Best Friends: Bond Between Security Forces Member, Horse Survives Basic Training and Her First PCS

BEST FRIENDS

Bond between security forces member, horse survives basic training and her first PCS

STORY BY RANDY ROUGHTON // PHOTOS BY STAFF SGT. VERNON YOUNG JR.

16 March 2015

Airman 1st Class Kaitlyn Evans, 11th Security Forces Squadron patrolman, spends time with her horse in Lothian, Maryland after her military duty day as an U.S. Air Force patrolman, Jan. 30, 2015. Evans, a North Carolina native, relocated her horse to Maryland at her own expense to continue competing with the horse. Spending time with the horse has helped Evans cope physically and mentally as she begins her military career.

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If Airman 1st Class Kaitlyn R. Evans has a stressful night on patrol, or if she just needs to vent, she always has her best friend. She might fuss at her friend for getting himself dirty as she brushes his mane, but he always listens, never talks back, and perhaps most importantly, is always waiting for her in his barn in Lothion, Md.
That’s because Evans’ best friend is her horse Kobalt.
“A lot of times I will come out here if I’m stressed out about things, and I can ride,” she said. “When I get in the saddle, I can just leave everything else on the ground, and I don’t pick it back up, so I usually leave the barn calmer and happier. A lot of times, I do my best thinking out here, and I will have a fresh perspective on things when I’ve just had some time to myself and spent some time doing something I love. So I usually leave here with a clean slate.”

Airman 1st Class Kaitlyn Evans, 11th Security Forces Squadron patrolman, guides her horse Kobalt before washing him for the day in Lothian, Maryland, Jan. 30, 2015. Evans, spends time washing, riding and training with Kobalt during off-duty hours as she prepares for competitions in the future.

The 11th Security Forces Squadron member brought Kobalt from North Carolina when she arrived at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Nov. 20, 2014 after she completed technical training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. Everyone, from her recruiter and military training instructor during basic training to fellow Airmen, told her she wouldn’t have the time or money to care for a horse, but Evans didn’t listen to unsolicited negative guidance. She wanted her best friend with her, and she’s reminded of the reason each time she walks into his stall.
“They have the strongest bond of any horse and human I have ever seen,” said Cathy Scott, one of Evans’ best human friends who she met through their mutual love of horses in North Carolina. “It’s actually funny to watch them together. He moves, she moves. Their steps sync up when they walk. The only way to describe their bond is they are truly connected.
“She would do anything for that horse. Who else would take their horse with them while on active duty in the Air Force, based more than nine hours from home? Their bond is truly remarkable.”
But the friendship didn’t begin well when a veterinarian near her hometown of Old Fort, N.C., gave her Kobalt, then a 3-year-old named Ned, when Evans was 17. He kicked, tried to bite and Evans was afraid of him. But eventually, she summoned the courage to ride him, and trust was born in both the young woman and her horse.

Airman 1st Class Kaitlyn Evans, 11th Security Forces Squadron patrolman, spends time with her horse in Lothian, Maryland after her military duty day as a U.S. Air Force patrolman, Dec. 20, 2014. Evans, a North Carolina native, relocated her horse to Maryland at her own expense to continue competing with the horse. Spending about two hours of time with her horse has helped Evans cope physically and mentally as she begins her military career.

She talks to Kobalt as if he’s another human being, sometimes even answering her questions for him. But there’s an emotional bond between them that she really can’t explain.
“When we’re together, it’s almost like he can read my mind,” she said. “He is constantly on top of what I’m feeling. If I’m sad, he tries to cheer me up. He gives me hugs. If I’m upset or mad, he gets upset and throws a little temper tantrum to let me know he knows I’m mad. If I’m happy or just full of myself, he just relaxes and listens. He’s very connected to me and my emotions, everything I feel, do and see.”
She began riding horses at the age of 10 when her parents decided to home-school her and her brother, and they needed a physical education activity. Three years later, she got her first horses – an old pony she named Allie and a colt named Alaska. At first, she was far from excited about the 23-year-old, dirty, white pony.
“But I took her home, gave her some TLC, a bath and cleaned her up, and she ended up being the best pony I ever had in my life,” Evans said. “After I adjusted to her, and we got to know each other, and we quit hating each other so much, I started to really enjoy owning a horse.”
Evans joined the Air Force when her father gave her a choice of either completing the college degree she had spent four years working on or joining the military. But neither basic training or her technical school came easily for her. In basic training, she struggled with her physical training test because of anxiety over sit-ups, but eventually overcame it and graduated June 13, 2014. But it didn’t get any easier in her tech school until she had to make the decision while low-crawling through sand on a 100-degree San Antonio day in full gear on whether she was going to continue fighting for the career she wanted or give up and go home.
“My sergeant was over me, screaming the entire 10 minutes, telling me to get out of the sand pit and go home, and that he didn’t want me in his Air Force,” she said. “I remember thinking I had to decide right then and right there if I was going to get up and go home, or if I was going to fight for what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be. So I crawled through that sand, and I finished.”

Airman 1st Class Kaitlyn Evans, 11th Security Forces Squadron patrolman, surveys the road while on night-shift duty at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, Feb. 14, 2015. During the evening hours, her role as a patrolman is to secure the base and maintain the safety of personnel. Her attention to detail and military discipline serves as key components to maintaining the demands of owning a horse and performing well at work.

Evans graduated Sept. 23 as a distinguished graduate. While in tech school, she also was a teal rope, which is a sexual assault representative. She felt called to volunteer for the additional responsibility because she was sexually assaulted for four years, beginning at the age of 14, by an older man at a barn where she was riding her horse.
“He just started integrating himself into my life by taking me home every day,” she said. “My mom and dad thought he was trustworthy because he worked with handicapped children. I was brainwashed into a lot of things and threatened. But after I got Kobalt, he was my stable, emotional tie-down. When I made the decision when I was 18 to get out of the situation because I physically could because I was an adult at that time, it was a very difficult, emotional time. So my horse played a big part in keeping me emotionally grounded. A lot of the things I went through affected me emotionally, and they still do to this day. My horse is something that’s been there for me.”
Evans talks to her therapist regularly and is beginning to realize the assault wasn’t her fault. She also gives the Air Force credit for giving her the strength to press charges against the perpetrator. Still, going home requires considerable inner strength, although she’s also thankful for the support of her family through the ordeal.
“The Air Force helped me to become a stronger person, where I don’t care what other people think,” she said. “He did what he did to me and deserves to pay for what he did, so I go home with my head held high, and I don’t care if some people take his side.
“Now I have help through the Air Force. I really didn’t understand how emotionally I was affected by it, and I tried to blow it off like it wasn’t happening, that it was in the past, but I realized I can’t do that. I have to figure out a way to work through it in order to overcome it. That’s what I’m doing now.”
As a young security forces member, Evans is off to a promising start in her career at JB Andrews, one of her flight sergeants said.
“She came here straight out of tech school with a lot more motivation than some of the guys she came in with,” said Tech. Sgt. Rommell C. Lewis, 11th SFS flight sergeant. “I think she has a good future in security forces as long as she holds on to her drive and motivation.”

Airman 1st Class Kaitlyn Evans, 11th Security Forces Squadron patrolman, approaches a vehicle during a routine traffic violation while on night-shift duty at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, Feb. 14, 2015. During the evening hours, her role as a patrolman is to secure the base and maintain the safety of personnel. Her attention to detail and military discipline serves as key components to maintaining the demands of owning a horse and performing well at work.

Her best friend is a big part of that process. She works nights, along with 12-hour shifts every other weekend, so she sleeps during the day before making her daily visit to the barn to spend time with Kobalt and her pony named Kallie each afternoon.
“It is my outlet, where I come to de-stress and de-compress,” she said. “If things happen at work, I don’t bring work to the barn. I come here to be peaceful and to have a good time and connect with him. I really do think of him as my best friend, so it’s kind of like coming to hang out with your best friend.
“But he’s also like my therapist. I can easily come out here and talk to him anytime. He doesn’t say anything, he doesn’t talk back, and he doesn’t give me any advice I don’t want to take. He’s been like my anchor through a lot of things. He’s my anchor through my job, and he’s been my anchor through the sexual assault. With everything, he’s been there with me through all of it.”

Airman 1st Class Kaitlyn Evans, 11th Security Forces Squadron patrolman, guides Kobalt into a horse stable after cleaning him in Lothian, Maryland, Jan. 30, 2015. Evans, a North Carolina native, relocated her horse to Maryland at her own expense to continue competing with the horse. Spending time with the horse has helped Evans cope physically and mentally as she begins her military career. She often compares spending time with her horse to being with a family member in her hometown.

She doesn’t look at either taking care of her horses or her job as work in the traditional sense because she loves both for different reasons. She has already begun organizing volunteer events, such as taking a small team from her flight to re-salt Arlington National Cemetery. Evans is amazed when she considers her progress, both on the job and in her recovery from the sexual assault.
“It’s been a journey, but it’s also been more of a fight to find out who I am in myself and who I want to be,” she said. “Every day I wake up, I do things I never thought were possible. It blows my mind to think I’m where I am today. The more I get into it, the more I love the military, the organization and I love what it stands for. I used to be terrified of deployment, but I’m to the point in my mindset where if it’s my turn to go overseas to deploy, I’m ready to do my part to serve my country and be somebody bigger than myself.”
She has a plan for Kobalt and Kallie for both deployment and her next permanent change of station move. He will be cared for in his barn if Evans deploys, and when she moves again, the horses will move, as well. In December, Evans moved her horses into the barn in Lothion after owner Robin Diallo responded to her Facebook advertisement. In addition to the boarding, Diallo’s son, Ben, helps her around the barn, just another advantage in what Evans calls an ideal situation for her horses.
As Evans settles into her job at JB Andrews, she plans to resume Kobalt’s show competitions this year. She wasn’t able to take him last year because of her Air Force training but has major plans for Kobalt or Painted Marble Serengeti, his show name. But whether it’s through competitions or just riding in the pasture, the friendship between the Airman and her horse will continue to be an important part of her life.
“Being in riding, competing and having Kobalt is a lifestyle. It’s what I choose to do,” she said. “It makes my life 100 percent better and 100 percent more stable. He relies on me, and I rely on him emotionally. He’s a big key to what’s brought me to the military and what has brought me through a lot of things in life.
“He’s my best friend.”

Airman 1st Class Kaitlyn Evans, 11th Security Forces Squadron patrolman, poses for a portrait with her horse Kobalt in Lothian, Maryland after her military duty day as a U.S. Air Force patrolman, Dec. 20, 2014. Evans, a North Carolina native, relocated her horse to Maryland at her own expense to continue competing with the horse. Spending about two hours of time with her horse has helped Evans cope physically and mentally as she begins her military career.

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Rolling Thunder: 100th Mission was the Goal for F-105 Pilots in Bombing Campaign 50 Years Ago

ROLLING THUNDER

100th mission was the goal for F-105 pilots in bombing campaign 50 years ago

STORY BY RANDY ROUGHTON

9 March 2015

“Instinctively, my eyes found the patch we coveted the most … the bold, embroidered words read: ‘North Vietnam – 100 missions F-105.’ It was beautiful and signaled the finale I had dreamed about.” Capt. (later Brig. Gen.) Kenneth Bell on receiving the ceremonial 100-mission flight suit after completing his 100^th mission over North Vietnam

The 100 Missions North Vietnam patch. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Operation Rolling Thunder pilots had mixed emotions when President Lyndon B. Johnson called a halt to the bombing of North Vietnam in time for Christmas Eve in 1965. F-105 Thunderchief pilots at Korat and Takhli Royal Thai Air Bases in Thailand knew it would take longer for them to reach the milestone 100^th mission the Air Force had determined would earn them a trip home from Southeast Asia. Still, the pilots of the 469^th Tactical Fighter Squadron, deployed to Korat from McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., celebrated the no-flying Christmas Day with a party in Lt. Col. Bill Cooper’s trailer. Retired Col. Bob Krone assumed command of the 469^th TFS on April 24, 1966 after Cooper was killed when his F-105 was shot down by a missile over the Phu Lang Thuong Bridge. Another pilot, 1^st Lt. Jerry D. Driscoll, was captured and held as a prisoner of war in Hanoi for more than six years.
Two days after they arrived at Korat, the squadron lost its first pilot when Capt. Donald G. Green was killed on Nov. 15, 1965. In the early years of the war, F-105s had such a high loss rate that the squadron had a saying, the supreme optimist was “the F-105 pilot who stops smoking to prevent cancer,” Krone said. So reaching the 100^th mission was on every pilot’s mind.

Col. Krone wearing the hat on display. Attached to the hat is a Royal Thai Air Force pilot’s badge. (U.S. Air Force photo)

“Pure joy is a rare wartime emotion,” Krone said. “But joy comes to an aviator after the solo flight, when doing a roll after penetrating an overcast into a sun-filled sky, and especially when landing with honor after the last combat mission.
“Those of us who reached the 100 counters were the lucky ones. Thirty-five percent of all the F-105D/F pilots and electronic warfare officers who flew in the Vietnam War between 1965 and 1968 did not reach the 100^th mission.”
Rolling Thunder was a systematic, but frequently interrupted, bombing campaign designed to discourage Viet Cong aggression, to interdict the flow of supplies going south and provide a morale boost to South Vietnamese forces. The Air Force flew from bases in South Vietnam and Thailand and hit targets north of the demilitarized zone across North Vietnam. Although Rolling Thunder officially began 50 years ago on March 2, 1965, bombing missions in the North actually began in 1964. The F-105D and the Wild Weasel F-105F flew 85 percent of Air Force combat missions to North Vietnam. Eight of 16 Airmen on the Wild Weasel crews that flew out of Takhli Royal Thai Air Base were killed, wounded or taken as POWs.

Rolling Thunder Missions over the North. (U.S. Air Force Photo)

“The (Wild Weasels) were the guys who had the highest risk of anybody because they would go in and search for missile sites and try to wipe them out,” Krone said. “They would be there before we got there, we would leave, and they would still be there trying to clean up things. They had terrible losses. I have a lot of good friends who were Weasels. They were a huge part of the Vietnam effort.”
The Air Force was the only service that adopted the 100 mission policy. In November 1965, the service established the length of a tour as either one year or 100 missions in Laos and North Vietnam, or a combination of the two, although by February 1966, only missions over North Vietnam counted toward completing a tour. However, to reach 100 missions, pilots faced MiG fighters, surface-to-air missiles and a combination of anti-aircraft artillery and automatic weapons.
“As far as I know, there was never a policy like that before Vietnam, and I don’t think there has been one since,” Krone said. “The policy was we’re sending you there for a combat tour, but you will not have to go back involuntarily until everybody else with the same qualifications as a pilot has gone. That was a historic policy for the military.

Rescued pilot (right) with fellow USAF pilots who helped bring him out of North Vietnam. (U.S. Air Force photo)

“It was continually on people’s minds of getting to that 100. It didn’t deter anybody from flying a mission, but it was a cloud that hung over everybody all the time. It was a cloud that let you know when the sun would come out, and you would be going home.”
Under Krone’s command, the 469^th TFS designed a 100 Mission Patch in 1966 and also initiated the “100 Mission Reception” for pilots returning from their 100^th mission. They were greeted by fire engines and trucks loaded with crew chiefs firing flares to lead the aircraft as it taxied to the parking ramp, where they were met by commanders, pilots and maintenance specialists with congratulations and champagne on a red carpet. They then rode to operations to log their final mission on the mission board, followed by the “Ringing of the Bell” in the bar.
Krone also helped to produce an Air Force Aerospace Audio Visual Service film called “There is a Way” to remind pilots that it was possible for them to reach the 100-mission mark, and established a policy that every attempt would be made to make a pilot’s final three missions routine with low risk, or “a milk run.” His own 100^th mission, when he became the first squadron commander to reach the plateau, was a milk run. His 99^th was not, he said.
No other pilot was available on a huge joint mission to Nghe An Province, North Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh’s hometown, a large military depot on the Red River Delta.
The 100-mission policy ended as Rolling Thunder began winding down in March 1968 without achieving any of the operation’s strategic objectives. After President Johnson ended all bombing north of the 20^th Parallel, aircrews arriving after June served one-year tours, regardless of the number of combat missions.

Specialized RB-66s helped F-105s bomb in North Vietnam’s frequently poor weather conditions. (U.S. Air Force photo)

After his tour ended in June 1966, Krone was sent to personnel headquarters at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, to set up a crew control shop that would manage the Air Force’s pilot and navigator resources stateside for Southeast Asia needs. He also spent 10 years advising the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, on the planning for the “100 Mission Exhibit” that was opened in 2009.
During Operation Rolling Thunder, U.S. aircraft dropped 643,000 bombs and inflicted about $300 million of damage on North Vietnam; however, the military also lost 900 aircraft, and estimates put the cost of the bombing campaign at about $900 million.
During his career, which ended in 1975, Krone flew a total of 125 combat missions in Southeast Asia, received the Silver Star, Bronze Star, four Distinguished Flying Crosses and 11 Air Medals. He earned a doctorate degree as a colonel at UCLA in 1972 and has been an author, educator and consultant in advanced management theory and practice. He was involved in NASA research in 1980 while on the University of Southern California faculty, which eventually led him to become the president of the Kepler Space Institute in 2013.
Despite the controversy of the war back home, Krone believes the pilots who flew in Rolling Thunder, as well as the thousands of service members who served in Vietnam, made an important lasting contribution that historians are just beginning to fully realize.

The elements of a hunter-killer team: F-105F Wild Weasel with Shrikes and F-105D with bombs. (U.S. Air Force photo)

“My conclusion for the meaning of the Vietnam War was the United States spent 11 years fighting communism in Vietnam and helped the demise of communism, because it tended to make them concentrate on what we were doing, rather than going elsewhere in Southeast Asia, which they were dedicated in doing,” Krone said in a presentation he gave on the meaning of Rolling Thunder and the war to the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
“They didn’t go to Singapore, Indonesia or Thailand, and that was all in their design. I firmly believe that one of the main reasons the Cold War ended on our behalf was the fact that we spent that time and resources in Vietnam.”

Maj. William Robinson, pilot (l), and Maj. Peter Tsouprake, EWO (r), celebrate their 100th mission. Earlier, on July 5, 1966, they flew lead on a large strike mission north of Hanoi. Disregarding their own safety, they braved intense ground fire and several SAMs to attack four SA-2 sites. Three were knocked out and the fourth was heavily damaged. For their valor, they were both awarded the Air Force Cross. (U.S. Air Force photo)

At the 50^th anniversary of the beginning of Rolling Thunder, Krone and other pilots who survived their combat missions on North Vietnam will honor their comrades who didn’t make it home.

- See more at: http://airman.dodlive.mil/2015/03/rolling-thunder-2/#sthash.TKDE3NAe.dpuf

The Aggressors: 'Bad Guys' Give Red Flag Pilots Taste of Aerial Combat

THE AGGRESSORS

‘Bad guys’ give Red Flag pilots taste of aerial combat

STORY BY RANDY ROUGHTON // PHOTOS BY MASTER SGT. JEFFREY ALLEN

6 April 2015

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Pilots with the 64th Aggressor Squadron use their knowledge of potential adversaries to play “King Kong on the block” for blue force pilots during the Red Flag exercise at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Red Flag, an advanced aerial exercise, pits training pilots in blue forces against red forces piloted by aggressors in a series of combat scenarios over the Nevada Test and Training Range’s 15,000 square miles of air space. The aggressors tested aircraft during Red Flag 15-2, which included aircraft from 13 Air Force squadrons, along with the Royal Norwegian Air Force and NATO. The 64th AGRS supports Red Flag, as well as the U.S. Air Force Weapons School, and test and evaluation squadrons and trains combat Air Force units on adversary tactics.
(U.S. Air Force video // Andrew Arthur Breese)

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The blue force pilot’s eyes widened as he saw the “King Kong” of Red Flag converging quickly on his F-16 Fighting Falcon at 30,000 feet. The ominous sight of one of the air-to-air combat exercise’s bad guys made an impression on Capt. Paul Anderson eight years before he became an aggressor himself.
“It seemed like (the aggressor pilot was) King Kong on the block,” Anderson said. “I see this F-16 come burning in the contrails from 50,000 feet above me converging on my six, and I couldn’t do anything about it. My first memory of the aggressors was they were taking complete advantage of the airspace and everything they had at their disposal. They knew their ranges by heart. They knew all their landmarks, anywhere they could hide and anything they could take advantage of, and they were there to punish you every step of the way.”

An F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot assigned to the 64th Aggressor Squadron wears a red star, the unit’s symbol, on the back of his helmet. The unit’s star and yellow hammer-and-sickle symbolizes the Soviet Union, the United States’ enemy during the Cold War. Today, the 64th AGRS replicates threats faced by combat air forces rather than a specific adversary.

Anderson and his fellow 64th Aggressor Squadron tested pilots during Red Flag 15-2, which included aircraft from 13 Air Force squadrons, along with units from the Royal Norwegian Air Force and NATO, at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. The second exercise of Red Flag’s 40th year marked the last time the aggressors flew the F-15 Eagle after the 64th AGRS absorbed the aircraft when the 65th Aggressor Squadron closed in September. But whether the squadron flies both airframes or just the F-16, there is a clear message waiting for any pilot who may land at Red Flag with the mindset that he has nothing to learn.
“I’d say, get ready because we’re coming for you,” said Capt. Danielle Esler, an air battle manager. “We are going to maintain that mindset, and we are going to find that weakness. We will. You may think you have it all figured out, but we will find an opportunity to exploit you, we are going to come after you, and we are going to make sure you get those lessons learned so hopefully that mindset will change.”
The 64th AGRS, part of the 57th Adversary Tactics Group, supports Red Flag, as well as the U.S. Air Force Weapons School and test and evaluation squadrons, and trains combat Air Force units on adversary tactics. But the aggressors particularly take pride in their roles as adversaries at Red Flag. They are proud subject matter experts of the capabilities of would-be enemies. The hammer and sickle flag of the former Soviet Union flies from a truck on the flightline. A giant red star, outlined in yellow, greets visitors to the squadron, and that same star is visible on the sleeves of the aggressors’ flight suits.
“It definitely is a symbol of respect in all of the combat air forces,” Esler said. “The star, for me, is knowing that I’m the best threat replication that the U.S. has to offer. I have all of the information that you need to employ to the best of your ability as a good guy. I think the star invokes a level of, ‘you should bring your best game forward because we are intelligent, and we do this every day.’ I’m proud to be an aggressor, and I think everybody who puts that star on their uniform knows what we’re here for, and are proud to serve in the greatest aggressor fleet there is.”

Capt. Danielle Esler, 64th Aggressor Squadron, holds the unit’s patch which is adorned with their symbolic red star. The unit’s star and yellow hammer-and-sickle symbolizes the Soviet Union, the United States’ enemy during the Cold War.  “The star, for me, is knowing that I’m the best threat replication that the U.S. has to offer,” Esler says.

Red Flag has helped train more than 145,000 aircrew members for combat in the past 40 years. Between 1965 and 1973, during the Vietnam War, the Air Force lost a fighter for every two enemy planes it shot down in Southeast Asia, compared to a 10:1 ratio, and as high as 25:1, during the Korean War, said retired Maj. Joel McKee. McKee, a contracted senior graphics analyst in the 414th Combat Training Squadron at Nellis AFB, was a former F-4 Phantom electronic warfare officer and part of the original Red Flag staff in 1975. A group of officers who some called the “Iron Majors,” but most referred to as the “Fighter Mafia,” built what became known as the Red Baron Reports. The reports, presented by Maj. Richard “Moody” Suter, found a trend of inexperience that led to the loss of aircraft and crewmembers, particularly in the pilots’ first 10 sorties, McKee said.
“They sort of computed, based on the Red Baron Reports, that fighter pilots who survived the first 10 missions could usually be counted on to survive the rest of it,” McKee said. “So they said, maybe we need to provide training to give those guys the first 10 sorties.
“Their target for the main thrust of the training was what we call Blue 4. That’s the most inexperienced fighter pilot who normally flies in aircraft No. 4. His responsibility is pretty much to try to stay on the wing of No. 3 without hurting himself or anybody else and to learn as much as he can in the process. That was the basic premise behind Red Flag.”
The group came up with the concept of Red Flag, which would pit training pilots in blue forces against red forces, piloted by aggressors, in a series of combat scenarios over the Nevada Test and Training Range’s 15,000 square miles of air space. Previously, pilots flew the same aircraft against each other, with the top of the class playing the role of aggressors. Although most generals were enthusiastic about the idea, there was concern over the cost until an Army officer at the Pentagon took the Fighter Mafia’s concepts and applied them to the Army National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif. Eventually, Suter and Col. David Burney sold Lt. Gen. Robert Dixon, the Air Tactical Command commander, on the program. The first Red Flag exercise finally began on July 15, 1975, with a squadron of F-4 Phantoms from Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.

An F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot from from the 64th Aggressor Squadron is ready to take off on a mission supporting Red Flag 15-2 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. The 64th AGRS uses F-16s to replicate potential threats U.S. combat air forces may face in real-world situations.

While there were problems with aircraft losses and safety concerns that first year, Red Flag’s legacy of giving pilots a taste of combat before they faced enemy fighters and bombs for real was already beginning to form, as expressed by the 64th AGRS’ first commander.
“I’d hate to see an epitaph on a fighter pilot’s tombstone that says, ‘I told you I needed training,’” Lt. Col. Lloyd “Boots” Boothby said. “When you don’t let a guy train because it’s dangerous, you’re saying, ‘Go fight those lions with your bare hands in that arena, because we can’t teach you to learn how to use a spear. If we do, you might cut your finger while you’re learning.’ And that’s just about the same as murder.”
While they relish the role as the adversary of Red Flag, the aggressors consider themselves a training aid for the blue forces pilots, especially since, like Anderson, they once flew on the blue side during Red Flag themselves. They are responsible for swiftly punishing any mistakes made by blue pilots, with the hopes that it will drive home an important lesson that could save lives during actual combat.
“If the good guys are making mistakes, we’re absolutely going to take advantage of those mistakes, because we want to drive those lessons learned home,” Anderson said. “If a good guy makes a mistake, and you don’t take that shot, that lesson is gone. But if you take that shot, and he ‘dies’ in the training environment, you have something to come back to as a debrief focus point, something the good guys can learn from and figure out what breakdowns happened in their game plan to put that guy in that situation.”
Early in the exercise, aggressor pilots function much like sparring partners for their blue counterparts. They have limitations placed on what they can do until pilots show improvement, and as the threat levels increase, the handcuffs begin to come off the red forces pilots.
“A lot of times, the training they’ve been going through back at their home station hasn’t been at the level they’re going to see at Red Flag, so day one is pretty painful and ugly for blue, with aggressors achieving their objectives,” said Lt. Col. Kevin Gordon, the 64th AGRS commander. “By the end of week one, it’s much more difficult for us to achieve our objectives, because you’re starting to see the learning curve go up on the blue side. By the end of the second week, it’s nearly impossible for us to achieve our objectives.

A F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot from the 64th Aggressor Squadron takes a moment to relax in the cockpit before launching on an exercise Red Flag mission. The 64th Aggressor Squadron trains combat Air Force’s joint and allied aircrews by employing challenging, realistic threat replication, training, test support, academics, and feedback.

“Initially, we punch them in the face and probably bruise their ego a little bit. But they take it with a grain of salt, learn from it, correct their mistakes and come back and show us how they can employ their platforms to the best of their ability.”
The Red Flag staff consistently hears feedback from pilots and commanders who have put lessons learned at Red Flag into practice when they faced real combat. The common refrain is that Red Flag was considerably tougher than the challenges actual adversaries gave them. One of the exercise’s biggest advantages is how it puts pilots together for planning, executing and de-briefing, said Col. Jeffrey Weed, the 414th CTS commander.
“Those three things are really what makes our Air Force different, and, over the course of time, has made us great,” Weed said. “It’s great that we get to go out and do these advanced tactics, but what really makes us strong is the plan, execute and debrief cycle that we go through. By the time they leave here, they are not only better planners, but they also better understand how to integrate with one another, and that all takes place in the debrief. My goal is to have them learn, so if they do well one week, it gets harder the next week, and they don’t have a sense at the end that they’ve won, but they do have a sense that they’ve learned.”
For the first time this year, a virtual Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System is part of the live fly exercise, Weed said.
“This is the best example of how aspects of Red Flag now include live, virtual, and constructive elements,” Weed said. “This means that JSTARS aircrew in simulators at the Distributed Mission Operations Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, are participating by providing ground surveillance to support attack operations and targeting the red enemy forces who are actually driving vehicles across the ranges north of Las Vegas. To the aircrew in the simulators, and the aircrew flying live aircraft on the range, it will feel as if the JSTARS is actually there.”

An F-16 Fighting Falcon lands at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada after completing an exercise Red Flag mission.

Now that Johnson is playing the role of the “10-foot gorilla” of Red Flag, he has a different attitude toward the aggressors’ role. He may now be King Kong, but he’s not looking to embarrass blue pilots. He just wants to do his part to get them ready.
“On the flip side, as an aggressor, when you find yourself in that situation when you’re able to converge from 20,000 feet above and it’s your game, it’s a whole different feeling,” he said. “But I want blue to win because I am still a part of the Air Force. Now I am an aggressor, but I will go back to the combat Air Force one day, so I want the Air Force to be able to win as a whole. I’m not out there to watch our front-line fighters fail. I want them to be able to go, succeed and do well.”

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Bird's Eye View: Raven Patrols Skies Above Vandenberg to Help Protect Space Launches

BIRD’S EYE VIEW

Raven patrols skies above Vandenberg to help protect space launches

STORY BY RANDY ROUGHTON// PHOTOS BY STAFF SGT. ANDREW LEE

15 June 2015

Tech Sgt. Benjamin Hawkingson hand-launches a Raven, an unmanned aerial vehicle, on north base of Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The Raven weighs 4.5 pounds, has a five-foot wingspan and stretches only 38 inches in length. The Raven is equipped with a video camera which streams live feed to an operator on the ground. The small UAV patrols the base’s space launch complexes to ensure that the area will be safe for the scheduled on-base launches.

A 4-pound bird-like aircraft soars after midnight 3,000 feet above Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, its high-tech eye looking for anyone who might be somewhere he doesn’t belong. The small, remotely piloted aircraft patrols the base’s space launch complexes to ensure that the area will be safe for the scheduled pre-dawn launch of an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile.
The 30th Security Forces Squadron’s Small Unarmed Aerial Systems uses the RQ-11 Raven B, which has the original Raven’s 4.5-foot wingspan with a range of up to 10,500 feet, but is now equipped with rotating cameras that deliver real-time color or infrared images to its ground control and remote viewing stations below.

After completing the training mission Tech Sgt. Benjamin Hawkinson and Staff Sgt. Ryan Hudson head back to squadron headquarters at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Vandenberg has 99,099 acres of land with multiple launch sites, the small UAV helps patrol the base’s space launch complexes to ensure that the areas will be safe for the scheduled on-base launches.

“Anybody can drive down the road and sweep it by looking at the brush that’s immediately around the area, but they can’t see a kilometer or two in the brush,” said Tech. Sgt. Benjamin Hawkinson, the 30th SUAS Raven program NCO in charge. “We have the eyes above to sweep all those areas that they cannot get to and to be able to relay that information. There’s no better feeling than when that time comes when you happen to catch that intruder and know that you’ve done your job.
“Most of the time, we encounter nothing. But you think about the one time we don’t have it, and that’s probably the time somebody is trespassing on the perimeter and actually getting to our resources.”

Tech Sgt. Benjamin Hawkinson watches a Raven, an unmanned aerial vehicle, while it goes through on north base of Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The Raven weighs 4.5 pounds, has a five-foot wingspan and stretches only 38 inches in length. The Raven is equipped with a video camera which streams live feed to an operator on the ground. The small UAV patrols the base’s space launch complexes to ensure that the area will be safe for the scheduled on-base launches.

The Raven already proved its value in deployed locations because of its capability of providing a bird’s-eye view outside the wire without risking personnel or other resources. The Vandenberg program began in 2005 with the older models, but the Raven stopped flying there when newer systems were introduced until security forces began rebuilding the SUAS program a couple of years ago. Eventually, the program was separated from launch support, and Hawkinson was chosen to oversee it.
Although Vandenberg has had the current Raven for two years, it is still considered primarily a training mission. Hawkinson is working on getting mission qualification training through Air Force Special Operations Command, but they are now considered in training for launch support, coast and fire sweeps and hazardous materials situations, he said. However, the Raven has provided aerial security for every launch at Vandenberg since May 2013.
“Our unique mission allows us to utilize this system for the mass terrain that we have here that would make it hard for patrols on foot or in vehicles to get to,” Hawkinson said. “So we will get into the air to cover that area, and if we were to spot something, then we can guide our forces in to make sure everything is secure with resources on base.”

Staff Sgt. Ryan Hudson pilots a flying unmanned aerial vehicle with a handheld video game-like control at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Hudson is the assistant noncommissioned officer in charge of the 30th Security Forces Small Unarmed Aerial Systems Raven Program. The small UAV patrols the base’s space launch complexes to ensure that the area will be safe for the scheduled on-base launches.

Prior to adding the Raven, Vandenberg relied mostly on its all-terrain vehicles, the Air Force’s only active mounted horse patrol and security checkpoints for space launch security. Today, the small RPA covers the base’s near 100,000 acres of terrain on random range security sweeps in the days before and during the launch. After the missile blasts off, the Raven operators assist the fire department by looking for any possible fires resulting from the launch.
“We provide aerial security for launch facilities and space launch complex missions because we can cover a larger area to ensure that there’s no one trespassing within the impact limit line when it comes to these missions,” Hawkinson said. “One person trespassing through the impact limit line can possibly halt a launch, causing delays and millions of dollars lost.”

Staff Sgt. Ryan Hudson pilots a flying unmanned aerial vehicle with a handheld video game-like control at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Hudson is the assistant noncommissioned officer in charge of the 30th Security Forces Small Unarmed Aerial Systems Raven Program. The small UAV patrols the base’s space launch complexes to ensure that the area will be safe for the scheduled on-base launches.

Although the Raven can fly up to 10,500 feet in elevation, it only flies as high as 3,000 feet at Vandenberg. But unlike larger RPAs, the Raven doesn’t need ground support teams, a fuels or maintenance section, or other support. The program has a total of 23 models, and operators take three at a time that can be assembled in the field from their small cases.
As the vehicle operator, Hawkinson prepares to throw the Raven into the air like a football as his mission operator and assistant program NCOIC, Staff Sgt. Rian Hudson, tracks it as a triangular blip on his laptop screen. The footage is recorded and maintained on the laptop, and they report anything of concern to ground security patrols. Any images not needed are deleted, Hudson said.
Hawkinson and Hudson say they sometimes feel like they’re kids again because their job allows them to fly the Raven, which takes both 30th SFS SUAS operators back to their childhood hobbies with toy aircraft.
Although Hudson enjoyed model rockets in high school, he never flew a remote control plane before the Raven.
“This is like every kid’s dream because getting to work with toys is basically our job,” he said. “You get out there in the terrain, and you can go almost anywhere with these things, throw them up in the air and fly them around like you would with any toy. We are doing great things for the mission, as well as having fun.”

An unmanned aerial vehicle, also known as a Raven, soars over land on Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, a day before a launch of an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile. The Raven weighs 4.5 pounds, has a five-foot wingspan and stretches only 38 inches in length. The Raven is equipped with a video camera which streams live feed to an operator on the ground. The small UAV patrols the base’s space launch complexes to ensure that the area will be safe for the scheduled on-base launches.

As the son of an Air Force firefighter, Hawkinson, on the other hand, had a passion for airplanes, tanks and military history. He was working in the 30th SFS when a master sergeant selected for the program wasn’t interested in the position. Someone suggested Hawkinson because of his love for remote control planes, and he was selected.
“I never expected to be doing a job like this,” he said. “So when I got awakened early in the morning to be notified that I was being hired, I thought it was one of my buddies playing a joke on me. I had to kind of sit up in my bed, clear my eyes and make sure I fully understood who was on the phone and what was being said. When I realized it wasn’t someone playing a joke on me, I couldn’t go back to sleep after working 14 hours. I was ecstatic.”
The Raven is prohibited from flying over base housing and off base, and Hawkinson ensures he follows the restrictions on the RPA to the letter, he said. The Raven’s purpose is solely to patrol over the areas difficult to access on Vandenberg.
The Raven’s pre-launch patrol showed the space launch area was clear of any trespassers or people wandering in unsafe areas in search of a good view of the ICBM blasting into the dark California sky. So the Minuteman was able to launch at exactly 3:53 a.m., as scheduled.

An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile accelerates toward a test range near Guam March 27 after launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The ICBM was the second fired for testing and evaluation purposes in the course of a week, with both Malmstrom and F. E. Warren AFBs sending crews and randomly selected missiles to Vandenberg AFB to launch the missiles in conjunction with the 30th Space Wing and 576th Flight Test Squadron which oversee the launch facilities and operational tests, respectively.

- See more at: http://airman.dodlive.mil/2015/06/birds-eye-view/#sthash.s8WnHnFp.dpuf

Frozen Tundra Warriors: Airmen Cope with Extreme Weather to Maintain Their Missions at Two North Dakota Bases

FROZEN TUNDRA WARRIORS

Airmen cope with extreme weather to maintain their missions at two North Dakota bases

STORY BY RANDY ROUGHTON

18 May 2015

Airmen from the 5th Maintenance Group prepare a B-52H Stratofortress for takeoff on Minot Air Force Base, N.D., Jan. 12, 2015. Aircraft maintenance Airmen provide maintenance and upkeep to the jets, even during the cold winter months. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Brittany Y. Bateman)

Within seconds of exposure to the North Dakota cold, painful things begin happening to unprotected skin. The nose and lips begin to tingle before numbness sets in. Throw in the brutal Midwest wind on top of sub-zero temperatures with ice and snow-covered roads and sidewalks, and accomplishing the mission while keeping Airmen safe becomes serious business at both Grand Forks and Minot Air Force Base in the Peace Garden State.
Andy Swenson, the 319th Air Base Wing safety manager at Grand Forks AFB, thought of the 264 Critical Days of Winter as his answer to the Air Force’s 101 Critical Days of Summer after he arrived on base 11 winters ago.
“If you’ve ever been off base at a deployed location, you know you’re the odd man out there, and you feel like you’re the target, and your awareness is naturally heightened because of it,” Swenson said. “Well, up here, I think everyone understands that the winter is really the bad guy, and we can’t afford to ever lose sight of that. But those of us who work inside and occasionally go outside have it easy. It’s the cop at the front gate and the civil engineer going from building to building who have it hard.”

Airman 1st Class Patrick Boylan, 91st Missile Security Forces response force leader, performs an outer perimeter check on a launch facility in North Dakota, Feb. 12, 2015. Security forces have several layers of cold weather gear for warmth. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Brittany Y. Bateman)

Grand Forks AFB leaders call their Airmen the “Warriors of the North,” while Minot AFB commanders call their people “Tundra Warriors.”
The missions are different, but both North Dakota bases recognize a different type of war their people must fight more than half of the year – a war against some of the most extreme winter conditions in the nation, which can often last from October, when the land becomes a sea of white after the first snowfall, until May and sometimes early June, when spring finally arrives in North Dakota.
“As Warriors of the North, we take great pride in getting the mission done despite the harsh conditions,” said Col. Paul E. Bauman, the 319th ABW commander at Grand Forks AFB. “Our Airmen are our greatest asset and ensuring their safety in this climate is a top priority. I am extremely proud of the way our Airmen adapt and innovate to accomplish our mission each and every day. I am honored to lead such remarkable men and women.”

A member of the 5th Security Forces Squadron Delta Flight, awaits further instructions during a recapture exercise in the Weapons Storage Area at Minot Air Force Base, N.D. Jan. 30, 2014. Airmen in the area respondto a simulated security incident at a structure in the WSA with their fellow 5th SFS defenders to hone their skills in regards to recapture procedures. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Stephanie Sauberan)

At Grand Forks AFB, Airmen 1st Class Julio Duran-Sangabriel and Dylan Harrison, 319th Civil Engineer Squadron pavements and equipment technicians, clear snow from the flightline to keep the RQ-4 Global Hawk ready to fly. Members of the 319th Security Forces Squadron check identifications at the base gates, search vehicles and conduct perimeter checks, along with supporting Cavalier Air Force Station an hour and a half away.
Across the base, Staff Sgt. Victoria Dames, a 319th SFS military working dog handler, showed off the “dog booties” used to protect MWD Arco to keep his paws from being cut by ice and hardened snow. One night, during his first month after arriving at Grand Forks from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana last winter, Capt. Kendall Benton, the 319th SFS operations officer, spent more than four hours rescuing motorists who had slid into the ditch on an icy Highway 2, between the city of Grand Forks and his home in Larimore.
About 200 miles west at Minot AFB, 94th Missile Maintenance Squadron members fight the elements to keep satellite and land-based communications available for crews working underground at missile sites. Members of the 91st Maintenance Operations Squadron often have to shovel their way just to get to missile sites to do their work a couple of hours from Minot AFB. When winter settles in at Minot, the maintainers sometimes leave the base in morning darkness, and by the time they return about eight hours later, it’s already dark again, the end of another one of North Dakota’s short winter days.

Airmen from the 5th Security Forces Squadron Delta Flight perform a security sweep during a recapture exercise in the Weapons Storage Area at Minot Air Force Base, N.D. Jan. 30, 2014. During every shift, Airmen perform a minimum of one exercise in the WSA to ensure they know the proper procedures should a crisis arise. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Stephanie Sauberan)

Airman 1st Class Joseph Ryan Houseman, a 5th Security Forces Squadron response force member and installation entry controller, tries to keep warm in his Humvee. His upper body is warm enough, but a bottle of water is frozen in the floorboard because the vehicle doesn’t have ground heaters. At the gate, 5th SFS members rotate each hour, but when the temperature drops to minus 40, they have to switch every five minutes. They can only stay so warm, even wearing a parka, hat, mask, thick gloves, thermal underwear and two layers of socks.
“They say our main mission in security forces is to provide uncompromised security for America’s strategic forces,” Houseman said. “That’s what we do, and we try not to let the weather bother us.”
Across base, the B-52 Stratofortresses sit on a flightline usually covered by snow for much of the winter. Maintainers in the 5th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron perform heavy maintenance, such as brake and tire changes on the B-52, taking advantage of work and rest cycles to help each other avoid frostbite and hypothermia. Breaks are encouraged because of the conditions on the flightline. When the conditions reach a certain point, as they did when the base faced minus 45 wind chill temperatures throughout a two-week period in February 2014, maintenance has to be temporarily shut down. Jobs that normally take six hours to complete in warmer weather take twice that time during the winter, said Senior Airman Dylan Walls, the 5th AMS aircraft assistant dedicated crew chief.

Senior Airman Steven Fisher, 5th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron weapons load crew members, prepare to move a Cluster Bomb Unit 103 at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., Feb. 10, 2014. B-52 weapons loaders are trained and certified to load a variety of nuclear and conventional munitions in support of combatant commander requirements. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jonathan Snyder)

“During a normal duty day, we’re looking at six hours to be out in the cold, performing our job,” Walls said. “If the mission requires us to stay outside longer than that in order to get our planes ready to be fully mission capable, we do it. We have work and rest cycles, depending on the cold and its severity, and we try to adhere to that as best as we can, but we also have to continually work on the aircraft.”
While the missions are quite different, with Minot AFB remaining focused on the B-52, and the Global Hawk now the mission at Grand Forks AFB, both bases rely heavily on cold-weather clothing and the wingman concept to protect their Airmen during the harsh North Dakota winters.
Civil engineers keep the flightline cleared of snow, which can be especially challenging after a heavy snowstorm, like the blizzards that usually hammer the state each winter. The squadron is manned 24/7 from the first week of November through early April, with the addition of 15 extra winter overhire civilian employees, said Greg Stoik, the 319th CES horizontal section construction foreman.
“We are maintaining an active runway here, and we have to keep it as such,” Stoik said. “It has to be open at all times, and our mission is to keep the runway and taxiways open so when the Global Hawk and (unmanned aerial vehicles) are prepared, they can go.”

Airmen from the 91st Missile Security Forces “trip-out” to a missile alert facility in North Dakota, Feb. 12, 2015. Security forces have several layers of cold weather gear for warmth. The Humvees they travel in are heated, and they’re able to switch out if necessary so that individuals don’t have to stay in the cold for dangerously long periods of time. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Brittany Y. Bateman)

No matter what the conditions are, there are some jobs that have to be done regardless. Civil engineers and security forces members at both bases are some of the Airmen who don’t have the luxury of staying in their dorm rooms and homes when the North Dakota winter deals its worst to the area.
“The most important thing about security forces is our job doesn’t stop on account of the weather,” Benton said. “We do the exact same job regardless of the weather conditions because we have to. We don’t have a choice. But to mitigate that, we do our extra training – peer and leaders at all levels, we make sure people are dressing and layering appropriately for the cold.”
Just because the state enjoyed a considerably more temperate winter this year, Airmen at Grand Forks and Minot know better than to be complacent.

- See more at: http://airman.dodlive.mil/2015/05/frozen-tundra-warriors/#sthash.jLEB6d0h.dpuf

'Mr. P:' At 80, Supervisor Remains the Backbone of One of Service's Largest C-17 Fabrication Shops

‘MR. P’

At 80, supervisor remains the backbone of one of service’s largest C-17 fabrication shops

STORY BY RANDY ROUGHTON// STAFF SGT. VERNON YOUNG JR.

22 June 2015

Mr. Bobby Pierce, 437th Aircrew Flight Equipment Squadron, Joint-Base Charleston, S.C., repairman, sews a head rest cover for the interior of a C-17 Globemaster III, Feb. 28, 2015. Pierce completes work orders from C-17 maintainers to maintain aircraft safety standards. The fabrication shop saves the Air Force about $1.25 million annually on sewing refurbished and locally manufactured items.

When Bobby Pierce was learning to sew during his Air Force technical training in 1955, he never imagined he would still be teaching the skill to Airmen in his fabrication shop six decades later.
Pierce, or “Mr. P,” as he’s known in the 437th Aircrew Flight Equipment Fabrication Shop at Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, quickly made an impression on Tech. Sgt. Rico Kones when he arrived in 2001. Almost immediately, Mr. P became the person Kones looked to for guidance and information. Kones credits the veteran with teaching him how to sew, which Pierce continues to do with the shop’s Airmen.

Mr. Bobby Pierce, 437th Aircrew Flight Equipment Squadron, Joint-Base Charleston, S.C., repairman, sips his morning coffee as he begins his duty day, Feb. 28, 2015. Pierce leads a fabrication shop of 10 civilians and several military members that provide a wide-range of fabrication services to the aircrews assigned to JB-Charleston.

“Mr. P is an inspiration to us all,” said Kones, an aircrew flight equipment special projects coordinator. “He is in his 80s, and he is still working here in the shop lifting heavy rolls of fabric and working out daily on his lunch break. Mr. P greets us all here daily with a smile and asks us, ‘How are you doing today?’ Although this is one of the busiest shops in (Air Mobility Command), Mr. P is always personable with the civilian members and GIs. He treats us all like family.”
Pierce is the senior of 10 civilian employees in the shop who represent more than 300 years of experience. It is one of the Air Force’s few fabrication shops that still produce all fabric-related items for aircraft. Every two years, the material in each of the base’s 50 C-17 Globemaster IIIs must be refurbished or replaced.

Mr. Bobby Pierce, 437th Aircrew Flight Equipment Squadron, Joint-Base Charleston, S.C., repairman, escorts Staff Sgt. Matthew Mason, 437th Logistics Readiness Squadron non-commissioned officer in charge of documented cargo, Feb. 28, 2015. Pierce and 437th fabrication flight personnel completed a job for Mason’s crew to load onto a C-17 Globemaster III. The 437th AFE creates aircraft parts by request and the 437th LRS Airmen install the parts with the approval of the maintenance squadrons.

Employees use sheepskin to make custom cockpit seat covers Pierce calls “butt covers,” and also refurbish armrest and headrest covers, bunk cushions, heavy bunk curtains made of fire-resistant fabric and heavy-duty straps. The straps must be done on Big Bertha, the only one of the shop’s five sewing machines that can handle heavier materials. They even embroider the active-duty and reserve wing logos, along with the JB Charleston logo, into certain items so all C-17 passengers will know where the work was done.
Some shop specialists compare the work to NASCAR mechanics. In both cases, people just take the end products for granted without considering the work that went into them, Pierce said.
“If a NASCAR driver does really well, people think he was great, but they don’t know what went into that car, the work that was done on that car to put him into position to win,” he said. “But everything had to be perfect in that car for him to win. But how was it perfect? People see things like seat covers and think they magically appeared. They don’t think about the work that went into them. They just see them and don’t know the story behind them.”
Each morning, Pierce arrives at the shop early at 5:30 and makes coffee. He checks his emails and reads the newspaper over his breakfast before his shift begins an hour later. It’s a routine that has served him well since his first day on the job in 1986.

Mr. Bobby Pierce, 437th Aircrew Flight Equipment Squadron, Joint-Base Charleston, S.C., repairman, guides C-17 crew chiefs’ Airman 1st Class John Williams, Senior Airmen Rahul Bhutani and Airman 1st Class Christian Moskovitz, Feb. 28, 2015. Pierce and 437th fabrication flight personnel completed a job for the Airmen to load onto a C-17 Globemaster III. The 437th AFE creates aircraft parts by request and the 437th LRS Airmen install the parts with the approval of the maintenance squadrons.

During those three decades, Pierce has witnessed the reorganization in 2007 that combined survival and equipment with aircrew life support. He’s also seen his share of other changes, such as when an Air Mobility Command commander’s ride on a C-17 led to a switch to a more comfortable bunk rest cover.
“In the early days of the C-17, Gen. (Walter) Kross rode on the aircraft and was displeased with the bunk rest cover,” Pierce said. “So it was changed to one that was much more comfortable for crew members to rest on.”

Mr. Bobby Pierce, 437th Aircrew Flight Equipment Squadron, Joint-Base Charleston, S.C., repairman, sews a head rest cover for the interior of a C-17 Globemaster III, Feb. 28, 2015. Pierce completes work orders from C-17 maintainers to maintain aircraft safety standards. The fabrication shop saves the Air Force about $1.25 million annually on sewing refurbished and locally manufactured items.

Before basic training in 1955, Pierce was selected as a parachute rigger. He learned to sew, along with parachute preparedness and inspection skills, during 16 weeks of technical training at Chanute Air Force Base, Illinois.
His first assignment was at the former Hunter Air Force Base, Georgia, a Strategic Air Command installation; followed by Castle Air Force Base, California; Incirlik Air Base, Turkey and Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. He retired as a master sergeant in 1975 and chose to continue in the aircrew flight equipment field, first at Shaw, before he moved to his current shop 11 years later.
The one constant throughout his military and civilian careers has been his love of sewing.
“The one thing about sewing is it’s relatively a clean job,” Pierce said. “You don’t have mud and grease on your clothes normally. Also, it’s an inside job. You have air conditioning in the summer, and in the wintertime, you don’t have to be out in the elements. If you enjoy sewing, it’s kind of an art, a task in which you sew a piece of material to make it into an end item, like a cushion cover, or even a dress or pair of pants. You can do a lot of things with sewing.”

Mr. Bobby Pierce, 437th Aircrew Flight Equipment Squadron, Joint-Base Charleston, S.C., repairman, guides C-17 crew chiefs’ Airman 1st Class John Williams, Senior Airmen Rahul Bhutani and Airman 1st Class Christian Moskovitz, Feb. 28, 2015. Pierce and 437th fabrication flight personnel completed a job for the Airmen to load onto a C-17 Globemaster III. The 437th AFE creates aircraft parts by request and the 437th LRS Airmen install the parts with the approval of the maintenance squadrons.

The one thing the fabrication shop does best with sewing is save the Air Force money, about $1.25 million annually, on refurbished and locally manufactured items, said Scott Lewis, an aircrew flight equipment foreman. One of the items where a big chunk of the savings is made is in heads-up display covers. The covers cost about $2,500, but the shop makes them for $150-175 each. This savings adds up to about $40,000 on each C-17, or up to about $1 million a year.
Even when the workload eases up somewhat, there is still plenty to do. This is when they get ready for the next aircraft due for refurbishing.
“We have to keep a supply of items on hand so we can change them right away and can get it back ASAP,” Pierce said. “So when things are a little slack, we make extra seat covers, bed rest covers, and we sew extra straps to make sure we have some spare sets ahead to take care of them whenever they come in. All we have to do then is strip them off and put our new covers on. We always have something to do ahead of time. To have a few extra sets really helps us out in the long run.”

Mr. Bobby Pierce, 437th Aircrew Flight Equipment Squadron, Joint-Base Charleston, S.C., repairman, performs pull-ups during his lunch workout routine, Feb. 28, 2015. At 80 years old with nearly 60 years of federal and military service, his consistent workout routine has kept him abreast with the developing times and standards.

At 80 years and with almost 60 years of combined federal and military service, Pierce has no plans to retire. That suits the others in the shop just fine. They’ve grown accustomed to seeing his smiling face and carrying large pieces of fabric as if they were a few pieces of notebook paper.
“I’ve worked around a lot of older people in my career,” Kones said. “They talk about when they retire, they will go home with nothing to do. They need a mission to accomplish to keep them going. He has one.
“He’s the oldest in the shop, but we look at him as our Hercules because you will see him carrying around 25-pound fabric on one shoulder. Mr. P is the backbone of our section. He’s back there day in and day out, making sure our aircraft are looking good.”
But perhaps another lasting legacy Pierce will eventually leave the shop will be his role in inspiring another generation of mentors who are willing to go the extra mile for their own Airmen. Kones considers himself in that category.

Mr. Bobby Pierce, 437th Aircrew Flight Equipment Squadron, Joint-Base Charleston, S.C., repairman, displays his Air Force basic training portrait and squadron photo above his desk, Feb. 28, 2015. After retiring as a Master Sergeant in 1975, his dedication to the military continued and his love for sewing grew. As the leader of a long-standing fabrication shop, he remains the backbone of one of the premiere jobs in the Air Force.

“One of the biggest lessons that Mr. P has showed me about the shop and my career is that I am a leader, and it is my duty to ensure that the mission is getting accomplished and that my people are taken care of,” Kones said. “He showed me that if you take care of your people, they will take care of you. If you are there just working your people with no gratification, they will work because they have to for the paycheck. But if you show them that they matter, and that they are doing a good job, they will go that extra mile because of you.”

- See more at: http://airman.dodlive.mil/2015/06/mr-p/#sthash.2xJVDgMV.dpuf