Tag: aerial defensive gunner
"I fired at the bandit until it ballooned to 3 times in intensity then suddenly disappeared from my radar scope at approximately 1,200 yards, 6:30 low. I expended 800 rounds in 3 bursts," Airman 1st Class Albert Moore, B-52D Diamond Lil tail gunner If the U.S. Air Force Academy's landmarks could speak, the B-52 Stratofortress near the north gate would...
The BUFF MiG kills were both scored during Operation Linebacker II, the Christmas strategic air offensive against the industrial and logistical heart of North Vietnam The BUFF MiG kills during the Vietnam War.
The Boeing B-52 is the ultimate embodiment of the principle of strategic air power: developed to carry a hydrogen bomb over intercontinental ranges, the Stratofortress was used extensively...
"The Weasel WSO launched the HARM "in the blind" hoping a threat would come up and it would take it out. The WSO admitted to this. It was a case of both aircraft being in the wrong place at the wrong time. When the Gunner turned his radar on, there was a HARM in the air looking for a...
On Sep. 16, 1991 SAC eliminated the gunner position and deactivated the guns on the B-52 as a cost reducing initiative As we have previously reported, on May 12, 2017, CMSgt (Ret.) Robbie Wellbaum, the U.S. Air Force’s last B-52 Stratofortress (BUFF) aerial defensive gunner retired marking the end of an era. Now the footage in this post tells Wellbaum story. When he...
Over his career Chief Master Sgt. Rob Wellbaum logged over 6,500 flight hours with over 1000 flight hours on the B-52 On May 12, 2017 the U.S. Air Force’s last B-52 Stratofortress (BUFF) aerial defensive gunner will retire marking the end of an era. Twenty-five years after his first career field was retired, Chief Master Sgt. Rob Wellbaum, 15th Operations Group...
