by Senior Airman Benjamin Stratton, 5th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. (AFNS) -- Six B-52H Stratofortresses and nearly 350 Airmen here left June 1 for Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, to start a six-month deployment.
The 5th Bomb Wing's role in U.S. Pacific Command's continuous bomber presence mission "is vital to national security," said Col. Charles Patnaude, the 5th Operations Group commander. "Our mission is to deter and assure."
Colonel Patnaude said Minot's Airmen will be there to deter and dissuade potential regional aggressors and to assure U.S. allies of the commitment to the Pacific region.
"This is a great mission for Minot's B-52s because it enables us to demonstrate our broad range of capabilities," he said.
The 5th BW's two B-52 squadrons, the 23rd and 69th Bomb Squadrons, will share the six-month deployment. The 23rd BS will serve the first half of the deployment.
The mission to the island had Airmen's spirits high and eager to get underway.
"I know many of them are excited about this deployment," Colonel Patnaude said. "The training environment is fantastic and basing out of Andersen (AFB) will offer up great opportunities. Our personnel will get to interact with folks from other weapon systems and other services."
Colonel Patnaude said PACOM's continuous bomber presence mission has been ongoing since March 2004 when 5th BW officials first established the operation.
"B-52s, B-1 (Lancers) and B-2 (Spirits) have each taken turns as a continuous sentinel for the Pacific theater," he added. "The 5th BW has been to Guam several times since 2004 and I suspect will continue deploying there until Pacific Command no longer needs us."
PACOM officials said they routinely evaluate the command's readiness and reposition forces as needed to ensure they maintain both the operational and support capabilities necessary to meet the obligations of national defense.
Officials added the bombers serve in a continuous role that is not tied to any specific events in the Pacific.
Maybe the mission of this deployment is significant to send a message to a rogue neighbor in the Pacific neigborhood - North Korea - LVH.
Welcome to the Milcom Monitor Post sponsored by Teak Publishing (Copyright © 2006-2023 Teak Publishing). All rights are reserved. Redistribution of these pages in any format without prior permission is prohibited. Links to individual stories are permitted without permission. The comment section on this blog is closed, but you can pass along material or comments via email MilcomMP at gmail dot com. If you submit material for this blog and want to remain anonymous, indicate that in your message.
Milcom Monitoring Post Profiles
- Home
- What are Emergency Action Messages (EAM)? Updated 20 September 2021
- UFO Milsat Program
- Fleetsatcom System
- UHF 225-380 MHz Milcom Spectrum Holes: Updated 24 July 2019
- Civilian Air Cargo/Airline/Military Call Signs
- Intl HF Aero Civ/Gov/Mil Frequency List
- USN Aircraft Modex Numbers
- University of Twente Wide Band WebSDR Netherlands
- U.S. Military ALE Addresses
- DoD Air Refueling Frequencies - Update 15 Jul 2016
- COTHEN HF Network – Last Update 23 May 2023
- Monitoring the Civil Air Patrol Auxiliary Update 10 Sep 2016
- US Coast Guard Asset Guide - Update 24 May 2023
- The Spectrum Monitor e-Zine Milcom Column Index - Update 17 January 2022
- The Milcom MT Files (1998-2013) Articles Index