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In the Military
Gregg K. Kakesako
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Bombers fly mission from Guam to state
Four B-52 Stratofortress aircraft and crews from the 20th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron flew nonstop from Guam to Hawaii and back last week to participate in air-intercept training with Hawaii Air National Guard F-15 Eagles based at Hickam Air Force Base.
Two made the 18-hour trip on Tuesday and another two flew training missions over Hawaiian waters on Wednesday. The four bombers, which are normally based at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., didn't land in the islands, an Air Force spokeswoman said. During some of the missions, a single group of fighter aircraft practiced escorting the B-52s, the Air Force said in a news release, while another group of aircraft practiced intercepting the incoming bombers.
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Two Pearl Harbor warships -- the cruiser USS Lake Erie and the destroyer USS Paul Hamilton -- are among the 10 U.S. vessels, 20 Australian ships and 125 aircraft participating in the biennial Talisman Sabre exercise, which will run through July 2 off the coast of Rockhampton in northeastern Queensland, Australia.
The exercise pits 20,000 U.S. troops and 7,500 Australian forces against two fictional enemies -- the Kamarians and Musorians -- in a variety of land- and sea-based scenarios designed to test their skills in combat, peacekeeping and humanitarian relief efforts, according to a Navy news release.
The exercise is held while the United States and Japan step up efforts to build a joint missile defense system in Asia to fend off regional threats from foes such as a nuclear-armed North Korea. Australia, a U.S. ally that maintains about 2,000 troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, is studying whether to participate in the defense shield, the Navy reported.
MOVING UP
Pearl Harbor
» Cmdr. Alan Dorrbecker has assumed command of the nuclear attack submarine USS Greeneville, relieving Cmdr. Lorin Selby.
"In the Military" was compiled from wire reports and other sources by reporter
Gregg K. Kakesako, who covers military affairs for the Star-Bulletin. He can be reached by phone at 294-4075 or by e-mail at
gkakesako@starbulletin.com.