Mavericks live at Patriot Rifle III

by Master Sgt. Greg Steele
917th Wing Public Affairs Office

9/28/2009 - Barksdale AFB, La. -- The 917th Wing deployed 55 personnel and six A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft to Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on September 9, 2009, to participate in exercise Patriot Rifle III.

Patriot Rifle III is an exercise which gives pilots and maintainers the opportunity to train and launch sorties employing live AGM-65 Maverick missiles. The AGM-65 is a guided air-to-ground missile which is primarily used to attack heavy armored vehicles, such as tanks and armored personnel carriers.

"Our training missiles back home have the same seeker heads as the live, but don't actually leave the jet when fired," said Maj. Garrett Povar, 47th Fighter Squadron pilot. "This is a convenient place to shoot Mavericks since we get an allocation every year and can't shoot them at our home ranges."

The Utah Training and Test Range, which covers roughly 12,000 square miles, is one of the largest live-fire ranges in the United States. Inside UTTR is Kitty Kat Range, which is controlled primarily for live fire AGM-65 missile sorties.

"This section of the range and targets is reserved for AGM-65's," said Willie Crouse, UTTR Range Manager. "The missile has about an eight- mile footprint, which means once it's fired, you have to have a lot of room for the missile to travel."

Over the course of two days, the mission objective was to successfully fire twenty-nine AGM-65 Maverick missiles that had been allocated to the 47th FS. The primary target for pilots flying over Kitty Kat Range was a 15-vehicle convoy made up of APC's and large-sized trucks.

"We had 29 Mavericks to shoot, and 27 came off the rail. One had a bad seeker head and another failed to fire," said Senior Master Sgt. Mike Thornton, 717th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron production superintendent. "Each unit is allocated an X number of munitions to expend, this year we were fortunate that we ended up with this number and were able to give a lot of people some first class training on them."

Neil Dunridge, a freelance photographer from Oxford, England, is authoring a book about the A-10 Thunderbolt II and was able to imbed with the 47th Fighter Squadron during the deployment.

"This book will not be just about the A-10, but also about the maintenance personnel who keep it flying," said Mr. Dunridge. "The people were fantastic and the trip couldn't have gone better."

Source

BTW: Please give me time to upload all 35 (!) related pictures.



A 47th Fighter Squadron A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft simulates a 30mm strafing attack on an enemy position at the Utah Test and Training Range in support of Patriot Rifle III, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on September 11, 2009. More than 54 members of the 917th Wing from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and six aircraft participated in the exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Greg Steele)



A 47th Fighter Squadron A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft simulates a 30mm strafing attack on an enemy position at the Utah Test and Training Range in support of Patriot Rifle III, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on September 11, 2009. More than 54 members of the 917th Wing from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and six aircraft participated in the exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Greg Steele)



A 47th Fighter Squadron A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft simulates a 30mm strafing attack on an enemy position at the Utah Test and Training Range in support of Patriot Rifle III, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on September 11, 2009. More than 54 members of the 917th Wing from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and six aircraft participated in the exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Greg Steele)



A 47th Fighter Squadron A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft simulates a 30mm strafing attack on an enemy position at the Utah Test and Training Range in support of Patriot Rifle III, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on September 11, 2009. More than 54 members of the 917th Wing from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and six aircraft participated in the exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Greg Steele)



A 47th Fighter Squadron A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft simulates a 30mm strafing attack on an enemy position at the Utah Test and Training Range in support of Patriot Rifle III, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on September 11, 2009. More than 54 members of the 917th Wing from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and six aircraft participated in the exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Greg Steele)



A 47th Fighter Squadron A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft simulates a 30mm strafing attack on an enemy position at the Utah Test and Training Range in support of Patriot Rifle III, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on September 11, 2009. More than 54 members of the 917th Wing from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and six aircraft participated in the exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Greg Steele)



A 47th Fighter Squadron A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft simulates a 30mm strafing attack on an enemy position at the Utah Test and Training Range in support of Patriot Rifle III, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on September 11, 2009. More than 54 members of the 917th Wing from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and six aircraft participated in the exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Greg Steele)



A 47th Fighter Squadron A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft simulates a 30mm strafing attack on an enemy position at the Utah Test and Training Range in support of Patriot Rifle III, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on September 11, 2009. More than 54 members of the 917th Wing from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and six aircraft participated in the exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Greg Steele)



A 47th Fighter Squadron A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft simulates a 30mm strafing attack on an enemy position at the Utah Test and Training Range in support of Patriot Rifle III, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on September 11, 2009. More than 54 members of the 917th Wing from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and six aircraft participated in the exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Greg Steele)



The sun rises on three 47th Fighter Squadron A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft as maintenance personnel prepare them for the morning sorties to the Utah Test and Training Range in support of Patriot Rifle III, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on September 12, 2009. More than 54 members of the 917th Wing from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and six aircraft participated in the exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Greg Steele)



A 47th Fighter Squadron A-10 Thunderbolt II taxis after returning from a sortie at the Utah Test and Training Range in support of Patriot Rifle III, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on September 12, 2009. More than 54 members of the 917th Wing from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and six aircraft participated in the exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Greg Steele) Hi-res



Neil Dunridge, a freelance photographer from Oxford, England, deployed with the 47th Fighter Squadron to Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on September 12, 2009. Mr. Dunridge is currently writing a book about the A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft. More than 54 members of the 917th Wing from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and six aircraft participated in the exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Greg Steele) Hi-res



Two 47th Fighter Squadron A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft taxi to the end-of-runway in preparation for takeoff to the Utah Test and Training Range in support of Patriot Rifle III, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on September 12, 2009. More than 54 members of the 917th Wing from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and six aircraft participated in the exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Greg Steele) Hi-res



A 47th Fighter Squadron A-10 Thunderbolt II takes off on a sortie to the Utah Test and Training Range in support of Patriot Rifle III, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on September 12, 2009. More than 54 members of the 917th Wing from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and six aircraft participated in the exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Greg Steele) Hi-res



Two 47th Fighter Squadron A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft return from a sortie at the Utah Test and Training Range in support of Patriot Rifle III, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on September 12, 2009. More than 54 members of the 917th Wing from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and six aircraft participated in the exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Greg Steele) Hi-res



Pilots from the 47th Fighter Squadron and 717th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron personnel from Barksdale Air Force base, La., take time for a group photo in front of an A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft while supporting Patriot Rifle III, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on September 12, 2009. More than 54 members of the 917th Wing from Barksdale, and six aircraft participated in the exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Greg Steele) Hi-res



Lt. Col. John Russell, commander, 47th Fighter Squadron, is assisted by Senior Airman Chris Nolan, crew chief, 717th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, prior to his departure to Barksdale Air Force Base, La., on the final day of Patriot Rifle III at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on September 10, 2009. More than 54 members of the 917th Wing from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and six aircraft participated in the exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Greg Steele)




A pair of 47th Fighter Squadron A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft fly alongside a KC-135 tanker after completing an in-air refueling while enroute to Hill Air Force Base, Utah, in support of Patriot Rifle III, on September 9, 2009. More than 54 members of the 917th Wing from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and six aircraft participated in the exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Greg Steele) Hi-res



Three 47th Fighter Squadron A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft line up for takeoff in support of Patriot Rifle III, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on September 13, 2009. More than 54 members of the 917th Wing from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and six aircraft participated in the exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Greg Steele) Hi-res

Special thanks to Master Sgt. Greg Steele and 917th Wing Public Affairs Office for posting this huge lot of pictures!

Neil Dunridge, a freelance photographer from Oxford, England, is authoring a book about the A-10 Thunderbolt II and was able to imbed with the 47th Fighter Squadron during the deployment.

"This book will not be just about the A-10, but also about the maintenance personnel who keep it flying," said Mr. Dunridge. "The people were fantastic and the trip couldn't have gone better."

Please visit Neil Dunridge Aviation Photography