Deployed coalition forces celebrate Canada Day

by Senior Airman Benjamin Stratton379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

7/3/2013 - SOUTHWEST ASIA -- With Canadian flags strung from corner to corner, maple syrup candies on every table, and Canadian paraphernalia at every turn, Canadian, U.S., Australian, coalition and mission partners celebrated Canada's birthday July 1 during an event hosted by the 71st Expeditionary Air Control Squadron here in what is known as the "Pyramid" morale tent.Canada Day is a federal statutory holiday celebrating the anniversary of the July 1, 1867, enactment of the British North America Act, or what is now referred to as the Constitution Act of 1867. This legislature united three colonies into a single country called Canada within the British Empire.Many communities across the country host organized celebrations for Canada Day, usually outdoor public events, such as parades, carnivals, festivals, barbecues, air and maritime shows, fireworks and free musical concerts.Deployed service members here shared similar activities ranging from a Canadian trivia game, guitar solo and board games. Game prizes were affectionately adorned with red and white maple leafs and included everything from ball caps and t-shirts to Canadian flag pins and tattoos.

Dirty Jobs: Water, fuel systems maintenance

by Senior Airman Benjamin Stratton379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

6/19/2013 - SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Water and fuel systems maintenance Airmen from the 379th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron worked to replace one of the largest sewage lift station pumps here June 18."These pumps tend to get clogged with rags, sanitary napkins, etc.," said Staff Sgt. Daniel Schrader, a 379th ECES water and fuel systems maintenance technician deployed from Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va. "Our sewage systems weren't built to handle anything other than toilet paper and sewage, so when people put other things in them, it's bad news for everyone."The issue began with the damaged pump, but snowballed when the team went to replace it and a retaining rail pulled out of place requiring them to hoist an Airman into the hole to not only replace the pump, but also the unaligned rail."We have to make sure the sewage does indeed go away and doesn't come back up," said Chief Master Sgt. Jerry Williams, the 379th ECES superintendent permanently assigned here on a one-year controlled tour. "This is one of the main contributing factors to delivering combat power -- disposing of everyone's waste, and it's something a lot of people take for granted."The chief said the operation is a unified effort between agencies from across the wing including the fire department, bioenvironmental engineering, ground safety and his troops."The fire department provides the tripod and breathing equipment necessary for lowering our guys in the hole," Williams said. "Bio ensures the quality of air in the confined space, while safety provides the necessary oversight to help keep us on track."Everyone uses the restrooms making it everyone's responsibility to police what they put into the toilets so situations like these don't occur regularly, the chief said. While it is understood that the systems can get old and clog on their own, the base can certainly help these Airmen in a preventative way from having to fix things that wouldn't have been broken otherwise.

B-1B Lancer: More than meets the eye

by Senior Airman Benjamin Stratton379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

6/14/2013 - SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Carrying the largest payload of both guided and unguided weapons in the Air Force inventory, the multi-mission B-1B Lancer is the backbone of America's long-range bomber force and is flown here by the 34th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron."We have a lot of coalition forces on the ground in Afghanistan," said Lt. Col. Seth Graham, the 34th EBS commander. "They're able to focus on executing their various missions because of the air support we provide 365, 24/7."The colonel said it's hard to put into words the importance of what his unit does, but instead explained in a vignette the importance of his units air support to the nation's ground forces."On one occasion my crew arrived overhead of U.S. ground forces pinned down in a compound receiving small arms fire from multiple directions," the colonel said. "They tell the crew they are running low on ammo and need immediate air support. My crew employed a single 500 pound JDAM in close proximity to the friendly forces which forced the enemy to break contact and allowed our guys to walk out of that compound and back to their base. On the way out they told my guys 'thanks...you saved our lives today!' We make life and death decisions every day...that's the importance of what we do."This air support wouldn't be possible, however, without all the work going on behind the scenes in the squadron."We are tasked by the Air Tasking Order from the Combined Air and Space Operations Center and in turn our mission planning cell puts together everything the aircrew will need to be successful," said Maj. Aaron Mate, a 34th EBS assistant director of operations. "The mission planning cell is comprised of a chief of operations, two flyers, intelligence and an Army liaison officer."The MPC collects and processes data, integrating it into flight plans and mission folders that include all the information necessary for B-1 crews to dynamically support every regional command in Afghanistan on a given sortie. A pre-flight crew is then used to ready the aircraft. They run pre-flight checks to get the jet mission-ready for the crew who will fly the mission. They also secure a secondary aircraft in the event the primary encounters a malfunction prior to takeoff."We want our number of takeoffs to equal our landings," said Capt. Brandon Packard, a 34th EBS weapons systems officer. "So we go through these checks for the mission crew in order to, one, streamline the process and, two, for the safety and security of our crews and jets. We take this job just as seriously as flying a mission."Once the jet is ready to go and the mission crew has completed their pre-mission briefs, it's time for takeoff.The roles of pre-flight and mission crews are rotated as directed by their aviation resources managers and policy in order to manage fatigue."We can't have all the fun," Mate said jokingly. "Per AFI, we limit our crews to a 16 hour day -- this includes 13 hours in the air and 3 hours of mission preparation."The 16-hour rule can be waived by the operations group commander up to 24-hours to accommodate longer missions as directed by higher headquarters.Every crew is comprised of an aircraft commander, copilot and two weapons systems officers. With an intercontinental range and the ability to carry up to 48,000 pounds of munitions at 900-plus mph, the B-1 can rapidly deliver massive quantities of precision and non-precision weapons against any adversary, anywhere in the world, at any time."We are one of the most flexible close air support airframes in the Air Force," said Capt. Nikki Jansen, a 34th EBS pilot. "The B-1's speed and superior handling characteristics allow it to seamlessly integrate in mixed force packages. These capabilities, when combined with its substantial payload, diverse targeting system, long loiter time and survivability, make the B-1B a key element of any joint or coalition strike force."The aircrews and B-1s are deployed here from Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., and Dyess AFB, Texas."We get the greatest sense of satisfaction when the ground crew's joint terminal attack controller radios in thanking us for keeping them safe," said Graham.During the first six months of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, eight B-1s dropped nearly 40 percent of the total tonnage delivered by coalition air forces. This included nearly 3,900 Joint Direct Attack Munitions. The B-1 continues to be deployed today, flying missions daily in support of continuing operations.

Day on the Job: EOD techs

by Senior Airman Benjamin Stratton379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

5/30/2013 - SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Explosive ordnance disposal technicians deployed to Afghanistan perform counter-improvised explosive device operations in harsh conditions daily. Equipment and supplies are an essential element to this mission and without the modular supply depot here at the 379th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron's EOD flight, safe, secure and reliable operations would suffer."The big difference between here and stateside is that we do a lot of logistics moving supplies and equipment in and out of theater," said Senior Master Sgt. Loren Green, the 379th ECES EOD flight superintendent. "Units in Afghanistan will coordinate what they need with U.S. Air Forces Central Command and if we have what they're requesting, we'll get it to them as soon as possible."Green said if they can't support it, the request is forwarded to other AFCENT wings and eventually stateside.Instead of the traditional combat role they fulfill in Afghanistan, Staff Sgt. Joel Calahan, a 379th ECES EOD craftsman, added they're also an essential element in the force protection mission here."It never gets old," said Calahan. "We volunteered for this job -- you can't be assigned to EOD, not to mention the technical school is very hard and has a high dropout rate, so you really have to be committed."But after completing the 162 days of technical training, Green and Calahan said they get to play with many of the best equipment in the Air Force."We definitely have some of the coolest toys," Green said. "That's why I got into it in the first place."Joining the Air Force in 1996, fresh out of high school, Green, deployed here from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, said he couldn't see himself doing anything else."When I first came in, we didn't do nearly as much," Green said. "Back then, we were pretty much an insurance policy and we all felt very under-utilized."Much has changed in the last 17 years, including the expeditionary nature of the U.S. military following the start of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM."Now we're an essential part of the mission," he said. "Especially in the deployed environment."As an EOD technician, Green and fellow technicians handle live explosives, daily. Their job is to detect, identify, render safe, recover and dispose of unsafe explosives and ordnance, including conventional military ordnance; criminal and terrorist homemade items; and chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons."I love blowing stuff up," said Green, the Tampa Bay, Fla., native. "They pay me extra money to do it, too. You can't beat that anywhere."EOD techs also have opportunities to work on the flightline during aircraft emergencies, on bombing ranges during range clearances, in munitions storage areas, in accident areas and in any other area or climate where an explosive hazard exists. They also analyze unknown munitions and explosives for exploitation and use by the intelligence agencies, and, in some cases, may provide protection to the president, vice president and other dignitaries in support of the United States Secret Service."We're all confident in our job and love what we do," said Calahan. "I can't see doing anything else in the Air Force."