Valiant Shield 5

SrA Jessica Landry, 917th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron weapons loader, installs safety devices on a GBU-12 laser guided bomb loaded on a B-52H Stratofortress after its return from a bombing mission in support of Valiant Shield, Andersen AFB, Guam, on 07 Aug 2007. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Greg Steele)

Valiant Shield 3

Maintenance personnel from the 917th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and the 36th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, perform an end-of-runway inspection on a B-52H Stratofortress after its return from a bombing mission in support of Valiant Shield, Andersen AFB, Guam, on 07 Aug 2007. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Greg Steele)

Valiant Shield 4

Barksdale bombers deploy to Valiant Shield 2007

Published Aug. 17, 2007
By Master Sgt. Greg Steele
917th Wing Public Affairs

BARKSDALE AFB, La. -- The 917th Wing deployed two B-52s and 36 personnel to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, July 31 to participate in Valiant Shield 2007.

Valiant Shield was a training exercise designed to bring multiple branches of the military together in response to global contingencies. The focus was to provide a seamless force which can respond to a broad range of mission scenarios.

The 93rd Bomb Squadron was tasked with participating in the SINKEX portion of the exercise. "SINKEX is a scenario within Valiant Shield," said Lt. Col. William Floyd, 917th Operations Support Flight director of operations. "Our mission here is to drop laser guided bombs on target ships out in the ocean."

The 917th Wg B-52s that participated in Valiant Shield left Barksdale AFB, carrying our GBU-12s, 500-pound laser-guided bombs. After landing at Guam, the aircraft parked alongside regular-duty B-52s from Barksdale, which have been positioned at Andersen since May fulfilling an Air and Space Expeditionary Force commitment.

"Because folks from the 20th were already in place here, it cut down on the amount of equipment we would normally have to bring to support our aircraft," said Master Sgt. Wesley Phillips, 917th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron superintendent while deployed. "The maintainers here have been great and have really bent over backward to help us."

The reserve wing B-52s were equipped with targeting pods, which enabled them to perform their own laser designation for dropping the laser-guided bombs. Unfortunately, the B-52s weren't the only aircraft striking the target ships. During both attempts to release their weapons, the ships sank before the B-52 aircrews could get their first bombs off the aircraft. They were then directed to release their weapons on the Farallon de Medinilla target range, a 200-acre island about 150 miles north of Guam.

"We were disappointed that we weren't able to hit the ships, but we were still able to show that we can put bombs on target," said Colonel Floyd. "Regardless, our traditional reservist crew members received excellent training on use of the targeting pod." (Air Force Reserve Command News Service)