Two B-52s flew a 26-hour, nonstop mission from Barksdale AFB, La., to southern Europe, conducting a series of scenarios during NATO’s largest integration exercise in 20 years, officials announced. Two aircraft conducted a “show of force” over the San Gregorio range near Zaragoza, Spain, during Exercise Trident Juncture, Nov. 4. The aircraft also conducted a maritime strike, and integrated with allied forces for an exercise in Portugal before returning to Barksdale. “Trident Juncture gives us an invaluable opportunity to hone our warfighting skills. It allows us to integrate with our NATO allies,” 8th Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Richard Clark said. “These missions enhance our interoperability and teamwork, demonstrate global reach capability of our bomber force, and allow our aircrews to train on the unique demands of long duration sorties.” Trident Juncture is Air Force Global Strike Command’s third major B-52 European training event this year. B-52s also flew in Exercise Immediate Response over Slovenia, deployed to RAF Fairford, UK, for exercises Baltops and Saber Strike, and conducted a non?stop training sortie with NATO allied aircraft over the North Sea.
As commander of Air Forces Central, Lt. Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich has been in the middle of almost all U.S. military action in the Middle East, from overseeing airstrikes against Iranian proxy groups to protecting troops as America’s air defense commander for the region. Just before handing over his command to…