B-52H bomb
ers arriving from Anderson AFB, Guam, and Barksdale AFB, La., joined forces in the skies over Alaska earlier this month to practice attacks on mock targets during the most recent Red Flag-Alaska exercise. RF-A 09-1 ran from Oct. 2-17, with flying operations over the Pacific Alaskan Range Complex. The B-52s flew non-stop 23-hour (from Andersen) and 18-hour (from Barksdale) missions to the PARC, refueled along the way by KC-135s from McConnell AFB, Kan. Once over the PARC, the B-52s dropped their simulated bomb loads and, together with their F-16 escorts from Kunsan AB, South Korea, defended themselves against mock enemy fighters played by F-16s of the 18th Aggressor Squadron based at Eielson AFB, Alaska. The B-52s that participated from Andersen belong to the 23rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron deployed to the Pacific island on a rotational stint from their home at Minot AFB, N.D. The Barksdale B-52s are with the 96th Bomb Squadron. (Eielson report by SrA. Jonathan Snyder)
In the face of Chinese war plans to disrupt U.S. command-and-control networks in the event of a conflict, the Air Force needs to focus less on its “connect everything” efforts and prepare its combat aviators to fight without a constant connection to higher-ups, according to a new report from AFA’s…
