"We don't drop bombs" -- 7th MUNS wins 4th consecutive safety award

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Carolyn Viss
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Dyess' ammo troops may specialize in making and moving the bombs that are dropped in support of the Global War on Terror, but this year they're proud to say, "We don't drop bombs!" 

The 7th Munitions Squadron won the 2006 Air Force Explosive Safety Award for their work building more than 1,500 munitions and 23,000 countermeasures with no safety incidents, at home or overseas. 

In addition to the Air Force level award, this year marked their fourth Air Combat Command-level safety award. 

"Our business is working with explosives, and any time that's a factor, you just have to be safe," said Senior Master Sgt. Chris McCullough, 7th MUNS maintenance superintendent. 

"This award was such a team effort," said Master Sgt. Jack Smith, 7th MUNS systems flight chief. "Everybody, from the lowest-ranking Airman to the squadron commander, stresses safety every day. We have a lot of respect for munitions. If we don't make safety, paramount, there's a distinct possibility of an accident." 

Normal procedures for the Airmen working with munitions include regular safety briefings by crew chiefs and careful attention to following the technical orders and Air Force instructions that outline how to handle the bombs. Beginning the first day they attend tech school and continuing every day they're on the job, Airmen are constantly trained on safety operations, he said. 

"We always make sure that we handle munitions while wearing personal protective equipment - gloves, steel-toed boots, ear protection and hard hats - in case something were to happen," Sergeant Smith said. "In the event of an emergency, we would evacuate the area and make sure all of the emergency response teams were notified; but thankfully, that hasn't been necessary because of this team's diligence and dedication to the mission." 

Sergeant Smith was deployed from May to September 2006 and said he and his crew were handling live munitions daily, supporting the mission of Dyess' B-1s. 

"We provide munitions support to B-1s from Dyess to anyone in the world," he said. "We break them out of storage, assemble them, put them on trailers, take them to the flightline where the load crew loads them, and then the jet takes off and bombs our enemies." 

More than 70 of their 248 7th MUNS troops were deployed last summer, completing more than 1,200 munitions deliveries in the areas of responsibility. 

"I'm so proud of the Airmen in the unit who made this award happen," Sergeant McCullough said. "We take a lot of pride in the work we do every day for the mission of the Air Force, and this kind of award just proves that these guys are the best there are."