Page 1 - Nellis AFB Bullseye 7-24-15

Vol. 65 No. 29
July 24, 2015

‘Thunder’ rolls at fort irwin
By Airman 1st class Mikaley towle
U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Mikaley Towle
99th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Airmen assigned to the 22nd Special Tactics Squadron, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., look on as an
A-10 Thunderbolt II departs from the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., July 16. An austere field NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. — They stand in the sweltering
landing allows for the A-10 pilots to push in, refuel, and provide support in a heavily-contested environment. summer sun on a lake bed as dry as chapped lips in wintertime. Silence
stretches throughout the empty valley and the occasional breeze offers
little relief from the unforgiving sun’s rays. Beads of sweat trickle down
their foreheads as they communicate by radio with the inbound pilots.

As combat controllers, part of their job is to embed with U.S. Army
or Marine Corps units to call in air strikes on the right target, at the
right time.

On July 16, a flight of two A-10 Thunderbolt IIs appeared like dots
on the horizon of the National Training Center range at Fort Irwin,
California, continuously approaching the dirt flightline on which
they’d land. They circled the strip like sharks before finally landing
and sending up huge clouds of dirt.

After exiting their aircraft and performing post-flight inspections, the
two pilots met with the combat controllers who called them in. Shortly
after meeting, they got into separate Humvees and left the site to meet
with an Army brigade commander and his staff in another location on
the range.

This event marked the first time A-10 pilots in a Green Flag-West
training exercise landed at the NTC and met face-to-face with an
Army ground commander.

“This was the first A-10 landing at Bike Lake as well as meeting
with the brigade commander,” said Maj. Jason Feuring, 549th Combat
Training Squadron director of operations. “This meeting established
rapport with the brigade and reassured them that the Air Force will be
there for them when they call. By meeting with the commander and
his staff and seeing the battlefield from the ground, the pilots gained
See A10, on page 3

Hill activates their first F-35 fighter squadron

By Mitch shaw The 34th Fighter Squadron — af- in conflicts from Vietnam and the first becoming the first operational Air Force
fectionately known as the Rude Rams Gulf War to Iraq and Afghanistan, post unit to fly combat-coded F-35s.
Hilltop Times Correspondent — was reactivated, marking the begin- 9/11.
ning of the F-35’s combat era for both Col. David B. Lyons, the current 388th
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah — The the 388th and 419th Fighter Wings. The The squadron was mothballed as an FW commander and former commander
jets won’t arrive for another few months, fighter squadron is a historic one, with F-16 Fighting Falcon unit in 2010 as part of the 34th FS, said the reactivation is
but Hill AFB activated its first F-35 a past that can be traced back to Word of an Air Force restructuring plan to re- one of the highlights of his career. He
Lightning II fighter squadron during a War II, which included participation tire planes and save money, but it returns See hill Afb, on page 3
ceremony here July 17. to accommodate the F-16’s replacement,

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