53rd Wing takes Combat Hammer, Archer out West in August

  • Published
  • 75th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah --  The 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group concluded the U.S. Air Force air-to-ground exercise known as Combat Hammer and air-to-air exercise known as Combat Archer this week.

From Aug. 11 -22, four units deployed here and three units traveled directly to the Utah Test and Training Range to drop munitions in realistic combat scenarios. With support from the 388th Fighter Wing and 75th Air Base Wing, 86th and 83rd Fighter Weapons Squadron Airmen collected and analyzed data on how these precision weapons performed and their suitability for use in combat.

"It is a team effort to pull off an evaluation of this scale, and Hill AFB is the perfect place to collect this important information for the Air Force," said Lt. Col. Scott Logan, 86th FWS commander.

The WSEP at Hill is the largest event of the fiscal year for the WEG and coordination with many organizations begins months in advance.

Units that participated in the WSEP for air-to-surface and air-to-air munitions included: F-16s from Hill AFB and Aviano Air Base, Italy; F-15Es from Royal Air Forces Lakenheath, U.K.; AC-130s from Cannon AFB, N.M.; and F-15Es from Mountain Home and MQ-9s from Creech AFB, Nev., will participate from other locations.

The 53rd WEG is a geographically separated unit of the 53rd Wing headquartered at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.