walker, 917th Wing commander. "That says something about the B-52 and the great partnership we have between the 2nd Bomb Wing and the 917th Wing here at Barksdale."

Members of the winning B-52 crew were happy to pass the praise around as they took congratulations after accepting the awards.

"The two youngest guys won it for us," said Lt. Col. Steve Smith, navigator on the 917th Wing's winning crew.

They are Capt. Andrew Baird, aircraft commander, and Capt. Andrew Marshall, radar navigator.

In laymen's terms, Captain Baird keeps the plane pointed in the direction of the target. A 10th of a degree off the mark could mean 40 feet off a target. Captain Marshall's job is to put the bomb on the target. Any deviation from either of the captains could mean missing the mark. Together, they put it on a target.

Any number of factors can put a bomb off course and off target. If it is hard to fathom just how accurate these crews were in dropping gravity bombs from such a high altitude, then one only has to walk across a room and try dropping a penny into a cup on the floor five feet below. Now try that a 30,000 feet at 100 knots.

"The losing bomb was only 34 feet off and that is pretty significant. The winning crew was within one second on their timing. We know how to drop bombs, secure them and we are the best...perfection is our goal in the nuclear mission," said Lt. Gen. Robert Elder Jr., 8th Air Force commander.

Captain Marshall is a homegrown member of the team, having spent four years as a crew chief with the 917th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron before getting his commission.

"I enjoyed every minute of working the flight line, but knew I wanted to fly since the start," he said. "My grandfather was a B-47 navigator, and ever since I can remember, that's what I wanted to do as well."

Once he received his commission, he went to the Combat Systems Officer course at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, and was then assigned to the 11th Bomb Squadron's B-52 flight training unit at Barksdale. He came back to the 93rd BS as a fully qualified navigator in January 2007, and then upgraded to radar navigator and instructor radar navigator.

"This was a team effort. In the Reserve, we have the advantage of the experienced working with the new," said Captain Marshall.

For the B-52 crew from the 917th Wing it was all smiles as they accepted their awards.

General Elder presided over the awards ceremony at Barksdale's Hoban Hall March 4, where he presented trophies to the winning crews before a crowd of supporters.

This type of Bomb Comp is a first in more than 15 years. General Elder would like to see the competition return as an annual event bringing more types of air frames and additional countries into the competition.

"I'm really happy with the way this all executed," he said. "Our goals with the Bomb Comp are similar to those of the Comps in the past, which is to demonstrate our capabilities to drop accurate bombs and, with the load comp, our ability to regenerate the airplanes quickly. Then, of course, we have the security forces competition as well, which demonstrates that we can secure our weapons and our airplanes. It accomplished all of our goals."

The 917th Wing's newest bomb squadron stepped up to the plate and came home with the trophies, once again proving that the caliber of Airmen, training and experience the Reserve brings to the fight and total force integration.

Bomb Comp results:

- 2nd Bomb Wing: Best Load Crew Team-Nuclear

- 5th Bomb Wing: Best Crew Chief Team-Nuclear

- 7th Bomb Wing: Best Load Crew Team-Conventional, Best Crew Chief Team-Conventional, Best Bomb B-1, Giant Sword II Best Wing and Proud Shield II/Giant Sword II Best Wing

- 509th Bomb Wing: Best Security Forces Team and Best Bomb B-2

- 917th Wing: Best Bomb B-52 and Proud Shield II Best Bomb (Air Force Reserve Command News Service)