POLAR GROWL strengthens Allied interoperability, demonstrates global capabilities

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Malia Jenkins
  • Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  Two B-52s from Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, participated in a simultaneous, roundtrip sortie, along with two aircraft from the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, to the Arctic and North Sea regions, respectively.

The training mission, coined Polar Growl, allowed the aircrews to hone their navigation skills and enhance their ability to work with Allied partners, while demonstrating U.S. Strategic Command capacity.

"Polar Growl was an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the awesome capability of the B-52s," said 69th Bomb Squadron pilot, also known as Capt. Gunn. "The maintainers, support personnel and aircrew did an excellent job showcasing the BUFF's ability to project combat power anywhere in the world."

Three weeks leading up to Polar Growl, aircrew members successfully launched three air launch cruise missiles during the weapons system evaluation, completed a practice nuclear generation and the Polar Growl mission.

"All of those 'little pieces' add up to the various missions we fly, which ultimately demonstrate the capability of Minot AFB, Air Force Global Strike Command, the United States Air Force, and the United States and its Allies' ability to cooperate to accomplish our goals," said 5th Operations Support Squadron nuclear operations center chief, also known as Capt. Frag.

"The demonstration of the United States Air Force's capable long-range aviation on a regular basis shows our allies and world partners that these missions can be accomplished at any time," he added. "We stand ready and capable regardless of other daily executed missions."

Polar Growl provided the crewmembers a unique training opportunity to conduct dissimilar air intercept maneuvers with Royal Canadian Air Force fighters and invaluable training in polar navigation. In addition to the priceless training opportunities, the mission tested the bomber force's command and control apparatus' ability to support two synchronized flight paths.

"There are a rare number of opportunities to practice the Polar Navigation skill. The training that the crews received from the Polar Growl mission was invaluable," Frag said. "We continue to update the knowledge base of the crew force through squadron and operation discussions of these events to share experiences and techniques to keep the sword sharp in the many mission sets the B-52 Stratofortress is responsible for."  

"Today's dynamic global security environment is an interdependent world where international partnerships are foundational," said Adm. Cecil D. Haney, U.S. Strategic Command commander. "Exercises and operations such as these bomber flights enable and enhance relationships with our Allies and partners, and allow others to understand what capabilities U.S. Strategic Command brings to the equation."

"The crews and the unit worked together extremely well in order to accomplish this mission.  In fact, all of the base agencies have to come together to make these missions successful," Frag said. "If we did not have such a great relationship with our maintainers, we would not be able to keep the jets flying all of the local training as well as these extended duration missions.  All of the base agencies should take pride in these missions because whether their job directly or indirectly affects the mission, our missions could not be done without their support."