Bring on the bombs

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Rachelle Coleman
  • 354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  Eielson is host to several large force training exercises throughout the year. These exercises provide joint and coalition partners the opportunity to train with live munitions stored and supplied by the 354th Maintenance Squadron munitions flight.

While most bases are capable of receiving munitions throughout the year, Eielson's location limits the shipments to twice a year.

"We coordinate with units projected to participate and the Air Force Global Ammunition Control Point to requisition the munitions to support [the units]," said Tech. Sgt. Brian Hughes, 354th Maintenance Squadron munitions flight, munitions storage NCOIC. "With our remote location the cost and logistics of getting everything from the lower 48 to interior Alaska makes it necessary to consolidate inbound and outbound shipments and do this only twice a year, spring and fall. It's a critical component [to] the success of [RED FLAG-Alaska, DISTANT FRONTIER, and NORTHERN EDGE]."

Ammo Airmen can't just guess how many munitions could be needed during an exercise. They must calculate the specific needs of players in each of the exercises before munitions can be ordered.

"We plan and talk to the units that are going to be using these munitions and find out how many they will need," said Airman 1st Class Scott Mathews, 354th MXS munitions flight. "Sometimes we have to order more [during an exercise] and that is really something we want to avoid, due to the chance of work stoppage. We have multimillion dollar exercises here and we want them to go off without a hitch."

Coordinating the barge is a large production involving multiple bases with personnel ranging from civilian truck drivers to the military transportation office. At Eielson the munitions flight receives and stores the munitions until they are needed. The munitions come in ISOs, International Organization for Standardization, or large shipping containers.

Receiving a barge means working several days around the clock for ammo Airmen. It can take anywhere between three days to a week to receive, document and store all of the munitions.

"We receive so many munitions that we would flood the pad if we did not work twenty-four hours to store the munitions," said Airman Mathews. "We also close off part of the base to facilitate transportation, so we need to get it done quickly to allow the base to get back to normal ops."

The length of time it takes to receive a shipment depends on the size of the barge, the amount of ISOs being received and the munitions that makeup those ISOs.

"I enjoy the barge because there is never a dull moment -- people act different at 0230, its fun," said Airman Mathews.

The Airmen of the munitions flight work long hours to receive and store munitions, ensuring the mission of the 354th Fighter Wing will never run out of ammo.