Maj. David Golden and 1st Lt. Fleming Thompson, 23 Bomb Squadron, 5th Operations Group, and U.S. Army Capt. Joshua Payne, 5th Operations Support Squadron, have epitomized the 5th Bomb Wing commander's vision of mission ownership. These three officers orchestrated and executed the training for the 23d Bomb Squadron's tri-service multi-national JTAC CAS training exercise Operation COLD SNAP. Intrepid planning and execution resulted in 22 B-52H Stratofortress sorties and 8 WSTs directly supporting the Advanced Targeting Pod spin up for the wing. Utilizing ground assets, Golden, Payne, and Thompson created a realistic ground scenario requiring aircrew to locate and destroy enemy targets, track moving vehicles, and monitor enemy ground troop movements. This training resulted in an increase of the 5th BW's ATP crew numbers by 400 percent and saved the wing $2.6 million through shorter sorties and reduced sortie requirements. Their determined work produced a far more combat capable crew force for the 5th BW, capable of answering the nations call at a moments notice. |
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