Photo By Staff Sgt. Emily Copeland | U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Donald Winters, 7th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron weapons...... read more read more
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DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The 7th Maintenance Group, 7th Security Forces Squadron, 7th Operation Support Squadron, 9th Bomb Squadron and 28th Bomb Squadron all participated May 14 - June 13, 2017, in the sixth annual Global Strike Challenge.
GSC brings units together across the Air Force in a competition to boost morale, promote unit cohesiveness and determine who are among the best in the bomber, missile, maintenance and security forces career fields. The competition connects heritage and mission, while at the same time recognizing and celebrating the "best of the best" in weapons systems and technical expertise.
Dyess brought home three trophies from the last competition in 2015. The 7th Bomb Wing was awarded the Spirit Bell, distinguishing them as the best in epitomized professionalism, teamwork and espirit de corps during the competition. The 7th MXG won the Ellis Giant Sword Trophy, recognizing them as the best in bomber maintenance and the 7th OSS won the Eaker Trophy, designating them the best B-1B squadron in the Air Force.
A B-1B Lancer and C-130J Super Hercules static display were available for tours for Team Dyess. The 7th Civil Engineer Squadron explosive ordnance disposal technicians and the 7th SFS military working dog section came out to support Airmen and their families. The GSC also served as a Comprehensive Airmen Fitness event.
The 2017 GSC kicked off Air Force-wide early May and ends late June. The 7th Security Forces Squadron participated in the challenge May 14-20 at Camp Guernsey, Wyoming. They competed to win the Charlie Fire Team Trophy, which indicates the best security forces team within the command.
The 7th OSS, 9th BS and 28th BS continued the challenge May 22-25, with a race to drop munitions to a targeted location as quickly and accurately as possible. Obtaining the best flight times required precision in both pre-flight planning and in-route piloting.
“The day prior, we tried to figure out the best routing and angles to have plenty of time to take a look at targets with radar, but not take so long that the system degrades before we dropped the weapons,” said Maj. Jason Violette, 28th BS chief of standard evaluation.
This portion of the competition reflects the overall mission of Dyess Air Force Base.
“It shows our adversaries we’re able to project our air power globally anytime, anywhere and get our bombs on target on time,” said Maj. Brian Milner, 28th BS wing weapons officer. “That way we can get those effects when they’re most needed whether it’s to the guys on the ground or guys in the air.”
The 7th MXG culminated the race to victory June 13, on Dyess' flight line in three timed sub-competitions. The maintainers were scored based upon a weapons load, equipment and tool organization, data management, dress and appearance and a written test. In addition to these standards, the munitions crew was evaluated based on a munitions assembly conveyer set-up, an inert-guided bomb unit assembly and a bomb-stacking exercise, which included a trailer-backing and forklift-maneuvering portion.
The competition assesses mission proficiency obtained through each team's time devoted to enhancing their overall performance and training for several weeks.
Senior Airman Brandon Young, 7th Munitions Squadron GSC forklift driver, was responsible for driving the forklift, which is integral to building the munitions assembly conveyor.
The forklift is needed to remove all trailer assets in a timely manner for 7th MUNS Airmen to complete the bomb build, Young said. Everything needed to be removed at a fast pace yet in a controlled manner. The forklift has the capacity to lift 6,000 pounds in which we would load six bombs at a time.
For Young, the several practices all day in the Texas heat were worth it.
“I’m proud to be a part of a great team, and I had a fun time,” Young said. “All of the intensity built up to this moment.”
As a part of Total Force Integration, Airmen assigned to the 489th Bomb Group, the B-1’s first and only Reserve unit in the Air Force, participated in the challenge.
We work really well together, said Tech. Sgt. Clayton Moore, 489th Maintenance Squadron GSC weapons load crew member. We’re a tight-knit community, so we’re always promoting morale. Our fellow Airmen did just that by cheering us on while we loaded the weapons in the bomb bay of the B-1.
After the competitions among the operators, maintainers and defenders at the other Global Strike bases are complete, the 7th BW will vie for other awards ranging from the Fairchild Trophy--designating the best bomber unit in the combine fields of navigation and bombing—to the Bartsch Trophy—recognizing the best electronic countermeasures.
“Part of this competition involves building comradery in between the different units, squadrons and platforms,” Violette said. “It took the whole team from start to finish to be able to get us in the jet and off the ground to the range and back.”
After the competition events, a score posting and the announcement of the winners will be live-streamed from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, where AFGSC is headquartered, to each participating base Aug. 29-30.
| Date Taken: | 06.14.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 06.27.2017 10:16 |
| Story ID: | 238400 |
| Location: | DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, TEXAS, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 26 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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