The legendary B-52’s are getting old. The bombers are in service for over 50 years.
Between 1952 and 1962 no less than 744 B-52’s were built. Today USAF still flies 76 operational B‑52s. A large number of those 6 are bases at Barksdale AFB.

Barksdale AFB
Barksdale AFB is located in the North Eastern corner of Louisiana, also known as the Ark-La-Tex (Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas) area. When driving on the airbase, you can almost smell the history. Eye catchers are the historic-inspired Georgian style homes used for offices and housing of personnel and the old scenic streets which are lined with Oak Trees. The contrast between the rural, serene surroundings and the large number of lethal B-52 bombers on the concrete flight line is immense.

Training the crews
With the extended life of the B‑52 it is inevitable that new crews have to be trained to keep the aircraft operational. The 307th Bomb Wing at Barksdale holds the B‑52 Formal Training Unit. Every student since 2009 that has come to the B‑52 went through the 307th Bomb Wing for their initial training.

We published an article about the B-52 training at Barksdale AFB in the February 2018 issue of Combat Aircraft Monthly and a Dutch version in Full Stop Magazine of October 2017.