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Show 388th Fighter Wing supplement to the Hilltop Times Twice Monthly rfvt1imconMfrhnncnMltuMn4MMn mmAntn4 mmwmntmt Air Combat ' Ll tra-ditio-ns ' guided weapons and weapon systems. "We evaluate everything from storage to impact because there are occasional misses. When a weapon misses the tar86th get, we have to find out why," said Lt CoL George dark, FWS commander.. "It's too late to discover a problem when It's actually in combat c - w ; ' - Photo By SrA. J.C Woodra and SSgt. Shawn Cummings, both of the 388th Maintenance Squadron's fuels shop, help prepare one of the wing's 1 6s for this weeks Air Combat F-- Command Inspector General's evaluation. ACC checks wing's readiness As soon as the inspection team arrived, they started putting the wing under the microscope. shifts Those who were not already working The Air Combat Command Inspector General recall Monday to officially came to visit the 3 88th Fighter wing Sunday to con- received an " duct a Phase I Operational Readiness Inspection. A kick off the inspection. The inspection included three parts: generation, Phase I ORI evaluates how well a unit mobilizes to go mobility and regeneration. to war. To generate, maintenance workers from the 34th With most of the 4th Fighter Squadron at Nellis AFB, Nev., and the 421st Fighter Squadron deployed FS and other supporting units prepared and configured to Southwest Asia, the 34th Fighter Squadron is the all tasked aircraft for launch to Base X, a term used during exercises to represent the dcpkrj'edkKation anyonly full flying squadron on station, leaving it to rewhere in the world ceive the brunt of the tasking during the inspection. While the aircraft were generated, people and The 729th Air Control Squadron was not tasked to began to process through their respective equipment this inspection. deploy daring mobility channels. Normally, a buddy squadron would assist the deOnce all the jets, people and equipment arrived at ploying unit by preparing its planes for the initial genBase that hixury. X,n was time to regenerate. Deployed maintainers eration. This time, the MthFSchto'th to get the jets ready to fight the enemy in as worked with own its mobilized and unit The generated time little possible. the Mp of remaining 4th FS people and other support The inspection is expected to last the majority of units. with results available this weekend. Although the IG from Langley AFB, a., didn't the week addition to mobilizing members of the 388th In received FW 388th the strategic until arrive Sunday, units from the 75th Air Base Wing warning Friday, that the inspection would be this week. FW, many support roles crucial in supporting the inspectioa Asa units sent to is a played preparatory warning Strategic warning tenant unit, the 388th FW depends on the 75th ABW of an imminent deployment for many of its support functions such as supply, transFor most of the flightline workers, this meant a long the nine portation, security, communications, services, base opweekend of hard work preparing and configuring erations, medical and civil engineering. aircraft allowed to be prepared prior to the inspection. 388th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office , 12-ho- ur early-morni- ng ' F-1-6s Hill The goal of WSEP is to give commanders a realisand it has. tic expectation of a weapon's success airstrikes in Bosnia V "The success rates of the F-were real close to the results of WSEP," said Clark. The unit evaluates approximately 12 systems per year and 60 percent ofthem are otmductedattheUTTR. "The Utah Test and Training Range is a great place feedto test the systems because we can get same-da- y back from the range," said Clark. During this evaluation the team checked four diffrom the ferent weapon systems: the Block 40 from the 14th 34th Fighter Squadron, the Block 30 from the 492nd FS, Misawa Air Base, Japan, FS, Royal Air Force L akrnhrath, United Kingdom, and F--1 17s flying out of IktQoman AFB, KM. They tested several weapons facmdmgtheAGM-8- 8 High-SpeMissile, an tactical missile designed to seek and destroy 16 A team from Eglin AFB, Fla, and other units from around the world converged on Hill AFB and the Utah Test and Training Range April 15 to 19, to evaluate different weapon systems in an exercise called Combat Ham- . met, Hosted by the 34th Fighter Squadron for five days, the Weapons System Evaluation Program brought 25 evaluators from' the 86th Fighter Weapons Squadron and dose to 350 others from overseas units to assess precision . A1C Gregory Martin 'Hammer' hits hard on ; ... ..'-;- k LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, . Gen. Richard E. Hawley took the reins of Air Combat Command April 5. "I am both proud and humbled by the president's decision to nominate me to serve as the commander of Air Combat Command. Mary Ellen and I look fcvard to joinACC team and behping to sustam the winning ing that have given our Air Force the ability to dominate the high ground of air and space to a degree heretofore unknown," said Hawley. The general arrived from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, where he served as commander, U. S. Air Forces in Europe and Allied Air Forces Central Europe. He succeeds Gen. Joseph W. Ralston who became vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff March 1. As ACC's commander, Hawley will be responsible for more than 1,630 aircraft and 132,600 active duty military and civilian people at 32 major installations in the United States, Panama, Iceland, and Portugal. ACC also trains and equips almost 100,000 Air National Guardsmen and Air Force Reservists in 85 combat wings and squadrons in the U.S. and Panama. The command provides nuclear forces forthe U.S. Strategic Command, theater airlift forces for the United States Atlantic Central, Southern, European and Pacific commands, and defense forces for the North American Aerospace Defense Oxnmand. As the primary provider of combat air forces to America's warfighting command's, ACC also operates command and control forces, rescue forces, ground-base- d limited tanker resources, and command, control, and communications aircraft "We will face many challenges in the years ahead, and we look forward to turning each of those into opportunities through the unequaled talents of the men and women of Air Combat Command," said Hawley. Hawley entered the Air Force in 1964 following graduation from the U.S. Air Force Academy. , He has commanded Air Force units at all levels, served as joint commander ofU.S. Forces Japan, and was the principal deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Washington, D.C. A command pilot with over 2,500 flying hours, he served as a forward air controller at Pleiku Air Base, South Vietnam, where he flew 435 combat missions in the A aircraft. By SrA. J.C. Woodring Editor, Fighter Country 25, 1996 rt.riiwin.rtlliamH.wdiMii.iKWW. .,- Command greets new commander - 0-2- c -- ""' ..." :.. . rdfcilirc. ....... - ..".' April not cloc. F-1-6s F-1-6s Es ed on and UTTR air defense systems. enemy While the weather at Hi!l may have seemed less than . idVal (hiring fWmt Hammer, "the weather worked for us." said Clark. "It was clear when we needed it to be." dark considers the entire mission a "great success," but adds they "couldn't have pulled it off without the great support of the Hill community." After the team measures the results ofthe tests, it sends them to both headquarters Air Combat Command and Air radar-equipp- ed Force. "The better results we have during tests, the more confidence commanders and pilots will have using the weapons in conflict," said Clark. Although the last of the team vanished Monday, one thing is certain. "Well be bade," said Clark. watchers can expect to see the Hammer fall on again in July. Hill |