Dyess attempts to continue its reign in GSC

  • Published
  • By Airman Charles V. Rivezzo
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Editor's Note: This is part two in a three-part series highlighting the 2011 Global Strike Challenge teams. Next month will feature the Security Forces teams.

Top-performing airmen from the 7th Maintenance Group competed here Sept. 27 in a weapons building and loading competition. Scores from this competition will be used as part of the Air Force Global Strike Command's Global Strike Challenge, a challenge Dyess' maintenance group has dominated the last two years.

This year will be the second year the GSC falls under Global Strike Command. Prior to last year, bomber competitions were sponsored by Air Combat Command between 1994 and 2009.

Last year Dyess walked away with the Ellis Giant Sword Trophy for overall best bomber maintenance and the Best Bomber Munitions Maintenance Team Trophy, two of the most coveted trophies in the maintenance realm.

7 MXG airmen have trained the past four months to ensure the maintenance group is fully prepared to repeat last year's performance.

"In the words of Chuck Knoll, 'you only feel pressure when you're not prepared,'" said Senior Master Sgt. Raymond Lapham,7 MXG. "Our airmen have spent the last four months honing their skills to a razors edge and are fully prepared to win this competition."

The kick-off event began with a team parade around the base at 8 a.m. The sequence of events included a dress-and-appearance inspection, general-knowledge testing, aircraft pre-flight evaluation, ammunition bomb building and conventional weapons loading.

7th Munitions Squadron and 7th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron members built bombs varying in size and quantity to showcase the unit's abilities, as well as pre-flight inspection of the aircraft.

"We're going out there to show that Dyess is going to be the best bomb wing in the Air Force for the third year in a row," said Staff Sgt. Kevin Meyer, 7 AMXS.

There were three portions to the build: a timed build of a munitions assembly conveyor, the building of 12 GBU-31s and 6 GBU-31 trainer bombs and finally the building of 42 500-pound MK-82 training bombs. The team had a maximum of 60 minutes to build the MAC, two-and-a-half hours for the second build and one hour for the final build.

"Our teams were out there to win it and performed exceptionally," Lapham said. "Friendly competition breeds excellence and it brought out the best of what Dyess airmen have to offer."

Official score-posting will be at Barksdale AFB, La., Nov. 8-9, in conjunction with the symposium at the Shreveport Convention Center.