SERVICE, CAMARADERIE SQUADRON'S JOB.Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer During the morning briefing, Lt. Col. Mark Mitchell Mark Mitchell refers to:
Career: Four-year starting fullback who started 44 consecutive games from 1999-2002 … One of the most productive fullbacks in school history … Rushed for 961 yards on 158 carries . Moore, a member of the 452nd Flight Test Squadron for four years, is leaving the Air Force. As a farewell, Moore is getting a flight in a KC-135R tanker. ``It's tradition to get a soaking after your last flight. So unless you want to get wet, stay away,'' says Mitchell, the squadron's commander. A test support unit with nearly 130 personnel and 10 aircraft spread from Edwards to Ohio, the 452nd's members fly aircraft that record data from missiles, satellites and rockets, perform aerial refueling Aerial refueling, also called Air refueling or in-flight refueling (IFR) or air-to-air refueling (AAR) or (in the UK) tanking. Note that AAR also stands for "After Action Review" (de-briefing) and in aviation, IFR also stands for for other Edwards jets, and even measure the heat given off military aircraft engines in flight. They are proud they have worked on everything from Apollo moon missions to Minuteman missile Minuteman missile U.S. ICBM first deployed in 1962. Its three generations—the Minuteman I (1962–73), the Minuteman II (1966–95), and the Minuteman III (from 1970)—have constituted most of the land-based nuclear arsenal of the U.S. since the 1960s. tests and launches of planetary probes. The unit is best known as the owner and operator of the four-engine jet known as the advanced range instrumentation aircraft, or ARIA, whose bulbous nose bulbous nose Rhinophyma, see there holds a 7-foot dish antenna used for tracking space launches and cruise missile cruise missile, low-flying, continuously powered offensive missile designed to evade defense systems. Although the German V-1 (1944) was a simple cruise missile, the cruise missile did not realize its potential until the 1970s, when the United States sought to tests, but the morning's briefing shows there is much more to their workload. On tap for the day is a mission at Nellis Air Force Base Nellis Air Force Base (IATA: LSV, ICAO: KLSV) is a United States Air Force base, in Clark County, Nevada, on the northeast side of Las Vegas. It is also treated as a census-designated place by the United States Census for statistical purposes, and so specific in Nevada to support a laser technology program; a flight at Fallon Naval Air Station A Naval Air Station is an airbase of the United States Navy. Such bases are used to house Naval Aviation squadrons and support commands. List of Functioning US Naval Air Stations
EW military action, action - a military engagement; "he saw action in Korea" tests; a flight in Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (pwār`tō rē`kō), island (2005 est. pop. 3,917,000), 3,508 sq mi (9,086 sq km), West Indies, c.1,000 mi (1,610 km) SE of Miami, Fla. to assist the Navy with simulated electronic warfare; and a ground simulation of an ARIA just 100 yards outside the 452nd headquarters' doors. As diverse as the mission is now, there are new missions on the way, including operating a hot-air balloon to test sensors and modifying the unit's KC-135R aerial tanker to spray water on jets following it, testing them in bad weather conditions. About 45 minutes after the morning briefing, the tanker crew and Moore assemble for their preflight pre·flight adj. Preparing for or occurring before flight. tr.v. pre·flight·ed, pre·flight·ing, pre·flights To check (an aircraft) for airworthiness before flight. briefing. The mission calls for the tanker to provide 100,000 pounds of fuel for a B-1B bomber flight test. The tanker crew also will assist the B-1B with tests of a new radio system. ``The customer needs to get the radio check in this week. They are up against some contract deadlines,'' Capt. Lisa Freddo, the pilot, tells her crew. While the tanker crew briefs, ARIA crew members go through ground training data recorded during an Atlas missile launch from Florida. The data are broadcast through a tower to one of the squadron's four ARIA aircraft, a military version of the Boeing 707 airliner with a huge nose holding the world's largest airborne steerable antenna. The antenna takes in the recorded data, which includes information of ignition and burnout Burnout Depletion of a tax shelter's benefits. In the context of mortgage backed securities it refers to the percentage of the pool that has prepaid their mortgage. on stage separations of the missile, its velocity and position, and the chamber pressure during stage burns. The ARIAs fly to areas too far away from the mission control centers for the signals from missiles and spacecraft to reach. The information is vital when something goes wrong. At 11:15 a.m., the tanker takes off and begins a series of orbits over eastern Kern County. The airplane's track takes it as far north as Lake Isabella and provides the crew with superb views of Mount Whitney and the Sierra Nevadas. Early in the mission, somewhere near Lake Isabella, the B-1B approaches to 20 feet behind and below the tanker. Lying on his stomach at the back of the tanker is Master Sgt. Don Cash, a boom operator with 20 years of experience. Using a control stick in his right hand to position the boom and a lever operated with the left hand to extend the nozzle, Cash hooks up the B-1B to the flying gas station. ``It's mostly hand-and-eye coordination. It's like riding a bicycle, chewing gum and threading a needle at the same time,'' Cash said of operating the fuel boom. After offloading 50,000 pounds of fuel, the nozzle is retracted re·tract v. re·tract·ed, re·tract·ing, re·tracts v.tr. 1. To take back; disavow: refused to retract the statement. 2. and the B-1B falls away. A second approach and fuel hookup hookup, n in the Trager method of therapy, the practitioner enters into a meditative state along with the patient, which allows him or her to work more intuitively and to feel subtle changes in the patient's movement and tissue texture. is made as a training exercise for one of the B-1B's crew members and another 50,000 pounds is offloaded. The sight of two large aircraft flying in close formation at nearly 370 mph is, in Cash's words, ``very much an eye-opening experience.'' While Freddo and co-pilot Capt. Robert Mayfield fly numerous circuits over the Lake Isabella area, navigator Capt. Inga Lundy conducts radio checks to help the B-1B crew evaluate a new radio system. Over and over again, at distances ranging from 50 miles to 300 miles, Lundy repeats: ``Testing, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Alpha, bravo, charlie, delta, echo. Test complete,'' as different radio frequencies are tested. The planned 90-minute flight ends up being more than three hours when the bomber crew asks for assistance with additional radio checks while the aircraft are within 50 miles of each other. It is not a glamorous job, but it is an important one. ``We have to take care of the customer,'' Lundy said. ``That's why we're here.'' For Moore, who spent four years with the 452nd as a mission commander on ARIA missions, the flight is one last goodbye and, since he never flew on a tanker, a chance to see how some of his co-workers spend their day. Moore had served as a mission controller during ARIA flights and helped develop software to make the missions easier to conduct. ``I've been to Hawaii, Tahiti, Puerto Rico and London,'' Moore said. ``When they say join the Air Force and see the world, that's what I did.'' When the tanker lands, there is a reception party armed with sprayers ready to greet Moore. As each tanker crew member exits, he or she calls out ``Not Casey'' to keep from being soaked. When Moore finally descends from the airplane he's given a thorough soaking from two sprayers. The drenched drench tr.v. drenched, drench·ing, drench·es 1. To wet through and through; soak. 2. To administer a large oral dose of liquid medicine to (an animal). 3. civilian-to-be heads back to the 452nd headquarters with his co-workers, his waterlogged wa·ter·logged adj. 1. Nautical Heavy and sluggish in the water because of flooding, as in the hold: a waterlogged ship. 2. boots making squishing noises the whole way. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1 -- color) An Air Force B-1B bomber approaches the refueling boom of a KC-135R tanker from the 452nd Flight Test Squadron out of Edwards. (2) The nose of an EC-18B advanced range instrumentation aircraft holds an antenna used for tracking space launches and missiles. Jim Skeen/Daily News |
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