Air Force World By Aaron Church, Associate Editor Back in the Air (Again) Silver Star for Combat Controller F-22 Raptors at JB Langley-Eustis, TSgt. Ismael Villegas was awarded Va., and JB Elmendorf-Richardson, the Silver Star medal for gallantry in screenshot Alaska, were briefly grounded for a sec- action in Afghanistan. ond time this year, following the fleet’s Villegas was the lone combat control- return to the skies in September after ler assigned to an Army Special Forces a lengthy down period. team charged with clearing a road of Two pilots from Langley’s 1st Fighter improvised explosive devices near Bagh Wing reported suffering hypoxia-like Khosak in September 2009. USAF photo by A1C Krystal GarrettM. symptoms on a training sortie from Lang- After insurgents ambushed the team, ley, Oct. 20. F-22s at both Langley and Villegas, who was assigned at the time Elmendorf were temporarily grounded to the 21st Special Tactics Squadron at while the reports were investigated, as Pope Field, N.C., ran 200 feet across an a precautionary measure. exposed mine field to return fire while Alaskan Raptors resumed flight op- directing close air support from a better erations four days later, followed by the vantage point. Virginia-based aircraft Oct. 25. Langley He directed “precision firepower from fighters were immediately flying the artillery, as well as fixed- and rotary-wing “same number of sorties as before the assets” that resulted in 32 insurgents brief pause,” said a spokeswoman. The killed during the 16-hour firefight and 1st FW commander “continues to closely saving the lives of his teammates, ac- monitor operations,” she added. cording to Air Force Special Operations Service officials had yet to identify the Command officials. cause of the F-22’s oxygen issues, but Villegas accepted the Silver Star, allowed flying to resume in September saying the medal was for his comrades. under enhanced safety and monitoring “They put their lives on the line each day. measures. I’m taking this on behalf of all of those guys out there,” he said, after Air Force Airless National Guard? Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz House legislators expressed concern pinned the medal on him Oct. 27. that belt-tightening measures under consideration by the Air Force may seri- Last B53 Nuclear Bomb Dismantled ously threaten the Air National Guard. Workers at the Pantex weapons plant Representatives cited their concern in Amarillo, Tex., dismantled the final about possible elimination of the Guard’s B53 nuclear bomb in the US inventory C-5A fleet, divestment of three F-16 under the watchful eye of National wings, and reduction of the C-130 force Nuclear Security Administration of- by some 76 airframes, in addition to ficials Oct. 25. A-10 cuts and even termination of C-27J Last October, NNSA announced plans acquisitions. to dismantle the US arsenal of B53 Pressed on the consequences of nuclear free-fall weapons, which were such cuts, Lt. Gen. Harry M. Wyatt III, retired in 1997. Air National Guard director, said it is “too Designed to be carried by Strategic early in the budgeting process to reach Air Command’s B-47, B-52, and B-58 any conclusion as to what may or may bombers, each B53 was roughly 10,000 not survive.” pounds and the size of a minivan. However, he added sternly, “if those Each B53 had a reported nine-mega- platforms were removed, ... in essence, ton yield. ... you would have the air being taken A week before the dismantlement of out of the Air National Guard.” the final B53, the NNSA announced its Softening his remarks only slightly, intention to complete dismantlement he noted that theoretically the Air Guard of the US entire store of W70 tactical could be fundamentally reoriented to nuclear weapons, deployed atop the assume missions such as cyber, engi- Army’s Lance missile system during neering, communications, and security the Cold War. forces, as well as participate more heavily NNSA officials said the elimination in remotely piloted aircraft operations. of the last B53 is a significant step in 12 AIR FORCE Magazine / December 2011 President Obama’s nuclear security “dot mil” domains, to the networks of CYBERCOM is a subunified com- agenda aimed at reducing the size of key defense companies, according to mand under US Strategic Command. the US stockpile. Gen. C. Robert Kehler, commander of US Strategic Command. Super Galaxy Blazes New Air Trail CYBERCOM Guarding Networks A pilot program was already under A C-5M Super Galaxy inaugurated The computer networks of critical US way in October to extend CYBERCOM a new nonstop supply route from the defense contractors—often guarding protection to “part of the industrial United States to Bagram Airfield, technological secrets key to military base,” Kehler told defense reporters Afghanistan. The 436th Airlift Wing security—will soon fall under the direct in Washington, D.C., Oct. 18. aircrew from Dover AFB, Del., lifted protection of the Defense Department. “We are seeing some good success” off from the East Coast base, crossed US Cyber Command announced it is with the effort and it will be “extended the Atlantic, overflew Europe, and extending protective protocols beyond for a period of time,” he said. continued on into Afghanistan. C-130s fly in formation over a mountain range in Japan during a mission for Samurai Surge, an exercise designed to test and demonstrate USAF’s airlift capability in the Pacific. Six C-130s were launched for the one-day exercise, which taxed the efforts of 11.02.2011 maintainers and aircrew who, during their normal flying and training schedule, launch one to three aircraft a day. Based at Yokota AB, Japan, C-130s are the only tactical airlift fleet supporting Pacific Air Forces. AIR FORCE Magazine / December 2011 13 Air Force World The new route, which debuted in September, “provides invaluable options and increased flexibility, so air mobility assets can arrive where they’re needed faster and more efficiently,” said Brig. Gen. Carlton D. Everhart II, commander of the 618th Air and Space Operations Center (Tanker Airlift Control Center), Scott AFB, Ill. USAF photo by SSgt. Mike Meares Total flight time was less than 14 hours, sufficiently shorter than previous routes to avoid the traditional overnight stay in Germany for mandatory crew rest. The Galaxy rendezvoused with a KC-135 tanker from RAF Mildenhall, UK, for a refueling over England before continuing on to Bagram. Another C-5M proved the feasibility of flying from Dover to Bagram over the Arctic Circle during a similar route-shaping flight early this summer. Reapers Begin East Africa Ops The United States recently began Keep in Touch: SrA. Jarod Bierman (l) and SrA. Drew Wilshire assemble pieces of a ground multiband terminal, a tactical satellite communications system, at Sather operating unarmed MQ-9 Reaper re- AB, Iraq. A communications network is being placed in preparation for the scheduled motely piloted aircraft over Somalia US military withdrawal from the country. from a forward airfield in neighboring Ethiopia. They had been operated from militant groups such as the Lord’s He was subsequently flown to Mike the Seychelles. Resistance Army, al Shabab, and al O’Callaghan Federal Hospital for ex- Last year, the Air Force began upgrad- Qaeda affiliates. amination and released. ing Arba Minch Airport in southwestern Reaper sorties “will continue as long Lincoln County Sheriff Kerry Lee told Ethiopia to support then-undisclosed as the government of Ethiopia welcomes the Associated Press that the crash site— operations in the region. With increasing our cooperation on these varied security on federal land northwest of Alamo—was US military involvement in East Africa, programs,” said Fisher in late October. “really hard to get to,” and much of the the Reaper surveillance flights currently airframe remained intact after the crash, provide “operation and technical support Broken Eagle but was soon enveloped in flames that for our security-assistance programs,” An F-15C on a sortie from Nellis consumed the wreckage on the ground. said MSgt. James Fisher, 17th Air Force AFB, Nev., crashed in a remote area The Air Force investigators imme- (Air Forces Africa) spokesman, quoted approximately 115 miles north of Las diately launched an investigation to in the Washington Post. Vegas in late October. determine the cause of the crash. Seventeenth Air Force advises and The pilot ejected without injury and supports regional partners such as was rescued by a helicopter 30 minutes Guard Is Top Cover for Withdrawal Ethiopia and Kenya that are fighting later as he hiked from the crash site. A combined squadron of F-16 pilots and support personnel from Arizona, Ohio, and Oklahoma Air National Guard Start Date for F-35 Training at Eglin Under Review units deployed to Iraq to cover US forces withdrawing from the country this year. A senior Pentagon official expressed “serious concerns” about starting F-35 “We’re providing close air support for training on USAF’s F-35A variant at Eglin AFB, Fla., this year as planned. more than 40,000 troops leaving Iraq by The Joint Strike Fighter program has yet to address some safety-related the end of the year,” said Lt. Col. Rick issues that could take up to 10 months to properly address, said J. Michael Poplin, commander of the combined Gilmore, director of Operational Test and Evaluation. 125th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, “Initiation of training in an immature aircraft risks the occurrence of a which deployed to Iraq in October. serious mishap. The consequences of a mishap at Eglin would overwhelm “During this historic undertaking to the very modest benefits of beginning flight training this fall,” wrote Gilmore reposture personnel, equipment, and in a memo to the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and bases, force protection remains inher- logistics, Oct.