FORT SILL, Okla., March 31, 2016 -- Range Operations officers here helped coordinate a joint effort between a B-52 bomber crew and joint air controllers (JTAC) March 23 at Thompson Hill.
The B-52 crew flew up from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., while the joint air controllers were from the 146th Air Special Operations Squadron (ASOS), an Air Force Reserve unit at Will Rogers Air National Guard Base, Okla.
"B-52 bomber pilots flew in for their annual certification requirements in mid-air refueling, navigation and targeting," said Buddy Leavell, range operations officer. The B-52 jet dropped 18 bombs in four passes as joint air controllers provided ground level coordinates for the B-52 crew.
Shortly after 2 p.m. the B-52 made its first approach to identify targets while the JTAC confirmed this to be a safe zone. As the bomber circled around for the drop, the JTAC team provided nine-line information to the pilot.
"The airplane will drop from 10,000 feet to 7,500 feet as he approaches the drop zone some 35 meters out from the actual target," said Leavell.
The M-117 (750-pound) bomb was the weapon of choice during this exercise.
"These M-117s were leftover Vietnam era bombs, they were the only ones in inventory where the explosive part outweighs the casing," said Paul Shea, range operations post scheduler. "They are strictly designed for blast pressure killing."
The more than 93,000 acres of land mass with varying terrain and climate plus 4,226 square miles of air space make Fort Sill a place of choice for other services to train.
"The close proximity of the JTAC in Oklahoma City and the large amount of restricted airspace and live bomb capability make Fort Sill very attractive for use," said Leavell.
Two of the 10 targets were completely destroyed while the others were blown around from the percussion or riddled with shrapnel, providing a display of land to air coordination with potentially deadly results.
For more than 40 years, B-52 Stratofortresses have been the backbone of the manned strategic bomber force for the United States. The B-52 is capable of dropping or launching the widest array of weapons in the U.S. inventory. This includes gravity and cluster bombs, precision guided missiles and joint direct attack munitions.
As stated by the Air Force, the modern technology B-52 will be capable of delivering the full complement of joint developed weapons and will continue into the 21st century as an important element of the nation's defenses. Current engineering analyses show the B-52's life span to extend beyond the year 2040.
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