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BULLSEYE News February 17, 2017 13 www.aerotechnews.com/nellisafb Facebook.com/NellisBullseye
B-1B Lancer: Hard to be humble
By Airman 1st class Kevin tanenbaum
99th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. — The engines from two powerful bombers hum at an even pace as one of the most essential airframes in the U.S. Air Force’s arsenal, the B-1B Lancer, prepares to takeoff.
As the pilots of the B-1 perform interior checks, Senior Airman Jacob Widtmannheiser, a crew chief assigned to the 28th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, displays his squadron patch on his arm.
Written on the patch: “Hard to be Humble.”
For the Airmen of the 37th Bomb Squadron at Ells- worth AFB, this motto is one that’s hard to shy away from.
Since its inaugural flight on Oct. 1, 1986, the B-1B has been a work horse for the Air Force. The airframe holds records for speed, payload, range and time of climb in its class, and it brings all those talents to integrate with fifth-generation fighters during Red Flag 17-1 on Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.
“For Red Flag 17-1, the B-1 was the only bomber so our primary responsibility was strike, but we also fulfilled other roles as well,” said Jeffrey Spinney, 34th BS assistant flight commander for weapons and tactics. “Through the use of our sensors, we were able to provide a back fill to ISR (intelligence, surveillance and recon- naissance), RESCORT (rescue/escort), and targeting as well. Since the fighters have a limited number of bombs, we’re able to carry a larger payload and our primary role was attacking targets.”
During the three-week exercise, the aircrew from Ellsworth AFB were faced with many challenges, including a new avionics system and also integrating with a new fifth-generation platform for the first time in Red Flag.
U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Kevin Tanenbaum
Senior Airman Jacob Widtmannheiser, a crew chief assigned to the 28th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., prepares a B-1B Lancer for take-off during Red Flag 17-1 on Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., Jan. 27. Red Flag is one of a series of advanced training programs administered by the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center to train aircrews.
“This Red Flag was unique. The B-1 is going through a significant upgrade to our avionics so the biggest thing that we took away from this Red Flag is Link 16,” said Spinney. “It allows our jet to be interconnected with all of the other package players. If you look at when our program started in the 1980s, and it has gone through many upgrades, but this has been the most significant shift. When integrating with fifth-generation assets, the capability to be on that Link 16 and have those avionics brings us forward into the 20th century. There were many lessons learned and it was valuable to be able to work with them on that top-tier level.”
Getting to the top tier has been a lengthy process, and with months of work taking place before Red Flag, the
37th BS is ready to test and show off their new upgrade. “For our squadron, we’ve been training for seven months on the new aircraft,” said Spinney. “We’ve used this Red Flag as a capstone of sorts to validate the 37th BS capability with the airframe and new Link
16 system.”
The system isn’t the only new thing for the B-1 dur-
ing Red Flag. In addition to this system upgrade, the first ever Air Force F-35 squadron also participated in Red Flag 17-1.
“We’re integrating with the F-35. It’s the new kid on the block, but our tactics remain the same,” said Spin- ney. “The ability for the F-35 and rest of the fifth genera- tion to go a little bit further than everyone else gives us a little more. In terms of our overall tactics, other than an increased capability, we don’t shift them. Which is good, because we don’t have to reinvent the wheel and we just get that increased capability with the F-35.”
While both of these factors — the system upgrade and new fifth-generation airframe — served as tests for the 37th BS, the squadron took them in stride and Red Flag successfully.
“Our squadron is chalking this up as an outstanding victory. This is the first time that the 37th BS used the new airframe with the avionics upgrade,” said Spinney. “Our intelligence won the ‘Outstanding Unit Intel- ligence Award’ so they received a lot of great training out of the exercise. The maintenance unit also won the ‘Outstanding Maintenance Unit’ of Red Flag as well. It’s been a big win for us to all come together and integrate with fourth- and fifth-generation assets.”
Overall, the entire crew from Ellsworth AFB took their motto to heart during Red Flag 17-1, and will have even more trouble being humble.
“I know what the B-1 is here to accomplish, and it makes me proud to be a part of getting that jet in the air knowing what it’s capable of,” said Witmannheiser.
skyhawk reunion takes place at Red Flag 17-1
By eamon Hamilton
Special to The Bullseye
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. — A chance reunion between man and machine took place here during Red Flag 17-1.
Sgt. Murray Staff was deployed to Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, as an imagery specialist to record the the Royal Australian air force’s participation in the exercise, and was surprised to see a familiar A-4 Skyhawk jet parked on the adjacent flightline.
The jet is currently operated by Drak- en International Inc., but had started its life with the Royal Australian navy in 1967.
It was the same Skyhawk that Staff worked on prior to the jet being retired by the Navy in 1984.
“It’s a bit moving to see the old girl again,” Staff said.
Half a century after its first flight, the Skyhawk is still going strong, contracted to provide the U.S. Air Force and Coali- tion partners with adversarial support.
During Red Flag 17-1, the jet faced off against a mix of fourth and fifth genera- tion fighters over the Nevada desert — a world away from when it was launched by the RAN from the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne.
Staff joined the RAN in 1977 as an armorer, a similar trade to the RAAF’s own weapons ordnance technician, and spent much of his time working on the RAN’s Skyhawks.
The diminutive Skyhawk was re- nowned for its small size yet big punch, loaded by armourers with up to four tonnes of bombs, guided missiles, and even an air-to-air refuelling pod.
“I even spent a year in 1980 working on them on board the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne,” Staff said.
In 1983, the Australian government announced HMAS Melbourne would be retired without replacement, and the Skyhawk fleet was drawn down at their land base in Nowra, New South Wales, over the following year.
“In the last 12 months, we only had four aircraft left, and each aircraft was
allocated to one of the trades who worked on them,” Staff said.
“It was sunset days for the jet with the navy, which gave us an opportunity to take care of the aircraft.”
Staff and his fellow armourers were allocated aircraft N13-154905, which carried the nose serial ‘884.’
The armours duly nicknamed it “Dog” after the beloved main character in the Footrot Flats comic strip, even painting the cartoon Border Collie on the aircraft.
“We had responsibility for keeping it clean, conducting aircraft washes, and anything that needed to be done for the day-to-day running of the jet — securing it at night, towing it where it needed to be, and so on,” Staff said.
“There was always a sentimental at- tachment to that jet, and I never thought I’d see it again after it left in 1984.”
The navy’s Skyhawks were sold to the Royal New Zealand air force, ‘884’ took on a new life as NZ6213.
Staff meanwhile was offered three career paths — move to the air force as a weapons technician, or change roles
in the navy to become a photographer or meteorologist.
He chose photography, but moved over to the air force in 1987. Meanwhile, the RNZAF retired its fleet of Skyhawks — including NZ6213 — in 2001.
In 2013, NZ6213 was purchased by Draken and brought to the United States, becoming N143EM.
In 2016, Staff was selected to deploy to Red Flag 17-1, and waiting for him at AFB was the same Skyhawk he’d worked on decades before.
Whilst this particular Skyhawk first flew in 1967, it’s showing no signs of slowing down after half a century.
“Seeing ‘Dog’ over here at Nellis brought back many great memories of those times in the 1980s,” Staff said.
“Hopefully this grand lady still has plenty of life left in her and will continue to fly for many more years.”
“Like all Defence units, you build a strong camaraderie with your work- mates, and I still keep in contact with some of the armorers I knew from over 30 years ago.”