USAF p hoto by SSgt. Joe Sp ring fie ld The NewGunsmoke ANG's 131stFighterWing,Lambert— ANG, andAFRES.Forthefirsttimein At right,acrewchiefmarshalsB-1B ground competition.Gunsmoke'95was six integrated,composite-forceteams, individual squadronsweredividedinto ramp. Above,F-15sfromMissouri into itsparkingplaceontheNellisAFB mass debriefingandawardsceremony chance tostrikethedefendedtarget. Nellis AFB,Nev.Theyhadoneonly before droppingbombsonrangesat and-one-half-hour missionprofile home basesorforward-deployed aircraft. Teamsdepartedfromtheir teamwork andcooperationforacrewtocomeoutontop. 32 as theF-15sabove.Bycutting the included air-superiorityfighters,such representing fourmajorcommands, FW, EglinAFB,Fla.,sharerampspace. Saint LouisAirport,Mo.,andthe33d on October28,theyreturnedhome. on October26,flyingatleastafour- effort andfeaturedawiderangeof entirely redesignedtoemphasizeteam Totally revamped,thisyear'sGunsmokecompetitionstillrequired $500,000. nance segmentsofthecompetition, the meet's sizeandeliminatingmuch ofthe this air-to-groundexercise,theteams Gunsmoke, USAF'spremierair-to- usual ten-dayTOYwasreduced toa traditional weapons-loadandmainte- This year,membersofmorethanthirty They thenlandedatNellis,andaftera three-day affair,savingabout T changes. Thisyear,sodid he AirForcehasseenitsshareof AIR FORCEMagazine/ January 1996

USAF photo by SrA. Kim Price USAF photos by SrA. Kim Price AIR FORCE a crewchieflooksoverhisA-10'sTF34 their chargestoarriveatNellis.Below, controllers sothatfewerpeoplewould second-place AFRESteamonlyafew (right) dedicatedgroundcrewwaitfor points behind.Eachteamofnineteen aircraft hadadifferentsetofAWACS be familiarwiththetacticalscenario. turbofan, andaB-52roarsdownthe 6,850 totalpossiblepoints,withthe Above, anF-16pilotdismounts,as Forces, scored61.4percentofthe The first-placewinner,PacificAir Magazine /January1996 Nellis runway. - 7 - 11311111112111111. 1. 11 M 011 _

,1

33

0Steve Elfers / Army Times Pu blis hing Co.

Green

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t At right, F-15E Weapon System Officer Capt. Wes Kremer from the 492d SSg by Fighter Squadron at RAF Lakenheath, to UK, fills out post-strike paperwork F p ho before attending the USA FE team's debrief. For Gunsmoke '95, overseas USA commands deployed to operating bases a predetermined distance from the target ranges at Nellis. Combat-length sorties made aircraft reliability and crew fatigue factors in the competition. Also new was a scoring system that, for only the second Gunsmoke, scored every bomb dropped—not just the best of the team's sortie.

1 Pacific Air Forces 4 Air Combat Command Gunsmoke Results 19th Fighter Squadron, Elmendorf AFB, 59th Fighter Squadron, Eglin AFB, Fla., The twenty-seven pilots and aircrew mem- Alaska, four F-15Cs four F-15Cs bers of the nineteen-aircraft PACAF team 13th and 14th Fighter Squadrons, Misawa 34th and 421st Fighter Squadrons, Hill were the overall winners after scoring AB, Japan, four F-16Cs AFB, Utah, four F-16Cs 61.4 percent of the total possible 6,850 18th Fighter Squadron, Eielson AFB, 336th Fighter Squadron, Seymour John- points. The order and composition of the Alaska, four F-16Cs son AFB, N. C., four F-15Es six participating teams is listed at left. 355th Fighter Squadron, Eielson AFB, 354th, 357th, and 358th Fighter Squad- Alaska, four A-10As rons, Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., four A- 10As 23d and 72d Bomb Squadrons, Minot AFB, N. D., two B-52Hs 37th Bomb Squadron, Ellsworth AFB, S. D., two B-1Bs 9th Fighter Squadron, Holloman AFB, N. M., one F-117 7th Fighter Squadron, Holloman AFB, N. M., one F-117 2 Air Force Reserve

5 Air Education and Training Command A. 302d Fighter Squadron, Luke AFB, Ariz., four F-16Cs 1st, 2d, and 95th Fighter Squadrons, by Sr by Tyndall AFB, Fla., four F-15Cs to 457th Fighter Squadron, Carswell Field, ho Tex., four F-16Cs 152d Fighter Squadron, Tucson IAP, Ariz., SAF p

four F-16Cs U 522d and 523d Fighter Squadrons, Can- non AFB, N. M., four F-111Fs 310th Fighter Squadron, Luke AFB, Ariz., four F-16Cs 47th Fighter Squadron, Barksdale AFB, La., four A-10As 309th Fighter Squadron, Luke AFB, Ariz., four F-16Cs 93d Bomb Squadron, Barksdale AFB, La., two B-52Hs 34th Bomb Squadron, Ellsworth AFB, S. D., two B-1Bs 8th Fighter Squadron, Holloman AFB, N. M., one F-117 8th Fighter Squadron, Holloman AFB, N. M., one F-117 3 US Air Forces in Europe 493d Fighter Squadron, RAF Lakenheath, 6 Air National Guard UK, four F-15Cs 110th Fighter Squadron, Lambert–Saint Louis Airport, Mo., four F-15Cs 23d Fighter Squadron, Spangdahlem AB, Germany, four F-16Cs 157th Fighter Squadron, McEntire ANGB, S. C., four F-16Cs 492d and 494th Fighter Squadrons, RAF Lakenheath, UK, four F-15Es 188th Fighter Squadron, Kirtland AFB, N. M., four F-16Cs 70th Fighter Squadron, Moody AFB, Ga., four A-10As 104th Fighter Squadron, Baltimore, Md., four A-10s 9th Bomb Squadron, Dyess AFB, Tex., two B-1Bs 127th Bomb Squadron, McConnell AFB, Kan., two B-1Bs 9th Fighter Squadron, Holloman AFB, N. M., one F-117 7th Fighter Squadron, Holloman AFB, N. M., one F-117

34 AIR FORCE Magazine / January 1996 AIR FORCE Magazine/ January 1996

© Steve E lfers / Army Times AFB, N.M.(above)"gave"eachteam and realistic,morechangeslieahead signed unitstobalancethecapabilityof a team'smajorcommandwereas- before thebombingwindowforrest an F-117.Incoordinationwiththerest force workingtogethereffectively. • Stealth bomber—reflectionsof aleaner reconnaissance, andpossibly the8-2 include spaceassets,post-strike have saidthatfuturemeetsmay for Gunsmokeexercises.Planners competitions increasinglydemanding of atestindividualvs.individual. like anactualcombatdeployment,less target madeGunsmoke'95evenmore each compositeteam. left, SSgt.WilliamKaufman,fromthe of thestrikepackage.Gunsmoke'95 one laser-guidedbombtenminutes of theteam,stealthfighterdropped the USAFEteam.Someunitsoutsideof Ga., takescareofanA-10'scanopy. the F-117wereusedatmeet.At was thefirsttimeprecisionweaponsor The tightenedscheduleanddefended The 70thFSaircraftwereassignedto 70th FighterSquadron,MoodyAFB, The 49thFighterWingatHolloman With plannersstrivingtomakesuch 35