Airman 1st Class Jason Anderson, a crew chief assigned to the 455th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, gives Maj. Thomas “Polo” Palmer and Capt. Josh “Otter” Blakeman a thumbs-up after launching their aircraft for a combat mission flown out of Bagram, Afghanistan Monday. The 494th Fighter Squadron from RAF Lankenheath, UK just began its four month tour here after replacing a unit from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, NC. Palmer is a pilot deployed from Seymour Johnson and Blakeman is a weapons systems officer from Lakenheath. (Ben Bloker / S&S)
Airman 1st Class Jason Anderson, a crew chief assigned to the 455th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, gives Maj. Thomas “Polo” Palmer and Capt. Josh “Otter” Blakeman a thumbs-up after launching their aircraft for a combat mission flown out of Bagram, Afghanistan Monday. The 494th Fighter Squadron from RAF Lankenheath, UK just began its four month tour here after replacing a unit from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, NC. Palmer is a pilot deployed from Seymour Johnson and Blakeman is a weapons systems officer from Lakenheath. (Ben Bloker / S&S)
The 494th Fighter Squadron from RAF Lakenheath, UK just began its four month tour here after replacing a unit from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, NC. (Ben Bloker / S&S)
Anderson talks to an F-15 Strike Eagle pilot just before take-off at Bagram, Afghanistan. (Ben Bloker / S&S)
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan — The last pair of F-15E fighter jets from the Lakenheath-based 494th Fighter Squadron arrived in Afghanistan on Sunday to begin its four-month deployment. Pilots looking for some action couldn’t have come at a better time.
As the weather begins to warm up, so does the fighting between coalition forces and Taliban fighters.
That’s fine by Tech Sgt. Andrew Johnson, a squadron crew chief who is on his first deployment where he can get “close to the bad guys.” When pilots are busy, so are mechanics like Johnson. But the heavy workload is a small price to pay for the chance to help the squadron, part of the 48th Fighter Wing, help U.S. and coalition forces on the ground.
“You know, I haven’t actually been on a deployment where we’ve dropped a lot of lead on bad guys,” Johnson said. “And I’m really hoping to see some good stickers on the side of airplanes.”
The stickers he is referring to tally the bombs dropped and missiles launched by a pilot in wartime. It is a tradition for many pilots and crew chiefs to slap on a sticker each time ordnance is used.
It didn’t take long for pilots with the 494th to receive their first decals. Days into the deployment, some pilots have already unloaded some ordnance. But Lt. Col. Shawn Pederson said that’s probably only the beginning. He predicts a very busy deployment as fighting becomes more intense.
“There has been no lull,” said Pederson, commander of the 494th, which adds “expeditionary” to its name while in Afghanistan.
There are roughly 285 squadron members deployed to Bagram. They are part of the 900-plus Lakenheath-based airmen who are deployed across the Middle East and Central Asia as part of a regularly scheduled rotation of Air Force personnel to the region.
As the unit settles into its deployment, pilots with the 81st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron are getting ready to return to Spangdahlem, Germany. Members of the 81st — along with its A-10s — should arrive home in a couple of weeks.
Unlike the 81st, this is the 494th’s first deployment to Afghanistan. Pilots prepared for the assignment by going to Florida and Las Vegas last January and February to practice dropping bombs. The squadron is replacing the 335th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron from Seymour Johnson Air Base, N.C.
Johnson, who has served as an Air Force crew chief for 12 years, said the transition has not been without a little “head-butting.” But Pederson said the goal has been to make the transfer as seamless as possible.
The planes probably have the most difficult adjustment, shifting from cool and soggy England to hot and arid Afghanistan.
“The airplanes are actually kind of finicky,” said Johnson, who left behind his wife and two daughters. “… We’ve got a lot of rubber seals and stuff like that that like to heat up and expand. A lot of times, the planes like to get a little leaky.”
“There are zero highway miles,” Johnson said. “These are definitely hard-track miles.”
