The 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth AFB, S.D., has gone more than one year without a chargeable foreign-object-debris incident, marking a record for the B-1B community. “In the world of aviation, FOD can become a major contributor to maintenance costs,” sometimes causing more than $1 million in damage to an aircraft engine, said MSgt. Larry Anderson, 28th BW FOD manager. Chargeable FOD incidents are those that cost more than $20,000 to repair and could have been prevented by airmen exercising attention to detail and better vigilance. Anderson attributes the wing’s anti-FOD success to the time taken to educate airmen on the fightline on FOD prevention. “It is a team effort from senior leadership on down, and right now we are winning that fight,” he said. In March, FOD caused an engine fire on one of the wing’s B-1Bs during takeoff from Ellsworth, resulting in more than $900,000 worth of damage. However, that event was not a chargeable FOD incident, wing spokesman SSgt. Eric Bolt confirmed to the Daily Report Dec. 29. (Includes Ellsworth report by SSgt. Eric Bolt)
The 301st Fighter Wing in Fort Worth, Texas, became the first standalone Reserve unit in the Air Force to get its own F-35s, welcoming the first fighter Nov. 5.