96th Bomb Squadron participates in Exercise Amalgam Falcon Dart

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. John Gordinier
  • 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. --  Barksdale's 96th Bomb Squadron played the lead role in Exercise Amalgam Falcon Dart 11-1 recently, which occurred along the East Coast of North America.

Amalgam Dart exercises are North American Aerospace Defense Command sponsored, region-directed, field-training exercises that take place in the Canadian, United States and Alaskan NORAD regions, said Maj. Patrick Merriman, 2nd Operations Support Squadron lead planner.

"One of the primary purposes of these exercises is to fulfill a NORAD requirement to periodically deploy assets and conduct air operations from the region's deployed operating bases, flexible alert sites and forward-operating locations," Major Merriman explained. "During this exercise, (Air Force Global Strike Command) B-52's simulated a Long-Range Strike platform. Various fighter units along the East coast were scrambled to intercept the B-52s and escort them along their route of flight."

The major said multiple agencies took part in this exercise. B-52s from Barksdale and C-21s from the 177th Airlift Squadron, Fargo, N.D., played Red Air, while multiple fighter units along the East and Gulf Coasts were scrambled to intercept these platforms. An airborne early warning and control aircraft from Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., also participated in the Gulf of Mexico region. Multiple Federal Aviation Administration sector controllers as well as the 601st Air Operations Center and Western and Eastern Air Defense Sectors of NORAD were instrumental in directing the fighter aircraft intercepts.

The 96 BS provided the crews for the sorties as well as personnel for the Mission Planning Cell run by 2 OSS. The 2 OSS used the MPC training to get needed team chief experience for its personnel.

"The sorties gave the crews long-duration training as well as provided the pilots large on-load training during aerial refueling," Major Merriman added. "The crews were also able to accomplish multiple attack scenarios and real-world, fighter-intercept training and signal recognition."

"Amalgam Falcon gave us the opportunity to practice crew resource management in ways that are not possible without incorporating outside players," said Capt. Maxwell Dipietro, 96 BS. "We practiced defending against air-to-air threats and used low altitude maneuvers for visual recognition training against naval assets."

Amalgam Dart exercises take place twice a year. The 20th Bomb Squadron is scheduled to participate in the West Coast version next summer.