Home > News > Article Display

Bombs Away!

By Airman 1st Class Jessica Weissman, Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs / Published April 01, 2016

PRINT | E-MAIL
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- Since The Vietnam War, the M-117 bomb has been in the U.S. Air Force's weapon stockpile. This 750-pound general purpose bomb, once used for combat missions, is now solely used for pilot training.

With only a couple hundred bombs still in their inventory, Minot Air Force Base's 5th Munitions Squadron completely phased out the remaining bombs on March 30, 2016.

Beginning on March 22, 2016, munitions Airmen took the final step before loading the last of the bombs onto the aircraft. The lowest ranking munitions Airman placed the clip on the arming wire and a Major trimmed the wire to the proper length.

"I was there for the first continuous bomber presence in 2004, and since then the Air Force decided to demilitarize the M-117," said Master Sgt. Larry Cartwright, NCO in charge of conventional maintenance assigned to the 5 MUNS.  "However, someone had the idea to use this as training instead of paying money to just get rid of them."
Munitions Airmen here built over 100 M-117s in the last few months.

"The only struggle we really had with building the bombs was rusted threading," said Airman 1st Class Blake Bradley, conventional maintenance crew member assigned to the 5 MUNS.

"We put a fin on the bomb and fuse it together," said Cartwright. "These bombs are so old that we do not use electrical fuses and there is no laser guidance. The metal fin on the back adds aerodynamic stability. It only takes us between 3-8 minutes to build one bomb. "

Once this bomb is dropped from the B-52 Stratofortress, the nose fuse lines up the components and will detonate on impact, said Cartwright.

"My instructors in Tech School 22 years ago said I would never see an M-117," said Cartwright. "I have probably seen more M-117 bombs that any other bomb."

Now that the last of these bombs have been dropped, B-52 aircrews and munitions Airmen can focus on training with newer bombs rather than bombs manufactured in the mid-1950s. 

"It is crazy that this is the first time the Air Force has ever said they want to just completely get rid of something," said Bradley. "I've only been in the Air Force for about a year now, so it's awesome to be happening already in my career."
USAF Comments Policy
If you wish to comment, use the text box below. AF reserves the right to modify this policy at any time.

This is a moderated forum. That means all comments will be reviewed before posting. In addition, we expect that participants will treat each other, as well as our agency and our employees, with respect. We will not post comments that contain abusive or vulgar language, spam, hate speech, personal attacks, violate EEO policy, are offensive to other or similar content. We will not post comments that are spam, are clearly "off topic", promote services or products, infringe copyright protected material, or contain any links that don't contribute to the discussion. Comments that make unsupported accusations will also not be posted. The AF and the AF alone will make a determination as to which comments will be posted. Any references to commercial entities, products, services, or other non-governmental organizations or individuals that remain on the site are provided solely for the information of individuals using this page. These references are not intended to reflect the opinion of the AF, DoD, the United States, or its officers or employees concerning the significance, priority, or importance to be given the referenced entity, product, service, or organization. Such references are not an official or personal endorsement of any product, person, or service, and may not be quoted or reproduced for the purpose of stating or implying AF endorsement or approval of any product, person, or service.

Any comments that report criminal activity including: suicidal behaviour or sexual assault will be reported to appropriate authorities including OSI. This forum is not:

  • This forum is not to be used to report criminal activity. If you have information for law enforcement, please contact OSI or your local police agency.
  • Do not submit unsolicited proposals, or other business ideas or inquiries to this forum. This site is not to be used for contracting or commercial business.
  • This forum may not be used for the submission of any claim, demand, informal or formal complaint, or any other form of legal and/or administrative notice or process, or for the exhaustion of any legal and/or administrative remedy.

AF does not guarantee or warrant that any information posted by individuals on this forum is correct, and disclaims any liability for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on any such information. AF may not be able to verify, does not warrant or guarantee, and assumes no liability for anything posted on this website by any other person. AF does not endorse, support or otherwise promote any private or commercial entity or the information, products or services contained on those websites that may be reached through links on our website.

Members of the media are asked to send questions to the public affairs through their normal channels and to refrain from submitting questions here as comments. Reporter questions will not be posted. We recognize that the Web is a 24/7 medium, and your comments are welcome at any time. However, given the need to manage federal resources, moderating and posting of comments will occur during regular business hours Monday through Friday. Comments submitted after hours or on weekends will be read and posted as early as possible; in most cases, this means the next business day.

For the benefit of robust discussion, we ask that comments remain "on-topic." This means that comments will be posted only as it relates to the topic that is being discussed within the blog post. The views expressed on the site by non-federal commentators do not necessarily reflect the official views of the AF or the Federal Government.

To protect your own privacy and the privacy of others, please do not include personally identifiable information, such as name, Social Security number, DoD ID number, OSI Case number, phone numbers or email addresses in the body of your comment. If you do voluntarily include personally identifiable information in your comment, such as your name, that comment may or may not be posted on the page. If your comment is posted, your name will not be redacted or removed. In no circumstances will comments be posted that contain Social Security numbers, DoD ID numbers, OSI case numbers, addresses, email address or phone numbers. The default for the posting of comments is "anonymous", but if you opt not to, any information, including your login name, may be displayed on our site.

Thank you for taking the time to read this comment policy. We encourage your participation in our discussion and look forward to an active exchange of ideas.