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Airmen give Falcons talons

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman James Croxon
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) --  The 332nd Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Weapons Flight is the last stop a munition makes before it is employed by the pilot. Flight members load weapons on the aircraft and maintain the firing systems, turning the F-16 Fighting Falcon into a lethal weapons system.

When an F-16 rolls into a hardened aircraft shelter with empty pylons, it usually means the pilot found his foes and ended their day. For weapons flight Airmen, an unarmed F-16 means they have work to do.

According to Master Sgt. Jona Bowen, 332nd EAMXS Weapons Flight chief, the flight's primary task is reloading Falcons when they return from missions.

A three-member team loads, and occasionally unloads, weapons on jets. Each team member -- known as the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 man -- has a specific role and each depends on the other two to get their job done.

The No. 1 man is the team leader. This Airman, usually the senior ranking, is responsible for the process, checking the finished process and testing the weapons systems from the cockpit.

The No. 2 man preps the pylons for munitions. This Airman also assists the No. 3 man in securing weapons to aircraft wings.

The No. 3 man drives the "jammer," the vehicle used to hoist bombs and missiles to aircraft wings.

Jets typically take off with air-intercept missiles, guided-bomb units, high-explosive ammunition, flares and, depending on mission needs, rockets.

"We are allotted about 2.5 hours to arm the jets," said Staff Sgt. Daniel Johnson, the No. 1 man. "Here we can usually get the job done in about 40 minutes, because we typically only need to reload a few of the weapons stations."

The difference between arming aircraft here and arming them at home station is the hardware.

"At home station we typically load practice munitions," said Senior Airman Ralph Mendoza, the No. 2 man. "Here everything is live and ready to be put to use. The rockets we load light up an area for ground forces. I don't get to load those at home very often."

The weapons flight also maintains the weapon firing systems. If a problem is found, they troubleshoot, repair and test it, focusing on getting the aircraft airworthy as quickly as possible.

"If a weapon doesn't work correctly, it really gets to us," said Staff Sgt. Jared Rinderer, the No. 3 man. "Fortunately, that seldom happens. Instead, we get to feel the satisfaction of knowing the work we put into loading a weapon was translated on the battlefield as mission success."