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File: aabgb_02.txt
Page: 02
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    tanks, frees up two pylons, which gives us two more stations
    to drop bombs; so we have actually doubled our bomb load and
    tripled the number of sorties that a guy can fly in one day.
    
    Now of the entire wing, right now we have two squadrons, the
    33d and 17th out of Shaw [AFB SC], and the 10th FAC [Forward
    Air Controller] Fighter Squadron out of Hahn [AB, Germany]
    is also working this. We have a three-squadron wing with 72
    aircraft.  Out of those 72, we have ground-loaded the tanks.
    basically, we have an eight-ship per squadron per day, so we
    have 24 airplanes configured flying out of KKMC mission, as
    we call it, on a daily basis. We turn out of here about 48
    sorties. The wing fIies a total of between 110 and 125 .
    sorties a day, so we are flying roughly 46 to 45 percent of
    our sorties out of here with only those 24 jets.
    
    S: When did you first arrive here to open up the detachment
    here at KKMC?
    
    E: I, personally, have been here almost a week. The initial
    cadre showed up 10 days ago. Today is the 16th of February.
    They showed up about the 6th of February. Anticipating you)
    next question, we brought in 173 maintenance guys, a
    detachment commander, a lieutenant colonel; so for a total
    of about 174. We bring people in and out on an almost
    weekly basis, but the total number of people we had before
    was between 150 and 175. We also took 13 C-130 loads of
    equipment to get up here, and we had dedicated air. It took
    us a good day just to bring the people and equipment up
    here, and then it took us a good day to set up and run a
    limited, at first--for the first couple of days--operations
    out of KKMC.
    
    S: Approximately how many missions or sorties do you generate
    out of here per day?
    
    

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