Page 7 - Desert Lightning News, Nellis-Creech AFB Edition, May 14, 2021

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tests, from Page 1 During this phase, the new UIPE
systems integration was tested on HH-60
Force, so our testing phase is critical,” said Pave Hawk helicopters from the 855th Celebrating 80 years of elite
2nd Lt. Gunnar Kral, Air Force Life Cycle Aircraft Maintenance Squadron.
Management Center, AF CBRN Defense Testers evaluated how it integrated
Systems Branch systems engineer. with the aircraft and the other equip-
The new system is a two-piece under- ment the rotary wing air crews are re-
garment that is lighter, offering better quired to use. The exercise also provided simulated warfighter training
mobility, and is more breathable, which assessors individual notes from the air
lowers the thermal burden on warfight- crews in order to make changes or im-
ers. With this, air crews will be able to provements.
stay in the suit longer and do their jobs The representative airframes for the
with less heat burden or chances of heat initial integration and wear evaluation
causalities. phase of the new system will be the KC- by Christie Vanover By September 1941, more than 80 “Shooting BBs at a toy airplane is the skills without needing students to
“Moving to an under layer, allows air 135 Stratotanker, F-16 Fighting Falcon, Nellis AFB, Nev. instructors graduated after mastering first step; drilling a flying target with climb into a B-29 or B-17 until they
crews to use an outer layer they’re more C-130 Hercules and the HH-60 Pave From wooden rifles to virtual the training tactics and procedures. machine-gun pellets from a speeding were overseas,” he said.
familiar with, like their flight suits,” said Hawk. reality, Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., The post flag was raised Oct. 12, 1941, plane the last – and between them a In three-and-a-half years, the
1st Lt. Hunter Mangueira, Air Force Life This upgrade is an immense under- has used simulation to train warf- and the first class of student gunners crack aerial gunner is produced,” he schoolhouse trained around 45,000
Cycle Management Center, AF CBRN taking, considering the U.S. Air Force ighters for decades. arrived shortly after the bombing at said. aerial gunners.
Defense Systems Branch systems engi- alone accounts for more than 80,000 Today, Nellis Airmen can step Pearl Harbor. After mastering the BB gun shoot- At the 1942 first anniversary
neer. “We’re trying to make CBRN flight systems. inside the new Virtual Test and The 1940s-era simulation training ing gallery, the students trained with celebration of the gunnery school
equipment similar to the flight crews The projected goal of the participating Training Center, which uses ad- began by introducing the students to skeet shooting to garner the experience with a single candle on the cake,
regular mission set equipment, removing agencies is to finalize and verify the de- vanced computer-generated mod- wooden guns, which provided them of unpredictable aerial targets. Next, Stenseth said the work and training
the learning curve and any hindrance sign and begin distribution by the second els to simulate in-flight combat, with the basic feel of a gun. Within they added another element of motion mission at the school would carry
when they conduct their missions.” quarter of fiscal year 2024. and they can take advantage of ar- five weeks, the men were expected to by shooting aerial targets from the back on. As Nellis celebrates an 80-year
become expert marksmen prepared to
of a moving truck.
milestone and continues to train
tificial intelligence and algorithms occupy large bombers and observation Flook said the trainers simulated America’s elite warfighters, Stens-
to predict competitors’ actions. and reconnaissance planes in support the experience of shooting from a B-29 eth’s words still hold true.
Conversely, during World War World War II. airplane by creating a mobile platform “The mission of the early gun-
II, technology was much more “Flexible guns have to be used like with a turret. The aerial gunners would nery school is carried on today by
rudimentary, but the demand to shotguns, and the mere trick of aiming maneuver the turret from the mobile the USAF Weapons School,” said
develop proficient warfighters was them is not to be mastered in haste,” truck while the tracks were whizzing Daniel Wheaton, 57th Wing histo-
great. U.S. Army Reserve Capt. Lowell Lim- by. rian. “The school teaches graduate-
On March 24, 1941, the War pus wrote in a Dec. 11, 1941, article “Trainers developed aerial gunner level instructor courses that provide
Department granted $2.2 mil- the world’s most advanced training
lion for the construction of an in weapons and tactics employment
aerial gunnery school, which is to officers and enlisted specialists of
now known as Nellis Air Force the combat air forces and mobility
Base. The gunnery school was air forces.”
the nation’s first school aimed at
teaching men how to shoot from LEFT: This elevated fuselage-
Air Force photographs by Senior Airman Dwane R. Young fast-moving aircraft for combat type simulator was used to train
Airmen assigned to the 88th Test and Evaluation Squadron perform pre-flight checks on operations. gunners how to fire from a B-29
an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter in full Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear While some of the men had at the Las Vegas Army Air Corps
(CBRN) flight gear during a developmental test at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., April 20, recreational experience shooting Gunnery School in April 1945. The
2021. Airmen performed normal pre-flight checks testing viability of new undergarment weapons, for many, holding a rifle gunnery school was the nation’s
component added to the CBRN suit. was completely new, as was shoot- first school aimed at teaching men
Maj. Daniel Morrissey, 88th Test and Evaluations Squadron assistant director of operations, ing it with precision from one fast- how to shoot from fast-moving
is fitted with Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear flight gear by Tech Sgt. moving target to another. aircraft for combat operations.
Michael Engen, 88th TES aircrew flight equipment technician, before a development test “There was a need to train a
at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., April 20, 2021. CBRN equipment provide Chemical, Biological, complex activity that you couldn’t
Radiological, and Nuclear protection to air crews in a toxic environment. mimic anywhere,” said Jim Flook,
99th Air Base Wing historian.
An Airman assigned Within one month of appro-
to the 88th Test priations, construction for the
and Evaluation gunnery school was underway, and
Squadron performs Lt. Col. Martinus Stenseth was as-
pre-flight checks signed as commandant. On May 5, about the training. “After the enemy
on an HH-60G Pave 1941, Stenseth began his command plane is spotted and recognized, the
Hawk helicopter from the basement of the Las Vegas gunner has to be able to estimate its
in full Chemical, Federal Building, which is now the speed and course.
B i o l o gic a l, Mob Museum, a tourist attraction “Next, our gunner has to figure out
Radiological, and in downtown Las Vegas. where the plane is going to be when his
Nu cl ear f li ght “He focused on creating the in- stream of bullets get there, and that
gear during a frastructure that was going to allow means learning to aim at a distance
developmental for the training of aerial gunners,” and empty hole in the sky, and to
test at Nellis Air said Flook. aim there as carefully as any rifleman
Force Base, Nev., The school was designed to drawing a bead on a stationery target,”
April 21, 2021. accommodate 2,800 service mem- he added. Air Force photographs
Airmen provided bers and included barracks, ad- To achieve this level of proficiency, During World War II, students at the Las Vegas Army Air Corps Aerial Gunnery School
individual notes to ministrative and operations build- Limpus said the training involved six participated in six steps of training. One step involved shooting from an E-5 truck
assessors following ings, mess halls, a hospital unit and steps that increased in difficulty as the modified to carry the Sperry Lower Ball Turret. This allowed gunners to experience
the test in order to An Airman assigned to the 88th Test and Evaluation Squadron performs pre-flight checks recreational facilities. students’ skills increased. shooting from a mobile position. This photograph by taken Sept. 27, 1941.
make changes or on an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter in full Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear
improvements. flight gear during a developmental test at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., April 20, 2021.