The U.S. Air Force has announced that its B-52 Stratofortress returned to Fairchild Air Force Base after 10+ years.
According to a press release from the 92d Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs, four B-52H Stratofortresses from Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, will land at Fairchild AFB, August 16-19 to participate in an Agile Combat Employment (ACE) exercise.
This will be the first time a B-52H has conducted operations at Fairchild since its runways were refurbished 12 years ago.
In 1957 Fairchild AFB was host to about 45 B-52s, which remained at Fairchild until 1993/1994 when the base was officially redesignated as the 92nd Air Refueling Wing, the largest tanker wing in the Air Force, capable of maintaining an air bridge across the world in support of US and allied forces.
ACE exercises are used to test and improve U.S. Air Force airpower survivability and to boost capability and resilience in contested environments. Airmen will test their agility and adaptability as they use the new boarding cargo system, or BOCS concept, to validate fixing the bombers with only tools and parts available in the system. The BOCS is a system designed by the Boeing Co. that allows the bombers to carry two units of cargo with each capable of holding 5,000 pounds of equipment.
The 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs office will hold a media day on Aug 17, 2022 for interviews, photos and Q&A with maintenance personnel and pilots.