Pilots, maintainers assess combat capabilities during WSEP

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Tracy Brown
  • 442nd Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  The 442nd Fighter Wing, Whiteman AFB, Mo., sent 10 A-10 thunderbolt II aircraft and more than 150 service members here to participate in a four-day exercise.

The exercise was conducted with the 53rd Wing weapon system evaluation program, or WSEP, also referred to as "combat hammer."

WSEP allowed the A-10 pilots to employ live weapons in real-world scenarios. The program evaluates the effectiveness and suitability of combat Air Force weapon systems and covers every aspect of the A-10 mission to include man and machine. The approach from the WSEP team is the weapon life cycle, or the cradle-to-the-grave approach. This process looks over everything from building the weapons, to loading weapons and impact on target. Each Air Force specialty code that has a hand in the mission resulting with a bomb on target is evaluated throughout the exercise.

"We are here to basically provide data to combatant commanders to help them gauge how to appropriate certain resources. We are evaluating the build-up procedures, the loading procedures and the actual weapon effectiveness," said Capt. Patrick Chevalier,
442nd Fighter Wing operations officer. "If anything goes wrong we collect data so that can be part of the greater collective of knowledge that helps us execute our mission."

The temporary deployment to Eglin AFB is the first since the wing's adoption of Detachment 303, an active association. The total force integration brings all aspects of the Air Force community together on the same playing field to include reservists, air reserve technicians and active-duty Airmen.

"We're all on military status, we're here as a single unit, coming out here to perform the same mission. I have not seen a more professional group of people coming from whatever component," said 1st Lt. Kassandra McRay, Det. 303, 495th Fighter Group, an active association of the 442nd Fighter Wing.

The WSEP team not only provides the scenarios that include air-to-ground targets but also air-to-water. They provide feedback and detailed accounts of the use of weaponry. The team closed the exercise with an out brief and footage from the training throughout the exercise. This is an added perk to those who work on the aircraft and load weapons by letting them see the end product.

"This is not an angle you would normally see. As a weapons loader, you tend to load it and forget it. You seldom see what our weapons are truly capable of. Seeing the power of the munitions we load is a real morale boost and just an awesome thing to witness," said Staff Sgt. Shane Dunn, 442nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron weapons loader.