Exercise Combat Hammer

John Mikelatis, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Joint Direct Attack Munition program office, works on a JDAM Guided Bomb Unit 38 during the Weapons Standards Evaluation Program 12-21 exercise Combat Hammer on Barksdale Air Force Base, La., Aug. 9. The exercise is a way to ensure weapons used in the Area of Responsibility are fully functioning and mission capable to complete the task at hand. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Sean Martin)(RELEASED)

Exercise Combat Hammer

Published Aug. 13, 2012
By Senior Airman Sean Martin
2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. -- The 2nd Munitions Squadron here participated in the Weapons Standards Evaluation Program 12-21 Exercise Combat Hammer Aug. 6-9.

The purpose of the exercise is to evaluate the employment of precision-guided munitions, assess combat capabilities and improve the PGM performance. The exercise is also a way ensure that weapons used in the Area of Responsibility are fully functioning and mission capable. The squadron is evaluated from the time they create the bombs until they land on target.

"We perform a cradle-to-grave process," said Tech. Sgt. Mark Purcell, 86th Fighter Weapons Squadron air to ground munitions evaluator. "We evaluate the process of obtaining the munitions and the Airmen who build them. We also have evaluators on the flightline who evaluate the loading of the munitions and the aircrew who drops them."

Purcell said ultimately, as evaluators, it's their job to prevent problems from happening in the AOR. It's important that when a munition is needed, it's able to hit the target without falling short or malfunctioning.

"We are the consumer reports of the Air Force," said Purcell. "We try to re-enact these problems using the same environment and aircraft the munitions came from. We catch errors that may happen during the build, the load and the drop, and correct them accordingly."

The evaluation is designed to detect any faults the munitions may have when it is deployed, such as why it did or didn't hit its intended target.

"When you're calling in enemy coordinates, you want the bomb to hit the right building," said Staff Sgt. Theopolis James Austin, 2 MUNS convention munitions crew member. "You do not want it to hit another target or even worse, our own troops. It is important that the 'package' gets to the right location."

Airmen from 2 MUNS built 16 Joint Direct Attack Munition Guided Bomb Units comprised of three different types: a GBU 38, a GBU 31 version 3 and a GBU 12. One type of bomb was built each day by five qualified Airmen.

There was a lot of work that went on behind the scenes to make this a success, said Austin.

"There was a lot of preparation that went into the builds," said Austin. "We had to coordinate the materials being shipped here and make sure all of our tools were working and functional. We also had to make sure that the technical order requirements needed to attach the bombs to each B-52H Stratofortress were met."

The 2 BW is launching eight B-52s in support of Combat Hammer. Phase two of the exercise will take place Aug. 13-16. The munitions will be flown to a test range in Utah where they will be dropped.