MAFB Exercise

It s what members of Minot s 5th Bomb Wing prepare for every day The kind of mission that requires perfect execution and communication Today that mission was put into motion and although the circumstances may not have been real as Dan Erdmann reports the excitement definitely was Dan Erdmann KX News It s the culmination of a week-long training exercise Col Joel Westa 5th Bomb Wing Commander andamp quot What s simulated obviously weapons are simulated but all the other procedures we do exactly as we would in war time andamp quot Dan Erdmann KX News A combined nuclear readiness exercise known as andamp quot Prairie Vigilance andamp quot It involves twelve B-52 Bomber aircrafts- 6 from the andamp lt a href andamp quot http www kxnet com t minot-air-force-baseandamp quot class andamp quot kxInlineLinkandamp quot andamp gt Minot Air Force Baseandamp lt aandamp gt and 6 from Barksdale Air Force Base in Lousiana The true definition of frequent flyers Each bomber lifts off less than a minute after the one before it Minot s 5th Bomb Wing Commander Joel Westa says the purpose is to be ready for any situation that may arise Col Joel Westa 5th Bomb Wing Commander andamp quot In this case the scenario would be that things went very badly This is what we don t want to happen but we re prepared for it And then the President would exercise his authority and then we would launch in support of his tasking andamp quot Dan Erdmann KX News As the morning wore on crew members awaited the emergency call known as a claxon When the call kicked in so did the crew s adrenaline Col Joel Westa 5th Bomb Wing Commander andamp quot Your heart s pumping you re running to the jet you get into the seat things are happening fast It s really really exciting andamp quot Dan Erdmann KX News In a matter of minutes all twelve of these beasts taxi to the runway and prepare for a rapid liftoff Nat Sound Plane Taking Off Dan Erdmann KX News Westa hopes this mission is one they re never forced to execute and simply doing these run-throughs may ensure they never have to Col Joel Westa 5th Bomb Wing Commander andamp quot One of the reasons we do these types of exercises is so that the world can see that we have this capability For deterrence to work obviously it needs to be visible andamp quot Dan Erdmann KX News And for crew members of all ranks this is one exercise they won t soon forget either Col Joel Westa 5th Bomb Wing Commander andamp quot 5 5 million pounds of aircraft just left the ground 96 engines 70 crew members 12- 47-year-old aircraft made it twelve for twelve which is just phenominal andamp quot Dan Erdmann KX News Westa knows none of that would be possible without a tremendous crew both on and off the ground From the Minot Air Force Base Dan Erdmann KX News Colonel Westa says they have a lot to learn from this week s exercise but overall he feels the operation went smoothly