Barksdale Airmen prepare for NORI

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. -- An Airman from the 2nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, weapons load crew pulls a trailer up to a B-52H Stratofortress to prepare for a weapons download during a nuclear operational readiness exercise here Oct. 7. During a NORE Barksdale Airmen undergo scenarios in coordination with the U.S. Strategic Command directives. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Brittany Y. Bateman)(RELEASED)

Bucc Smoke

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. -- Tech. Sgt. Thomas Richey, 20th Aircraft Maintenance Unit weapons load team chief, performs pre-flight maintenance to a B-52H Stratofortress during the Bucc Smoke competition Aug. 3. Bucc Smoke will foster esprit de corp among the squadron while giving the 20th Bomb Squadron chance to hone its tactical edge. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Brittany Y. Bateman)(RELEASED)

Crew chiefs keep jets flying

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. -- Senior Airman Bradly Bowen, 20th Bomb Squadron dedicated criew chief, checks the landing gear wires on a B-52H. Crew chiefs are responsible for ensuring all maintenance on the aircraft is accomplished as well as maintaining support equipment, forms and records. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Megan M. Kittler) (RELEASED)

2nd Maintenance Group Airmen achieve high rating

Published Oct. 21, 2010
By Senior Airman Allison M. Boehm
2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. -- The B-52H Stratofortress has numerous impressive statistics; it can carry approximately 70,000 lbs. of ordnance, it can reach up to 650 miles per hour, it can even be flown 8,800 miles without being refueled, but operating without maintenance is not one of them.

In fact, the 63-year-old aircraft entail 24/7 maintenance to ensure the mission is met and the bombers stay flying, which is why it is so difficult to achieve a full mission capable rate, but the 2nd Maintenance Group Airmen recently achieved it for the first time since October, 2004.

A MC rate is an important performance gauge that roughly indicates the percentage of time Barksdale aircraft are partially or fully mission capable and combat ready.

Maintenance Airmen have been diligently working round-the-clock, even on weekends, to turn jets to ensure the Air Force Global Strike Command's mission is met.

Their efforts have not gone unnoticed.

"It is great to see all of our hard work shine through in yet another way," said Capt. Tanisha Washington, 2nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron aircraft maintenance unit officer in charge. "Airman of the 2 MXG worked 24/7 to ensure the mission was met. With the past few exercises and our limited aircraft availability, we put in a lot of extra time to ensure we had the aircraft to meet all of the exercises, inspections and still met our flying commitment. This was no easy feat."

Currently, the B-52s have a break rate of 50 percent, meaning 50 percent of jets that fly will break. When the amount of flying is increased, the amounts of jets that are broken on station at any given time also increase. With a high amount of flying and constant need of jets for inspections, maintenance Airman work twice as hard to get aircraft up to fulfill Barksdale's mission requirements.

"The B-52 is a great aircraft, but it is also an older aircraft, so it requires a lot of care and feeding," Captain Washington said. "These aircraft do not get rest, they are flown as much as possible to ensure training and real-world missions are met, so balancing the flying schedule with scheduled and unscheduled maintenance is always a chore. When we are able to balance these three things, then one of the fruits of our labor is a higher MC rate."

Making the mission happen every day, with or without the cooperation of the aircraft is a challenge in itself; but working above and beyond to meet the mission and keep the aging aircraft in the air showed more than just working to meet the mission, it displayed dedication and commitment.

"This has been quite an accomplishment that took many people and squadrons to achieve," said Lt. Col. David Foote, 2 MXG deputy commander. "It takes the efforts of the entire MXG working together to achieve this rate consistently."