by Staff Sgt. Andrea Knudson
52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
6/19/2007 - SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany (AFPN) --
Spangdahlem Air Base's runway closed June 15 and is
scheduled to remain closed for repairs until mid-July.
Although the 52nd Fighter Wing will cease flying
operations from Spangdahlem, the pilots and crews from
the 22nd, 23rd and 81st Fighter Squadrons will deploy to
other locations and continue to conduct training and
other mission essential requirements.
Spangdahlem's runway is being repaired due to
deteriorating conditions that, if not repaired now, could
lead to an unsafe runway in the near future, said Lt.
Col. Scott Bowen, the 52nd Operations Support Squadron
commander.
"Along with repair of the runway, we are using this
time to accomplish a number of other important repairs
and improvements across the airfield that otherwise might
not be accomplished for a while," Colonel Bowen
said. "While the runway closure wasn't foreseen
until late last year, the time will be well spent for
airfield improvements."
The 22nd FS will be deploying to Nellis Air Force Base,
Nev., and is scheduled to return to Spangdahlem in early
August.
"While we are at Nellis, we will be working
virtually every day, flying [more than 20 sorties a
day]," said Lt. Col. Matt "Nuttman"
Chesnutt, 22nd FS commander. "We [will] have several
flying weekends and weapons academics every Sunday.
"Lt. Col. Geoff Maki, 22nd FS assistant director of
operations and project officer, and Maj. Karamo Hayward,
22nd FS ADO and assistant project officer, along with Lt.
Col. Bartz Sykes, 22nd FS DO, and Capt. Kristian Thiele,
22nd FS weapons officer, have put together the best
training for Iraq that is humanly possible, and we are
going to take advantage of every opportunity to 'tune and
focus' for our upcoming Air and Space Expeditionary Force
so that we can bring everyone home and help the Army and
Marines bring everyone home, too," Colonel Chesnutt
said.
Virtually all assigned and attached 22nd FS pilots and
more than 245 maintenance and support personnel will be
deploying, Colonel Chesnutt said. They are scheduled to
maintain a pretty hectic schedule with flying jets from
Spangdahlem AB to Nellis AFB, moving equipment and
setting up facilities, supporting testing for the F-22
Raptor, F-16 and F-15 Eagle while also supporting the
weapons school and the Adversary Tactics Group.
Additionally, the Big 2-2 (F-22) will be flying in Green
Flag West, a close-air-support exercise supporting the
U.S. Army's National Training Center, and participating
in Mohave Viper, a Marine Corps close-air-support
exercise. In total, the fighter squadron will be dropping
about 150 bombs, about half of which are live weapons,
the colonel said.
The 23rd FS's will deploy several "Hawks" in
the next year as well as relocating to Buechel Air Base
for the runway closure, about 20 miles from Spangdahlem.
"The 23rd FS, along with the 23rd Aircraft
Maintenance Unit and many support agencies will deploy
F-16s to Buechel where we will continue to train and
prepare for our upcoming AEF deployment," said Lt.
Col. Steve Vlasak, the 23rd FS commander.
The "Hawks" from the 23rd FS will cut back
their flying hours, which will allow Airmen more time
with their families and will pose less of a burden when
their deployments ramp up.
"Due to logistical constraints, we will fly less
sorties at Buechel than we would normally fly at
Spangdahlem," Colonel Vlasak said. "While this
will hamper our flying upgrades and AEF preparation, the
training limitations are balanced by less time TDY for
our Airmen. Travel time to and from Buechel will make the
days longer, but evenings and weekends will be spent at
home with friends and family.
"The 23rd FS and 23rd AMU, along with the 22nd and
81st FS will spend a lot of time deployed over the next
12 months, so this opportunity to stay at home while
still accomplishing our training will help lessen the
strain caused by our future deployments," Colonel
Vlasak said.
The German air force personnel at Buechel have been very
accommodating and he, along with the 52nd Operations
Group and wing leadership, greatly appreciate their
efforts to make their deployment a success.
The men and women of the 81st FS, along with their
commander, Lt. Col. Keith McBride, took off for Royal Air
Force Lakenheath in England.
The 81st FS will conduct more than 650 sorties, using
approximately 50 live maverick missiles, 43,000
30-millimeter rounds, as well as train two British army
brigades before they deploy downrange, Colonel McBride
said. They will also conduct combat search and rescue
training, among a variety of other operations scheduled
during their deployment.
More than 140 members in all from the 81st FS, along with
their A-10 Thunderbolt IIs with associated equipment and
personnel are scheduled to deploy, sustain and redeploy
during the runway closure. The fighter squadron hopes to
maximize United Kingdom ground/air assets training and to
continue building a relationship with the 56th Rescue
Squadron and establish other Lakenheath contacts.
While the 52nd FW has made provisions to continue flying
its fighter aircraft at other worldwide locations, the
biggest impact will be the loss of Spangdahlem as one of
Air Mobility Command's primary European hubs, Colonel
Bowen said.
"The good news is that AMC was informed of this loss
well in advance and has made the necessary
adjustments," the colonel said. "Additionally,
it should be noted that we have elected to conduct the
runway repairs during the good-weather summer period ...
first, to shorten the repair time with accommodating good
weather, and, second, to minimize the loss of our
Category II Instrument Landing System, a critical
procedure that Spangdahlem possesses that allows AMC
aircraft to land at Spangdahlem in extremely poor
weather."
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