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Ammo keeps fighters supplied in quest for Iraqi freedom

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  • By Staff Sgt. Travis Edwards
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq --  The Air Force prides itself on its ability to fly, fight and win in any wartime situation. But being able to do that is only possible if pilots are properly equipped with the right munitions for their target.

Ensuring there is no shortage of munitions for combat aircraft are the Airmen in the 332nd Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron Munitions Flight, more commonly referred to as "Ammo."

"This is the best job in the Air Force," said Master Sgt. David Jamison, 332nd EMXS conventional maintenance noncommissioned officer-in-charge. "We build bombs for the warfighters, so they can go out and drop them on those who are trying to prevent us from doing our job."

That job is creating a free and stable country for the men and women of Iraq.

Sergeant Jamison said the Ammo flight assembles five different configurations of precision-guided bombs, as well as maintaining flares for the Air Force and other coalition forces.

"We make the amount of bombs needed to re-supply what the fighters use," said the sergeant. "Our guys love knowing that what they are building is being used. And seeing video on the news gets them all wired up because they know they made those bombs."

Sergeant Jamison said having multiple Airmen from different bases leads to different ideas on how things should be handled. But, he said the troops are spun up quickly.

"We just get everyone together to put them on the same page; when new people come in, we take them through step-by-step on how we do business on Balad," he said.

He added the biggest difference in the deployed environment is the amount of real bombs they make.

"Back home we'll build plenty of bombs, but they will be inert bombs. There won't be a fuse. Just a chunk of concrete with a fin on it," said Sergeant Jamison. "With that, it is kind of hard to keep people motivated because it is more of a training opportunity for the pilots. But down here everything is live and they get to see the results of their work daily."

Since Dec. 15, the flight built 150 bombs, all with the potential to be used in combat. Out of the 150 bombs built, 82 replaced munitions that were spent by Air Force personnel in combat.

"It's a great feeling to know what I am doing is making a difference in this war," said Airman 1st Class Joseph Dunlavey, a 332nd EMXS conventional maintenance technician.



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