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Texas-based Lancers arrive on Guam to take over PACOM’s bomber mission
Stars and Stripes
February 10, 2017
An Air Force B-1B Lancer assigned to the 9th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron and deployed from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, lands at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Monday, Feb. 6, 2017. (Richard Ebensberger/U.S. Air Force)
A Texas-based squadron of B-1B Lancers has arrived on Guam to assume U.S. Pacific Command’s continuous bomber presence mission at Andersen Air Force Base.
An undisclosed number of Lancers from Dyess Air Force Base’s 7th Bomb Wing, 9th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron arrived on the island Monday, an Air Force statement said.
They’ll take over for a Lancer squadron out of Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., that arrived at Andersen in August to replace an aging fleet of B-52 Stratofortresses.
“Since 2004, Air Force bombers such as the B-1, the B-52 and the B-2 Spirit have been in continuous rotations, providing nonstop stability and security in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region,” the statement said.
Guam-based Lancers conduct “routine strategic deterrence and regional training missions,” the statement said.
The four-engine supersonic jet was designed for nuclear capabilities but switched to an exclusively conventional combat role in the mid-1990s, according to Boeing’s website.