D-M flies above the rest at Hawgsmoke 2012

by Airman 1st Class Saphfire Cook
355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs


A bomb deployed from a U.S. Air Force A-10 finds its target during the 7th biannual Hawgsmoke Competition held at Gila Bend Auxiliary Field Aug. 16, 2012. Hawgsmoke is a bombing and tactical gunnery competition that features A-10 squadrons from around the world. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Saphfire Cook) Hi-res

8/20/2012 - GILA BEND, Ariz. -- Davis-Monthan hosted 18 A-10 squadrons from around the world for the 7th biannual Hawgsmoke Competition here Aug. 15-17.

Hawgsmoke is an aerial competition focusing on A-10 tactics such as moving target strafe techniques, GPS-out navigation, and degraded weapons delivery. Both the individual and team portions of the competition are conducted and evaluated at the Barry M. Goldwater Range and the Gila Bend Auxiliary Field.

As the second place winners of the 2010 Hawgsmoke games, D-M was given the honor of hosting this year's event.

Davis-Monthan's final standings were as follows:

•1st Place Attack Team - 357th Fighter Squadron
•1st Place Attack Pilot- Capt. Eric Hart, 357th FS
•2nd Place Attack Pilot - Capt. Sam Moreland, 357th FS
•1st Place GPS Out Maverick - 357th FS
•3rd Place Moving Lieutenant Strafe - Capt. Aaron Cavazos, 358th FS
•3rd Place 30 Dive Bomb - Maj. James Hunt, 45th FS
•3rd Place 20 Low-Angle Low Drag - Maj. James Hunt, 45th FS
•3rd Place 10 Pop Heading Attitude Reference System - Capt. David Nagle, 357th FS
•1st Place Golf Tournament- 355th Operations Group

The 357th FS took home the victory from this year's competition, making it the second Hawgsmoke in a row the Desert Lightning Team has won.

Coming in second is the 66th Weapons School out of Nellis AFB, Nev. They are slated to host Hawgsmoke 2014.

Source (including 3 photos, already released some days ago as stand-allone shots)