Bomber Barons kick off Global Strike Challenge Competition Published July 17, 2015 By Senior Airman Stephanie Morris Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- Five members of the 23rd Bomb Squadron took to the skies to compete in Team Minot's first competition of Air Force Global Strike Command's Global Strike Challenge 2015 at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, July 16, 2015. Global Strike Challenge is the world's premier bomber, intercontinental ballistic missile, helicopter and security forces competition. It is a head-to-head competition across Air Force Global Strike Command's bomber and missile wings. Teams include missile, bomber, helicopter, security forces and maintenance teams in AFGSC. The purpose of the competition is to enhance readiness, teamwork, esprit de corps, mission pride and a competitive spirit. The crew for the 23rd BS's portion of the GSC consisted of one pilot and co-pilot, two radar and navigation specialists and an electronic warfare officer. "Global Strike Command is taking a look at every squadron from weapons loaders and maintainers all the way up to the bomb droppers," said Capt. Jeffrey 'Shredder', 23rd BS weapons and tactics flight commander. "Really, daily operations trains us for this, we didn't need to do anything special to spin up for the competition." The group took part in a high-altitude bombing test that gauged their skills by requiring them to strike three separate targets. They were also limited to employing only one weapon per target. The other events in the competition were a time control evaluation, special instructions (SPINS) execution and an electronic countermeasures test. Bombing scores are computed by taking the average of the bombs released, a minimum of two bombs on target is needed to receive a score. Points are deducted for each foot away from the target area the bomb strikes. 840 points are available for bombing. The bombs used for the range are made of concrete rather than explosives but still mimic the weight, size and shape of regular munitions, said Capt. Dave 'Big Ern', 23rd BS weapon systems operator. "This is our chance to show off who's the best of the best," Big Ern said. "We have a specific time on target that we need to hit so we're going to do that and be the most accurate." According to the official rules, the crew will be permitted to employ any navigation and bombing mode system they prefer within peacetime restrictions. "We're going to do awesome," Shredder stated confidently. "We'll more than likely be the top bomb squadron!"