Eleven hours flying time or about 4,400 nautical miles away is a key to success for the 40th Air Expeditionary Group’s mission: supporting Operation Enduring Freedom from the sky and ensuring peace throughout Afghanistan.

The key: Detachment 1 with the group’s expeditionary maintenance squadron at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

Their mission is to complete 300-hour phase inspections on B-52s Stratofortresses that operate from a forward-deployed location. The B-52s reach 300 hours of flying time pretty quick.

“Without us being here at Anderson Air Force Base, the jets at your forward operating location (FOL) have to fly 300 hours, and then go all the way back to Barksdale (AFB, La.) to phase for a week, then all the way back to your FOL,” said Capt. Matthew Berg, commander of Det. 1. “The flight between Barksdale and your location takes up almost 10 percent of the usable 300-hour flights, leaving only 90 percent of the 300 hours available for combat.”

While in Guam, the B-52s undergo a rigorous series of inspections, in addition to refurbishment and preparing bombers for functional check flights.

“It’s very important to perform these inspections,” said Senior Airman Thomas Taylor, phase inspection journeyman. “Our job here is critical to saving flying hours of the B-52s for their mission-essential operations.”

Det. 1 normally inspects four to five aircraft per month depending on how the hours are being flown on the forward deployed aircraft. Ideally, they want the 300-hour inspections done as close to zero hours as possible to get full use of the fleet. Flying hour management over multiple aircraft can get tricky on a 50-year-old war bird like the B-52.

The inspection portion takes approximately three days to complete. The “fix-phase” takes another five to 10 days depending on what the team finds and the availability of parts.

“The phase operation being executed at Andersen is an absolutely critical element in the maintenance of our B-52 fleet’s health,” said Lt. Col. Mark Maryak, 20th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron commander here. “The professionals running that operation lay the foundation for the dedicated airmen here to provide the combat assets we need to support the war effort. The unprecedented success of that operation has ensured we continue to have B-52s ready to take the fight to the enemy.”

Like any machine, the B-52 wears with use. Mostly leaking and or worn components from age and extensive use are the commonly replaced items. An aircraft of the B-52's size and weight will develop fatigue cracks in the skin and sub-assemblies from use. Most of those are repaired by the expert mechanics Det. 1 has on their team.

In addition to providing combat assets, there are other attributes the detachment in Guam brings to the fight.

“We save money and time. The pilots do not have to fly aircraft all the way back to Barksdale to phase the aircraft and they don't burn all that gas to fly them also,” said Tech. Sgt. John Glass, repair and reclamation craftsman. “This process saves time, money and most importantly keeps aircraft in the air and ready to respond to members of our other armed forces on the ground fighting terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan.”