European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 15, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine b-s2 coming in for o Landing at grand sch fab nor Umof . With Advent of a. B-1, a Rote of the. B-52 i changing. New Mission for the Iii by Richard Halloran new York times t o train Lor a nuclear air strike against the soviet Union the b-52 bomber thundered own the icy runway and lifted Oil Over the North Dakota Prairie at grand Forks fab just As Dawn broke. The Pilot capt. Randall w. Spetman levelled Oil at 29,000 feet and began looking Lor the Aerial Tanker that was to Complete filling his bomber with fuel Tor the Long As the kg-135 Tanker appeared a thousand feel overhead. Spet Mart Lew up slowly until the fueling Boom under the Tanker s tall loomed a few feet above the head. Signal lights on the underside of the Tanker told him to move Forward or right or left with his peripheral vision he watched the engines and wings of the Tanker. To Biggot thing Spetman said As the two huge aircraft flew less than 40 feet apart is to sense movement As Ycu get  gently the Pilot inched the bomber up until he could read the lips of the crewman Hying on his stomach to look out the Tanker s Bottom window and guide the Boom toward the bomber. Finally the Boom locked with a Light thump into e receptacle in the bomber s shoulders. After 20 minutes of taut flying at 280 knots 320 Mph Spetman broke off and headed for the bombing runs. The bomber carried no weapons All strikes would be simulated and scored by radar. The role of the air Force s 250 b-52s, the workhorses of the Long Range bombing Force has been changing As the soviet Union has vastly expanded air defences the United states has armed the b-52s with cruise missiles and deliveries of the new b-1 bombers have begun the a Mamlon of Fth b-52, designed in the 1950s As a High level nuclear bomber and used to drop conventional bombs in the Vietnam War is to penetrate hostile territory Only a few Hundred feet above the ground in an attempt to escape detection by radar and to evade surface to air missiles and tighter interceptors. In wartime the bomber with a Crew of six could carry three kinds of nuclear weapons Hung under the wings would be 12 cruise missiles which Are of Yang torpedoes with a Rango of 1,500 Miles inside the bomb Bays would be eight Short Range missiles intended to attack heavily defended targets up to 70 Miles away. 1 and four bombs to be dropped in the conventional manner. With the Advent of the b-1 to penetrate the most heavily defended areas As this plane is harder Tor enemy radar to detect the b-52 would assume More of a standoff role in War in which it would lire its missiles at less Well defended largest from a distance. The b-52 s heavy Load of weapons. The Low level flying and the Long distances to targets would consume huge amounts of fuel. Thus it would have to rely on tankers to get to the targets and Back Home. As col John t. Jaeckle commander of the 319th bombardment Wing at grand Forks fab. Said. Refuelling the the name of the game  on a wartime Mission a bomber would Load As much fuel As possible take off have its tanks filled in an Aerial refuelling then Fly across Canada and the Arctic to its targets. It would refuel again on the was Back. Jaeckle s Wing of 17 bombers and 20 tankers which also refuel transport and lighter planes from other bases. Is among the most Northern in the United Stales and therefore could be among the first ordered to strike the soviet Union ii deterrence tailed. Like other bomb wings in he strategic air come the 319th has five bombers and the same number of tankers on Alert 24 hours a Day loaded with weapons and Tuel. If an alarm goes off the planes take off in the order they Are ready with Takeoff by a Well drilled Alert Force being 12 seconds apart. Each month Crews like the one led by Spetman spend at least one week on Alert in addition to flying three or More sorties practising in a simulator and taking refresher training in weapons navigation and other military specialities. On this eight hour training sortie spot Man flew a twisting course Over North Dakota. South Dakota. Nebraska Wyoming Montana and North Dakota again. It costs an average of $ 10,000 an hour lot fuel spare parts and maintenance to Fly a b-52 this training Mission thus coot $80,000. The electronic warfare officer. First it. James m. Tinnesz and the tall gunner. Stall sgt. William j. Pangborn both seated lacing Alt behind the Pilot s cockpit tested electronic jamming gear and guns As the plane glided Down to 7,000 feet. The bomber skim Grad Over a Bank of Clouds. Ihen dropped Down to Fly through the big Horn mountains at 600 Teet above ground. From the Pilot s seat a meandering Valley seemed to scroll under the air plane As Snow covered ridges Rose to within 400 feet of the plane and canyons dropped Oft 1,000 feel. There were a Tew scattered houses and an occasional automobile whose Driver wending along a lonely Road through the forests of fir May have been startled to see the tying Behemoth roaring overhead. In the distance a Peak Rose to 13,000 feet. Spetman guided the plane Over the rapidly changing contours of the Earth by watching not Only the ground but the television screen immediately in front of him where a radar Trace of the terrain three Miles away warned him when to pull up. Sunday december 15, 1985 keeping the plane within a training corridor eight aisles wide and getting to the target was the Iob of the navigator. Maj. Joseph l. Olenoski or. Seated Wilh the Bombardier below the Pilot and the co Pilot. Their operating space like that of the pilots was no bigger than the inside of a Volkswagen. Navigation was difficult because the loss of inertial navigation was simulated to give Olenoski refresher training under the Eye of an instructor. Capt. Roger d. Gustatson. The navigator had to rely on headings and radar readouts of the terrain to determine where the plane was. Alter giving a new bearing to the Pilot the navigator s Crisp cadence was coming up on left turn ready ready  close to the target the Bombardier. A. Frank a. Greenwood or. Took control of the plane which was guided then by computer and sought to keep the crosshair on his radar screen on a series of targets a prominent piece of terrain. A Grain silo and a water Tower. As the aircraft approached the targets. Greenwood opened the bomb Bay doors switched on a radar tone that signalled the scoring team on the ground that the bomber was nearing the target and simulated releasing the bomb by stopping the tone. When Greenwood said bomb  the Pilot pushed the throttles Forward to get the plane away from what in real circumstances would be the detonation. In one instance. Greenwood was particularly Busy controlling the crosshair adjusting guidance devices and flipping switches As two simulated bombs were dropped within 31 seconds of each other. After two hours of Hying through the mountains at close to 400 knots 450 Mph Spetman climbed again to High Altitude where the Crew made a simulated bombing run on Bismarck the capital of North Dakota that was unseen through the Clouds far below. Finally the b-52 practice evasive Maneu vers against real f-15 fighters. In the  the co Pilot. First it. Michael e. Walker flipped the 400.000 Pound b-52 around the sky As if it were a Drunken Butterfly. In a Sharp left turn he pointed the left Wing toward the ground then twisted into a Sharp right turn. As the wings tilted one Way the Horton listed the other. He pulled the plane up in a surge that put a knot in the stomach then dived so swiftly that it Tell the head Light. Flares and chaff were dropped from the b-52 in an attempt to deceive the f-15 s radar. But. As Spetman pointed out the b-52, inhibited by safety rules and its 1950s technology was no match for the agile Swift f-15s. The Bombei was shot Down three times in the simulated Aerial combat. But on the fourth run the b-52 frustrated an f-15 Pilot and escaped. He s gone away said Pangborn the All gunner chuckling. He s no threat this  the stars and stripes Page 13