The Dropzone February 2012 Issue
General Schwartz
Schwartz defends cost of nextgen bomber … pgof 10 Defends Cost
Next-Gen Bomber… pg 10 1
Table of Contents Front cover is a oicture of General Norton A. Schwartz
Happy Birthday Cadet Enlow………page 4
Flying High……...page 6
“Attorney” General………page 10 2
Drill and Ceremony……… page 14
Back Cover is a picture of a C-17 Globemaster III being refueled by a KC-135 Stratotanker
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By Cadet Morgan Detachment 772 was able to celebrate cadet Enlow’s twenty-first birthday on February 9 of this year. The party was organized by former cadet Cumbee to whom the entire detachment owes thanks. The party was a complete surprise to Cadet Enlow who seemed to enjoy the festivities. The entire class chipped in funds for the pizza, cupcakes and soda but what made it special was the fact it was done by her fellow cadets who care about her. The party was not only a great time for cadet Enlow but for everyone involved and gave a chance for the newer cadets to grow closer with the older cadets. Silly music was played, jokes were told and bonds were formed. The party was an overall success and this will truly be a memorial birthday celebration for cadet Enlow.
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Flying
High By Cadet Diaz
On Friday, 17 February, 2012, five cadets from Detachment 772 had the awesome opportunity to be guests on a C-17 training sortie with the 14 Airlift Squadron of Charleston Air Force Base. This was a great opportunity for some of Detachment 772’s cadets to interact with our Active Duty counter parts and experience firsthand what the 14th Mission is and how the Air Force gets the job done. Unfortunately the cadets did not get to see all the behind the scenes activities, such as mission planning and aircraft maintenance. What the cadets did experience had them grinning from ear to ear and frankly acting like kids in a toy store. At 0800 Detachment 772 cadets met with Captain McNeal and chatted with him about his Undergraduate Pilot Training and Initial Flight Screening experiences. Around 1100 everyone attending, including Lt. Col Dudley and MSgt Rogers, transitioned via transport bus from the terminal to the C-17 Globe Master. The Cadets were given a safety brief by the Load Master (an enlisted crew member whose job entails loading cargo etc.) The cadets were allowed to move about the C-17 and even talk with the Pilots as they were performing their pre-flight check lists. Around 1200 everyone buckled up and prepared for takeoff. 6
During the Five hour adventure the cadets were able to occasionally move about the aircraft and rotate in and out of the two extra cockpit seats, which are located just behind the pilot and copilot seats. The cadets sitting in the cockpit could use a headset to listen in on the pilot and copilots conversation as well as hear the radio traffic. One piece of critical information I learned is that while pilots must perform the very attention orientated and mentally exhausting task of flying, they must keep a constant level and cool attitude about them or they would easily get overwhelmed with the task at hand. This goes to show how extensive the United States Air Force training is. Some of the flight maneuvers the pilots were practicing during this particular training sortie were as follows. The first was a low level flight, which is a unique maneuver to the USAF and our allies which allow us to fly at very low altitudes and at high speeds to enter a hazardous area with the protection of mountains or any other cover there may be. This, for obvious reasons is dangerous, as it does not leave the altitude for correction if there was an in-flight emergency. Next the pilots trained for a modern Air Force necessity, in-flight refueling. 7
This was amazing as the C-17 crept closer and closer to the KC135 until they made contact with the boom and received their needed fuel. In-flight refueling is a force multiplier as it allows for more aircraft to be in the air and stay airborne for longer periods of time. The only thing holding the aircraft back is the amount of time the pilots can safely fly before total exhaustion. Another maneuver was a tactical decent which practically allows the pilots to use a self-induced stall and then turn the nose low and drop in altitude very quickly. The operational use of this would be to enter a hazardous area at higher altitudes to avoid attack and then drop quickly in a short distance for an air drop or landing. The last maneuver the pilots practiced was a tactical landing, which allows the pilots to land on a very short stretch of ground. This is done by landing the aircraft and engaging the thrust reversers thus stopping the large plane in a very short distance. Engaging the thrust reversers make the turbine engine itself slide open, exposing a port in the engine which allows the air being moved through the engine up and forward acting as a break because this pushes air against the direction the plane is moving. Over all, this experience was amazing and very interesting. The cadets of Detachment 772 highly enjoyed themselves and look forward to flying with the 14th again, if so lucky.
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“Attorney” General Schwartz defends cost of next-gen bomber
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The Air Force’s next-generation bomber comes with a hefty price tag: $550 million per aircraft — and that assumes no cost overruns similar to those plaguing the F-22 and F-35 fighter programs. At a breakfast with reporters Wednesday, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz explained why he expects the bomber’s sticker price to stay at $550 million a pop. “If it doesn’t, we don’t get a program,” Schwartz said. “I mean, that was the guidance of the secretary of defense — so either deliver or, you know, you’re out of there — essentially was [former Defense Secretary] Bob Gates’ guidance. I get it, loud and clear.” The bomber isn’t expected to enter service until the mid 2020s, but the Air Force believes it is critical for future missions, so much so that the program was left untouched by recent proposed budget cuts, which include getting rid of 9,900 airmen and hundreds of aircraft. These cuts come as the military looks to change its focus from the Middle East to Asia. “There’s a recognition in the strategy that as you make the shift from the focus on the [Persian] Gulf area and Iraq and Afghanistan to a more maritime focus, to the Asia-Pacific requirement, that long-range strike in particular, and legs, become increasingly important,” Schwartz said at a Feb. 3 news conference. One lawmaker sounded skeptical about just how important the bomber is when quizzing top Air Force officials at a budget hearing Tuesday before the House Armed Services Committee. “We’ve got a penetrating bomber capability from the B-2s for several more decades, and we’ve got cruise missiles, we’ve got unmanned stealth strike aircraft,” said Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga. “Why in the world do we need a next-generation bomber?” 11
While the 20 B-2s in service are capable aircraft, their stealth technology is “ ’80s vintage,” Schwartz replied. “The reality is that the B-2 over time will become less survivable in contested airspace,” he said. On Wednesday, Schwartz went even further, saying the Air Force needs to improve its technology to meet potential threats from China and Iran. “Do you think that the Chinese have established one of the world’s best air defense environments in their eastern provinces just to invest their national treasure — or, for that matter, that the Iranians have established integrated air defenses around certain locations in their country?” he said. “I would say they are not doing this for the fun of it; they’re doing it because they have a sense of vulnerability. And I ask you: What is it that conveys that sense of vulnerability to others? One of those things is long-range strike and that is an asset that the United States of America should not concede, and that’s why [the] long-range strike bomber is relevant and will continue to be relevant.”
Air Force Times http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2012/02/airforce-schwartz-defends-cost-of-next-gen-bomber-022912w/
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"There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but boys, it is all hell." — Major General William Tecumseh Sherman
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LC DC Drill & Ceremony By Cadet Bredesen The Low Country Drill Competition, held February 25th, was a flurry of activity for the cadets of Detachment 772. All of the bleary eyed cadets arrived at 0500 to begin set up for the event that day and the work did not stop until twelve hours later at 1700. With the small hiccup of a car occupying the middle of the drill pads and having to be towed, the day began without a hitch. Over 400 people arrived to represent and support the fourteen low country high school JROTC units. For the junior cadets that represented these units the tension was high as schools competed in events such as fancy duets with weapons and with out. These events had as little as two people to as much as an entire platoon. Units primarily represented the Air Force branch although with individual flourishes to the traditional uniform known so well by the public. Ascots, berets, and chrome helmets were the big crowd favorites. As the biggest money maker for Detachment 772, the focus for the cadets was on the food stand. 14
Assembly lines were set up to sell meals, make hot dogs and hamburgers, hand out drinks, chips and candy in order to meet the lunch rush that is so well anticipated every year. Once the lunch rush is done and the competition comes to a close and the scores are being tabulated the cadets, both high school and college, prepare for the facing competition. The biggest change to this event is that the winner receives the coveted Lieutenant Colonel Dudley Award. With the watchful eyes of the judges from the Citadel looking over them the cadets face left, right, salute, parade rest, etc. with faces that aim to mimic a statue but instead look more akin to a cadet on a C-17 flight. Finally after over a hundred cadets are knocked out the winner is a cadet from Irmo High School. Master Sergeant Rogers could not have put the cadets reaction better when she said, “the kid looked like he had won a million dollars�. By this time the scores are done and the winners are ready to be announced with the Overall Winner being Spring Valley High School and the Second Overall taken by surprisingly Irmo High School. With a collective sigh of relief led primarily by Cadet Diaz the weary cadets of Detachment 772 clean up, relax with the knowledge that they made over two thousand dollars for the Aerospace Club and collapse on their beds, exhausted.
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