Public Affairs, Volume 63, Number 47
Serving the community of Edwards Air Force Base California www.edwards.af.mil - www.facebook.com/EdwardsAirForceBase
June 10, 2016
BAF hosts first Royal Canadian Air Force plane by Kenji Thuloweit 412th Test Wing Public Affairs
A Royal Canadian Air Force CC-130J transport plane sits in the Benefield Anechoic Facility May 24 undergoing electronic warfare testing. The CC-130J is from 8 Wing located at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ontario. The J model has six propellers and can fly faster, higher and farther than legacy versions, while carrying heavier loads with better fuel economy. (U.S. Air Force photo by Kenji Thuloweit)
For the first time ever, a Royal Canadian Air Force plane has entered the Benefield Anechoic Facility. A team of engineers, operators and defense scientists from Canada, are wrapping up electronic warfare testing of an RCAF CC-130J Hercules transport plane. Canada is updating its fleet of legacy CC-130H aircraft with the J model, which are the same as the U.S. Air Force C-130Js and used for tactical airlift of troops and supplies. The team has conducted multiple tests in the past couple of weeks focusing on the ALR-56M radar warning receiver and its integration with the rest of the Defensive Electronic Warfare Suite and aircraft mission computer. "The BAF is the closest thing to actually flying the aircraft in an RF threat environment. The chamber allows us to execute multiple test objectives in a controlled-repeatable manner and collect data to evaluate the radar warning receiver’s technical performance and effectiveness." said Emil Poliakov, Canada Department of National Defense, radar warfare engineer. The BAF, operated by the 772nd Test Squadron, is the largest anechoic chamber in the world and can fit pretty much any airplane inside. It
See C-130J, Page 3
Test Wing command chief retires at 29 years By Christopher Ball 412th Test Wing Public Affairs The 412th Test Wing’s command chief master sergeant retired after more than 29 years of service with a ceremony in Hangar 1600 here Friday. Attended by base leaders, friends and family of Chief Smith, the ceremony was a celebration of the senior noncommissioned officer’s career and accomplishments. Brig. Gen. Carl Shaefer, 412th Test Wing commander, presided over the ceremony. “This is a big deal. We’re retiring a chief master sergeant, which is the top one percent of our enlisted corps,” he said. “In addition to that, we’re retiring someone who is a graduated command chief. That is top point-one percent in our enlisted force.” The general introduced and talked about Smith’s family – his parents, in-laws, children and wife – and complimented them all for the support they gave to the chief over the years of his career. He also commented on the chief’s dedication. “Attitude, loyalty and love – his all,” the
commander said. “Chief has given his all to the Air Force. When I turned to the chief with an issue, Chief would say ‘I got this’ and he really did. When he said ‘I got this’ it meant he was going to fix it.” As command chief master sergeant for the 412th TW, Smith has served as the principle advisor to the commander on matters concerning morale, welfare, discipline, training, fitness and effective utilization of the wing's 14,000 military, civilian, contractor personnel and their families. He also represented the enlisted force at a multitude of meetings, committees, boards and steering councils supporting the wing's personnel across 57 organizations. During the ceremony, the command chief talked about his Air Force Career over the years. Smith described why he originally joined the Air Force. He said that although he did love his country, it was not the primary motivating factor for joining. “At the end of the day, for a young 20-year-old, I just had a powerful need to eat,” he said. “I will tell you,” he continued, “we have core values, we talk about service. Maybe that wasn’t deep inside me just yet, but over time it grows. It doesn’t
grow though, without a lot of help, a lot of mentorship and a lot of leadership, supervision and guidance. Over time, my love for the Air Force, my love for the service, my love for being
Leslie Smith, wife of Chief Master Sgt. David Smith, 412th Test Wing command chief master sergeant, pins his retirement pin on his lapel during Smith’s retirement ceremony June 3. (U.S. Air Force photo by Joseph Pol Gocong.)
See Chief, Page 3 http://issuu.com/desertwings/docs/current
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Pilot, engineer celebrate service, family tie By Christopher Ball 412th Test Wing Public Affairs An 85-year-old retired Air Force major got a chance to revisit his favorite aircraft four decades after he retired from the United States Air Force. Retired Air Force Major Dwight Worden boarded a KC-135 Stratotanker here Monday during an informal tour to celebrate the retirement of his son, Jim Worden, an engineer with Detachment 5, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center here. Jim Worden’s retirement ceremony, after a 36-year civil service career, was Monday. Jim Worden said his father’s career did have an influence on his own. “Growing up as a dependent, I was around the Air Force my entire life,” he said. “But I didn’t go in the Air Force, because I didn’t see that they had a need for engineers,” he said. But then he got a civilian job at Edwards Air Force Base. “The variety, the technical challenges here, and the people, are what made my career,” he said. Jim Worden worked instrumentation on the KC-135 early in his career at Edwards. Dwight Worden flew the KC-135 for the Air Force when they were added to the inventory in the 1950s. Prior to that, Worden flew the KC-97 Stratofreighter, the older, propeller-driven version of the Stratotanker. During the senior Worden’s tour of the aircraft, he had a chance to speak with Maj. Nick LaPlante, a test pilot with the 418th Flight Test Squadron, and Staff Sgt. Adam Joachim, a test boom operator with the 452nd Flight Test Squadron. They spent some time discussing the differences between the aircraft from Worden’s time and the same aircraft now. “I was surprised at the amount of changes made to the aircraft,” Dwight Worden said. The boom operator explained that Dwight Worden toured a particularly unique KC-135. “Being that 320 is highly instrumented and modified to support our mission here at the test center in certifying tanker/receiver compatibility, Mr. Worden got to see the KC-135 that makes air refueling history on a regular basis. His and 320's contributions the tanker community are both so valuable, I couldn't think of a better 135 to have him visit.” “Our time spent with Mr. Worden was especially unique for a few reasons,” Joachim said. “First, Mr. Worden being initial cadre for the A-model 135 is truly special because of all the things the 135 has accomplished over the last six decades. Secondly The KC-135 officially turns 60 this year and Mr. Worden was lucky enough to have pioneered the most proliferated and successful tanker in aviation history.”
“The KC-135 was my dad’s favorite plane. Today was not just the thrill of the day for him. It was more like the thrill of a generation,” Jim Worden said.
Dwight Worden and his son Jim Worden depart the KC-135 Stratotanker after a tour and discussion with crewmembers. Jim Worden retired Monday, almost exactly four decades after his father. (U.S. Air Force photo by Christopher Ball.)
U.S. Test Pilot School graduates Class 15B Twenty new test pilots and flight test engineers will enter the world June 10 as Class 15B graduates from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. Congratulations to Class 15B!
Capt. Amanda Alpaugh Capt. Michael Bennett Capt. Lee Berra Capt. Christopher Campbell Lt. Alessandro D'argenio (Italy) Capt. Justin George Capt. James Gresham Capt. Justin Howland Capt. Christopher Hull Capt. Stephen Kennedy
Capt. Kyle Krogh Christopher Liebmann (Civilian) Maj. Michael Lippert, Michael (USMC) Capt. Justin Mensen Capt. Eric Michael Capt. Duncan Reed Maj. Bryant Roberts Capt. Eric Santroch Capt. Daiki Tanaka (Japan) Capt. Taylor Wilson
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Chief, from Page 1 a servant leader grew.” He thanked numerous leaders, mentors, coworkers and others that influenced him throughout his journey. Then, he thanked his family. “You are the source of my resiliency, the source of my strength, and the source of my success,” Smith said. At the end of the ceremony, the chief made some parting remarks. I am going to miss being on active duty. I am going to miss being part of this wing. I am going to miss being a part of all the awesome capabilities that the Air force brings to bear. Most of all, I am going to miss all of you, my Air Force Family.”
Drop and give me 20! Members of Team Edwards, representing all enlisted ranks, perform the flag passing ceremony commemorating the different stages of Chief Master Sgt. David Smith’s career during his retirement ceremony June 3. Smith retired as command chief master sergeant for the 412th Test Wing here. (U.S. Air Force photo by Joseph Pol Gocong.)
C-130J, from Page 1 provides a "free space" so electronic warfare tests can be conducted without radio frequency interference from the outside world. The chamber is filled with polyurethane and polyethylene pyramids designed to stop reflections of electromagnetic waves. The size of the pyramids, which are painted dark blue or black, varies depending on the particular frequency and test procedure being conducted. Aircraft systems can be tested and verified that they work properly prior to actual flight test. The isolation from outside interferences enables testers to determine the electromagnetic compatibility of the CC-130J's systems. “Our DEWS systems are often programmed and tested in isolation. We do not have a capability like the BAF, which would allow us to test the systems in an integrated fashion. This program allows us to exercise the compete integrated suite before the aircraft goes through an expensive flight trial," Poliakov said. The test team designed all the emitters the BAF is going to generate around a fictional threat area. "We've setup our objectives to simulate a contested [radio frequency] environment and we're going to see various early warning, air to air, long-range surface to air, and anti-air
Racers tackle mass pushups during the Fitness Dash at the Rosburg Fitness Center running trail Wednesday. Members were challenged with several cross-fit style challenges during the 1.2-mile running course which includes stretches of loose sand. Organizers asked the participants for feedback after the event, and are looking at making it a quarterly challenge. (U.S. Air Force photo by Christopher Ball.)
artillery threat systems come up to exercise the full capabilities of the radar warning receiver and provide relevant experience to the operator in the cockpit.” The electronic warfare data collected during this testing will be shared with partner nations as part of an agreement signed last year between the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom and Australia. The agreement is called the Multi-national Test and Evaluation Program. "This agreement provides an unprecedented access to the partnering nations’ EW trials and data," said Poliakov. "The CC-130J trial at the BAF is the first time the agreement has been used since it was officially signed in 2015. We invited representatives from the U.K. and Australia to witness this trial, and will share all of the results with our allies." Poliakov added the agreement eliminates a lot of repetitive testing and road blocks and allows the partner nations to discuss directly with their allies in the test community about system capabilities and deficiencies. The countries share data and test planning. "This agreement allows the allies to work together and contribute to the common goal of increasing crew and aircraft survivability in a potential threat environment."
During a meeting last year, Poliakov said Mario Dorado of the 772nd TS invited the RCAF to Edwards to conduct EW testing on the CC-130J, thus initiating the first action of the MTEP. The CC-130J brought to Edwards is from 8 Wing located at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ontario. Canada purchased 17 CC-130Js with the last one delivered in 2012. On the outside the CC-130J looks almost identical to the legacy CC-130H Hercules, but internally the J model is essentially a completely new aircraft that can fly faster, higher and farther, while carrying heavier loads with better fuel economy. While this is the first time an RCAF plane has come to test in the BAF, Poliakov hopes it won't be the last. "We have had a fantastic experience at the BAF. We were able to complete all planned test objectives and collect data which we don't normally have access to. This facility provides the missing link between systems testing in the lab and flight trials at a range. I hope we’ll be able to integrate the BAF into our regular DEWS test cycles for all fleets in the RCAF." The CC-130J team is expected to complete testing this week.
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This week in Edwards Flight Test History June 5, 1948 at Edwards - Northrop’s YB-49 No. 2, a prototype flying wing jet bomber, went out of control during its 25th test flight and crashed about ten miles northwest of Muroc Air Force Base. Three officers and two civilian aircrew were killed. The pilot was Maj. Daniel Forbes, Jr. and the co-pilot was Capt. Glen Edwards. The aircraft was testing stall recovery performance when it suffered a catastrophic structural failure with the outer wing panels tearing off. In December 1949 Muroc was renamed Edwards Air Force Base in honor of Capt. Edwards. (Edwards History Office file photo)
Long line at the pump
A KC-10 Extender refuels an F-35A from the 461st Flight Test Squadron while a B-2 stealth bomber (bottom) and three F-16s wait their turn in this recently released photo. The planes were on various test missions when they all flocked to the KC-10 to refuel in midair via the tanker's boom. The B-2 is from the 419th Flight Test Squadron and the F-16s with the 416th FLTS.
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Water quality reports Edwards Air Force Base and Air Force Research Laboratory 2015 Annual Water Quality Reports are now available on the Edwards web site. This report is a snapshot of last year's water quality. Last year, as in years past, the tap water here met or exceeded all U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and State drinking water health requirements. To view the 2015 report visit: www.edwards.af.mil/shared/media/document/afd-140623-033.pdf www.edwards.af.mil/shared/media/document/afd-140623-032.pdf
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Editorial Staff Commander, 412th TW ................................ Brig. Gen. Carl Schaefer Installation Support Director, 412th TW.................... Dr. David Smith Command Chief, 412th TW ........... Chief Master Sgt. Todd Simmons Director, 412th TW, Public Affairs ................................... Ed Buclatin Editor ......................................................................... Christopher Ball Staff Writer ................................................................ Kenji Thuloweit Contributor ................................................................. Dawn Waldman
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