77th FS deploys to Combat Hammer Published May 1, 2006 By Master Sgt. Julie Briggs 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. -- More than 140 Airmen and 15 F-16s from the 77th Fighter Squadron depart today to participate in Combat Hammer, an air-to-ground munitions evaluation at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. A large portion of the Shaw contingent is from the 77th Aircraft Maintenance Unit. More than 110 people from the 77th AMU are participating in the exercise. Even though the flying doesn’t begin until Monday, the bomb-building portion began April 20. Eight people from the 20th Equipment Maintenance Squadron are on site building bombs in preparation for the other segments of the exercise. “Team Gamblers is basically going on the road to learn,” said 1st Lt. Anthony Fleming, 77th AMU officer in charge. “We’re taking intelligence folks, pilots and others to go out and employ like we actually would in a wartime situation.” Combat Hammer tests a unit’s ability to build munitions, load and launch the aircraft with live munitions, the tactics used to hit the target and how well they follow technical data, Lt. Fleming said. Scenarios will include air and ground threats en route to the target, such as bunkers and tanks. About 22 sorties – two missions with 12 aircraft on the first mission followed by 10 on the second launch – will be flown each day of the evaluation. Everything from storage to target impact is graded. Evaluators don’t use a pass-fail rating system. Instead, evaluators use comments and offer suggestions on how they can do better. “(But) you know you’ve done well by the release rates and how well you shacked the target,” Lt. Fleming said. According to Lt. Fleming, Combat Hammer is very important for two reasons. “First, it gives us an opportunity to go someplace else and load munitions. We get the feel of an actual deployment and the kind of tempo that will ensue,” Lt. Fleming said. Second, the team will get to experience hot pad launches vs. regular continuation training launches, he said. It’s this chance to load and launch live munitions that has the team really excited, the lieutenant said. “We don’t get to load live munitions that often. The experience of launching a jet and having it come back empty is going to be a real morale booster and some really outstanding training for these folks,” Lt. Fleming said. According to Airman 1st Class Daniel Guzman, 77th AMU weapons load crew member, Combat Hammer is a “good opportunity to load real stuff.” “When we go to war,” Airman Guzman said, “we have to be ready to load the real stuff.” Senior Airman Donald Shoals Jr., 77th AMU weapons load crew member, is also looking forward to attending Combat Hammer. He said his team has been working really hard in the load barn preparing for the evaluation. “We’ve been spinning up training with Mavericks and targeting pods for weeks leading up to this,” Lt. Fleming said. “It’s the culmination of weeks of training back at home station.” Combat Hammer, along with last month’s Falcon Talon exercise and next month’s Maple Flag, is helping the squadron prepare for an upcoming deployment, Lt. Fleming said. The 77th is currently slated to enter its AEF pair later this year.