Munitions Airmen make bombs built to order

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman James Croxon
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) --  Hitting a two-meter target with 2,000 pounds of high explosives while traveling hundreds of miles an hour takes sophisticated weapons aboard aircraft flown by talented pilots. But, before these munitions can be used they must be inspected, tested, built, loaded and delivered to the aircraft.

That is the job of Airmen assigned to the 332nd Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron Munitions Flight here.

"Most people think bombs come out of the box ready to go on the aircraft," said Master Sgt. Robert Franks, the NCO in charge of the precision munitions section.

"They don't realize munitions are shipped as components and need to be built according to the air tasking orders we get from the combined air operations center," said Sergeant Franks, who is deployed from Hill Air Force Base, Utah.

Building smart weapons, munitions that can to be delivered to a target through various means, begins with breaking out components from the various storage facilities used by the flight. According to Chief Master Sgt. George Graham, the munitions flight chief, the flight stocks components and places orders for replacements before on-hand quantities reach critical levels.

"We're like the Iraq branch of a department store chain," said Chief Graham, deployed from Eglin AFB, Fla. "We order our stock from the Southwest Asia distribution center, and it is airlifted here. Some of these components have been in the inventory for decades, but they're maintained so well that I wouldn't be surprised to see Vietnam-era components in use today."

According to Senior Master Sgt. William Witherington, there can be anywhere from 10 to 20 different configurations for one kind of bomb, depending on the needs of the warfighter. It takes five to 30 minutes to build a munition from scratch.

During the assembly, the fuses are set, which determine how and when the munitions go off once released by the aircraft.

"The fuses can set off the explosive at various times from release, on impact or even a certain time after impact," said Staff Sgt. Ray Traylor, a munitions Airman deployed from the Arkansas Air National Guard's 188th Fighter Wing at Fort Smith. "We can set a 2,000-pound bomb to go off after it breaks through a bunker."

When munitions are fired or destroyed because of damage, they are updated in the Air Force database. Chief Graham said they can tell when a component was purchased by the Defense Department, when it was installed on a munition and the tail number of the aircraft that used it. The database is updated within an hour after the munition is expended, giving officials important operational data in a timely manner.

The most rewarding part of the job for ammo Airmen is having their work put to use by pilots.

"When aircraft come back without munitions it really gives me a sense of accomplishment," said Airman 1st Class Joseph Lewis, deployed from the Ohio Air National Guard's 180th Fighter Wing in Perrysburg. "Knowing that pilots used the munitions we made and they worked makes me feel like a key player in the war."