Impressive Elephant Walk Ends USAF Continuous Bomber Presence in Guam after 16 Years

Impressive Elephant Walk Ends USAF Continuous Bomber Presence in Guam after 16 Years

By Dario Leone
Apr 20 2020
Share this article

On Apr. 17, 2020 the USAF announced it will no longer base strategic bombers outside of the continental United States, marking an end to the service’s 16-year CBP at Andersen AFB, Guam.

On Apr. 17, 2020 the US Air Force (USAF) announced it will no longer base strategic bombers outside of the continental United States, marking an end to the service’s 16-year continuous bomber presence (CBP) at Andersen Air Force Base (AFB), Guam.

However, as the pictures in this post show, an impressive “elephant walk” that included five B-52 strategic bombers, six KC-135 tankers, an MH-60S Knighthawk helicopter, an RQ-4 Global Hawk, and a U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton was staged before the last bomber left the island to remind the world of USAF’s combat power.

Impressive Elephant Walk Ends USAF Continuous Bomber Presence in Guam after 16 Years

“U.S. strategic bombers will continue to operate in the Indo-Pacific, to include Guam, at the timing and tempo of our choosing,” said Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) in a statement. “We will maximize all opportunities to train alongside our allies and partners, to build interoperability, and bolster our collective ability to be operationally unpredictable.”

The new “dynamic force employment” model allows the bombers to operate from a “broader array of overseas locations” with greater resilience, while keeping the aircraft permanently based in the US.

As told by Air Force Magazine, the last deployment ended on Apr. 16, just three days after the elephant walk, as B-52s returned to Minot AFB, N.D. The long-expected change comes as service leaders, including Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein and AFGSC boss Gen. Timothy Ray, have said dynamic deployments of task force-size groups of bombers will be more effective in the future.

Impressive Elephant Walk Ends USAF Continuous Bomber Presence in Guam after 16 Years

“Yes, we are absolutely adjusting our presence in theater when it comes to bombers,” Goldfein said on Apr. 1.

B-1Bs returned to Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, after a deployment to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar in March 2019. A “task force” of B-52s deployed to the region shortly after, that mission was a short rotation in response to Iranian threats, not a regular deployment.

The “dynamic force employment” concept allows for the Air Force and broader military to be “strategically predictable, and operationally unpredictable” in sending the high-value assets to the Pacific, Goldfein said. The Air Force regularly sends similar “bomber task force” rotations to Europe.

B-1B Artwork
This print is available in multiple sizes from AircraftProfilePrints.com – CLICK HERE TO GET YOURS. B-1B Lancer 28th FW, 34th BS Thunderbirds, EL/86-129 / 2005

The service is looking to improve the readiness of the B-1B by practicing task force movements locally in advance of the Lancer deployment to the Pacific this year Ray said in September.

Since 2004, USAF bombers such as the B-1B Lancer, B-52 Stratofortress and B-2 Spirit have been in continuous rotations to Guam. These bombers provided a significant rapid global strike capability that enabled US readiness and commitment to deterrence, offered assurance to the allies, and strengthened regional security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. Bomber rotations also provided Pacific Air Forces and U.S. Pacific Command commanders a global strike and extended deterrence capability against any potential adversary and provided opportunities to strengthen regional alliances and long-standing military-to-military partnerships throughout the region.

B-52 Model
This model is available from AirModels – CLICK HERE TO GET YOURS.

Photo credit: Staff Sgt. Divine Cox and Senior Airman Michael S. Murphy/U.S. Air Force


Share this article

Dario Leone

Dario Leone

Dario Leone is an aviation, defense and military writer. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviation Geek Club” one of the world’s most read military aviation blogs. His writing has appeared in The National Interest and other news media. He has reported from Europe and flown Super Puma and Cougar helicopters with the Swiss Air Force.

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  1. Mookslat says:

    Actually a 17 year presence? I was stationed there in March /April 2003 when Dyess and Barksdale started rotations with B-1s and B-52s.

Share this article


Share this article
Share this article

Always up to date! News and offers delivered directly to you!

Get the best aviation news, stories and features from The Aviation Geek Club in our newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.



    Share this article
    Back to top
    My Agile Privacy
    This website uses technical and profiling cookies. Clicking on "Accept" authorises all profiling cookies. Clicking on "Refuse" or the X will refuse all profiling cookies. By clicking on "Customise" you can select which profiling cookies to activate. We and our selected ad partners can store and/or access information on your device, such as cookies, unique identifiers, browsing data. You can always choose the specific purposes related to profiling by accessing the advertising preferences panel, and you can always withdraw your consent at any time by clicking on "Manage consent" at the bottom of the page.

    List of some possible advertising permissions:

    You can consult: our list of advertising partners, the Cookie Policy and the Privacy Policy.
    Warning: some page functionalities could not work due to your privacy choices