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Tue November 20, 2007

Hopes flew with lame jet

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Gen. Bruce Carlson, commander of the Air Force Materiel Command, pins a medal on Staff Sgt. Jimmy Hardwick on Monday at Tinker Air Force Base. Hardwick was one of a dozen airmen and nine civilians to be awarded a medal for their part in repairing and flying a crippled B-1 bomber from Afghanistan to England, where it could be repaired. By Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman
Medals awarded
Twelve airmen and nine civilians were awarded for helping save a damaged B-1.

Air Medals

Presented to the following members of the 10th Flight Test Squadron:

•Lt. Col. Steven Adams

•Lt. Col. Jeffrey Wagner

•Maj. Erick S. Peterson

•Capt. James Couch

Air Force Achievement Medals

Presented to the following members of the 654th Combat Logistics Squadron:

•Tech Sgt. Albert R. Bryant

•Staff Sgt. Cody K. Danker

•Staff Sgt. Stephen R. Getten

•Staff Sgt. Jimmy P. Hardwick

•Staff Sgt. Jeremy T. Harper

•Staff Sgt. John B. Holliday

•Staff Sgt. Jeffrey J. Kinlaw

•Staff Sgt. Bradley M. Klepac

Civilian Achievement Medals

Presented to the following members of the 555th Aircraft Sustainment Squadron:

•Mark Drunkenmiller

•Robert Evans

•Jimmie Hopkins

•Albert Maeder III

•Barney Magerus

•Sammy Malone

•Mark Quinlan

•Kyle Schasteen

•Curtis Smith

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By Bryan Dean
Staff Writer
A four-star general pinned medals Monday on 12 airmen and nine civilians from Tinker Air Force Base for their role in salvaging a B-1B bomber after an engine fire left the jet crippled on an airstrip in Afghanistan.

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The plane landed at an airfield in Afghanistan in mid-August after a fire warning went off during a mission. The jet's No. 4 engine was in flames, and firefighters had to extinguish the blaze after the plane landed.

The Air Force had a tough choice. The fire caused significant damage that couldn't be repaired at a field air base in hostile territory. Commanders considered junking the craft. But scrapping a $283 million bomber is a last resort if the plane can be salvaged.

Three units based at Tinker would team up to save the plane by conducting field repairs and flying the jet on three engines in the face of possible enemy fire.

‘Not a natural thing'
Gen. Bruce Carlson, commander of the Air Force Materiel Command, pinned medals Monday on the Tinker airmen and civilians. The plan to fly on three engines worried him.

"This has actually been done two other times in Air Force history, but never with as much damage as was suffered in this case,” Carlson said. "I'm a fighter pilot, and a lot of my time has been spent in single-engine aircraft, so flying without one engine is not a natural thing. I wasn't inclined to go along with this.”

Members of Tinker's 654th Combat Logistics Squadron, which specializes in repairing battle-damaged B-1 bombers, convinced Carlson it could work.

With help from the civilian 555th Aircraft Sustainment Squadron, an engineering unit also based at Tinker, the airmen came up with a plan for making what repairs they could in Afghanistan before flying the jet out of hostile territory.

The airmen flew to Afghanistan in mid-September and began making the repairs. Tech Sgt. Albert Bryant said he and the rest of the maintenance crew talked with the pilots who would fly the plane, four Tinker officers from the 10th