New B-52 squadron to call Minot home

[unhappycamper]

New B-52 squadron to call Minot home
By Mary Clare Jalonick - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Apr 9, 2008 7:44:45 EDT

WASHINGTON — Minot Air Force Base will house a new squadron of B-52 bombers, North Dakota’s congressional delegation announced Tuesday.

Sens. Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan and Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., say the new squadron will bring 1,000 people to the base and will increase the total number of combat-ready B-52s from 12 to 22. It could inject as much as $75 million a year into the Minot community, they said.

“This is good news for our nation’s military capabilities, the mission at Minot Air Force Base, and the entire Minot community,” the delegation said in a joint statement.

North Dakota’s delegation has fought to push back military efforts to cut the number of B-52 bombers to 56. Conrad said the new squadron means a total of 76 planes in North Dakota and at Barksdale Air Force Base, La. An additional 17 planes will be maintained for parts but not associated with crews.

The B-52 has been widely used in Afghanistan and is able to drop an array of weapons. Conrad said the goal of the new squadron is to keep one squadron always in training.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/04/ap_minot_b52squadron_040908/

[Clear Blue Sky]

1. Impressive that B-52s are still up and running. Many of them must be 40 years old.

[TwilightGardener]

2. Why not Minot? Freezin's the reason!

Sorry, old Air Force joke.