Haboob Havoc

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Darlene Seltmann
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Capt. Brandon Roth, 62nd Fighter Squadron B-Flight commander; Lt. Col. Frank Bricel, 69th FS assistant director of operations; Col. John Hanna, 56th Operations Group commander; Lt. Col. Shamsher Mann, 62nd FS commander; and Maj. Sean Holahan, 69th FS instructor pilot, were part of the overall winning team of the 3rd Annual Haboob Havoc competition.

Scores were broken down by individuals and also for each team. Awards were given for the best individual and team in each event, and one for overall performance.

The overall winning team was the 62nd FS led by Mann, who also placed first in the individual portion.

An assortment of airframes filled the skies Nov. 15 over the Barry M. Goldwater Range to compete in the annual air-to-ground challenge known as Haboob Havoc.

The competition was hosted by the 56th Fighter Wing at the BMGR.

"Teams are comprised of the best bombers in each squadron," said Capt. Nicholas Rallo, 62nd FS C-Flight commander. "Squadrons hold internal practice flights to have instructors compete against each other to make the final team."

The event was a day filled with four air-to-ground contests between seven squadrons from Luke AFB and Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson.

A great deal of prior planning and coordination took place between operations and maintenance personnel in order to use the jets that would best suit the competition.

"Each of our aircraft drop slightly differently and some are more accurate than others," said Capt. Brandon Roth, 62nd FS B-Flight commander. "We track that data throughout the year so we know exactly which aircraft are best suited to drop the most accurate bombs. They made sure we flew our best bomb-dropping aircraft."

Using the tracking information, the top six jets are selected for use in the competition, two of them being spares, said 1st Lt. Michael Hampton, 62nd Aircraft Maintenance Unit assistant officer in charge.

"About three weeks before the competition, operations works with maintenance to ensure those jets are available and ready for use in the competition without interfering with the day-to-day mission," he said.

"The overall commitment and willingness from the maintainers speaks volumes about the squadron's working relationship," Hampton said. "The team's everyday effort and hard work was what enabled the pilots to achieve success."