B1 Bomber Crews Discuss 2011 Libya Attacks

The following is a release from Senior Airman Hailey Staker, 28th Bomb Wing Public Affairs:

Five years ago, a phone rang in the 28th Bomb Wing vice commander’s office and made history.

Less than 72 hours later, on March 27, 2011, more than 1,100 maintenance personnel launched four B-1B Lancer bombers from the Ellsworth Air Force Base flightline in blizzard conditions to support Operation Odyssey Dawn. It was the first time the aircraft had ever launched from a continental U.S. location in support of combat operations.

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Two B-1s and their eight-person crew would continue on and strike targets in Libya; however, the mission required communication and personnel working round-the-clock to be executed.

“I was about halfway through the planning process (of a training sortie), and rumors were making their way around about base leadership convening at the command post,” said Maj. Matthew, a weapons system officer for the operation’s lead B-1. “At about 1 p.m., I was called to the command post with a pilot in my squadron. We were both qualified mission commanders, which clued me in that whatever was going on was likely a real-world event.”

Matthew and many aviators …Read the Rest

Source:: Tactical Life