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CNN Live Today

B-2 Crews Prepare for Deployment

Aired March 12, 2003 - 11:35   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: B-2 stealth bombers are preparing to deploy for possible war duty in Iraq.
CNN's Jeff Flock joins us from Whiteman Air Force Base in the heart of Missouri. That's just outside Kansas City, and home.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Over my shoulder, it's already happening. Perhaps you see, as we pointed out earlier, the vehicle laden with gear, big duffel bags, all sorts of stuff associated with the deployment. We know the deployment's coming. We don't know exactly when it's going to happen. You see one of the B-2 stealth bombers out there. You don't usually get a live look at one like that. We've got some video that perhaps gives you a better look at a B-2 as it was taking off, this for its first combat mission back in 1999. Kosovo was its first combat. Also saw service in Afghanistan.

But this time, it is for the first time going to forward deploy. The missions have always been flown out of here, Whiteman Air Force base in the heart of Missouri. Now it's going to be forward deployed. Air Force and the Pentagon not saying exactly where. We believe it to be to Diego Garcia and perhaps another base in Britain. Also want to show you what this is capable of. We've got pictures from January, Nellis Air Force Base, testing of the munitions, in addition to the stealth capability which enables the aircraft to go in and not be detected, tremendous munitions carrying capability, able to carry about 40,000 pounds of munitions, and 16 separate targets.

And as this deployment kicks in, Major Bruce Bartholomew is a man who's in charge of it.

I'm seeing all these trucks go by, loaded with stuff. You are ready to go.

MAJOR BRUCE BARTHOLOMEW, U.S. AIR FORCE: We have shipped over 600 tons.

FLOCK: Already.

BARTHOLOMEW: Already. And a lot of people on air-mobility aircraft in order to support our people over the deployed location.

FLOCK: And supporting the B-2, this is not like supporting any other aircraft. This is a very sophisticated aircraft. You need a lot of support.

BARTHOLOMEW: Absolutely. We need to take all of the maintenance equipment, all the supply equipment, all the communications equipment in order to fly this airplane.

FLOCK: Major, in some ways, this is the last piece of the puzzle. Perhaps we take a look at some of the pictures of all this and as they roll past everyone's gear bags and all that sort of thing are going, a lot of great to go over. You're taking on what C-130s or C-5s?

BARTHOLOMEW: We use all sorts of air-mobility aircraft. We use Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, as well as active duty KC- 10s, C-5s.

FLOCK: The last piece of the puzzle, of course, is stealth itself. And I don't know, Bruce, if you're able to see off past us as we talk. These are the hangars, and I guess you don't call them hangars, you call them docks, yes?

BARTHOLOMEW: Yes, sir, we do them call them docks.

FLOCK: And you've got portable once being set up, or perhaps have already been set up, in classified locations overseas. They're ready for you?

BARTHOLOMEW: Yes, they are. The docks are ready for us to be able to do and perform the maintenance we need to perform.

FLOCK: Before we let you go, the last piece of the puzzle, these aircraft ready to roll out, correct?

BARTHOLOMEW: The people are ready to fly this airplane wherever the president tells us to.

FLOCK: If I ask you when you're leaving, you're not going to be able to tell me, are you?

BARTHOLOMEW: I can't tell you, sir. Sorry.

FLOCK: We're going to hang around and see if we can get a look at it.

Major, appreciate the time. I know you're very busy. I want to let you get back to it.

Heidi, that is the latest from Whiteman Air Force base in Missouri, an historic day in some sense because this is the first time the B-2, the stealth bomber, the most sophisticated aircraft in the U.S. arsenal, has ever been forward deployed.

The latest from here -- back to you.

COLLINS: Jeff, I do have a question for you, if you can hear me all right -- I hear those engines in the background. The B-2 typically flies very, very long missions, something like 18 hours at a pop. Did they talk to you at all about that and how they keep their spirits up in those long sorties.

FLOCK: It is interesting, because the men and women, and there's one woman who is preparing to deploy, usually fly up to 40 hours. They go all the way over, drop their bombs and come home. It sort of like commuting to work in some sense. But this time, it's going to be very different. They're going to go over much closer to the target areas. which will mean it's sort of like doubling the size of your fleet. You'll be able to run a lot more aircraft over there, so they won't have the same concerns that they've had before in missions to Kosovo and Afghanistan, where they were based here in Missouri -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Jeff Flock, live from Whiteman Air Force Base, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired March 12, 2003 - 11:35   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: B-2 stealth bombers are preparing to deploy for possible war duty in Iraq.
CNN's Jeff Flock joins us from Whiteman Air Force Base in the heart of Missouri. That's just outside Kansas City, and home.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Over my shoulder, it's already happening. Perhaps you see, as we pointed out earlier, the vehicle laden with gear, big duffel bags, all sorts of stuff associated with the deployment. We know the deployment's coming. We don't know exactly when it's going to happen. You see one of the B-2 stealth bombers out there. You don't usually get a live look at one like that. We've got some video that perhaps gives you a better look at a B-2 as it was taking off, this for its first combat mission back in 1999. Kosovo was its first combat. Also saw service in Afghanistan.

But this time, it is for the first time going to forward deploy. The missions have always been flown out of here, Whiteman Air Force base in the heart of Missouri. Now it's going to be forward deployed. Air Force and the Pentagon not saying exactly where. We believe it to be to Diego Garcia and perhaps another base in Britain. Also want to show you what this is capable of. We've got pictures from January, Nellis Air Force Base, testing of the munitions, in addition to the stealth capability which enables the aircraft to go in and not be detected, tremendous munitions carrying capability, able to carry about 40,000 pounds of munitions, and 16 separate targets.

And as this deployment kicks in, Major Bruce Bartholomew is a man who's in charge of it.

I'm seeing all these trucks go by, loaded with stuff. You are ready to go.

MAJOR BRUCE BARTHOLOMEW, U.S. AIR FORCE: We have shipped over 600 tons.

FLOCK: Already.

BARTHOLOMEW: Already. And a lot of people on air-mobility aircraft in order to support our people over the deployed location.

FLOCK: And supporting the B-2, this is not like supporting any other aircraft. This is a very sophisticated aircraft. You need a lot of support.

BARTHOLOMEW: Absolutely. We need to take all of the maintenance equipment, all the supply equipment, all the communications equipment in order to fly this airplane.

FLOCK: Major, in some ways, this is the last piece of the puzzle. Perhaps we take a look at some of the pictures of all this and as they roll past everyone's gear bags and all that sort of thing are going, a lot of great to go over. You're taking on what C-130s or C-5s?

BARTHOLOMEW: We use all sorts of air-mobility aircraft. We use Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, as well as active duty KC- 10s, C-5s.

FLOCK: The last piece of the puzzle, of course, is stealth itself. And I don't know, Bruce, if you're able to see off past us as we talk. These are the hangars, and I guess you don't call them hangars, you call them docks, yes?

BARTHOLOMEW: Yes, sir, we do them call them docks.

FLOCK: And you've got portable once being set up, or perhaps have already been set up, in classified locations overseas. They're ready for you?

BARTHOLOMEW: Yes, they are. The docks are ready for us to be able to do and perform the maintenance we need to perform.

FLOCK: Before we let you go, the last piece of the puzzle, these aircraft ready to roll out, correct?

BARTHOLOMEW: The people are ready to fly this airplane wherever the president tells us to.

FLOCK: If I ask you when you're leaving, you're not going to be able to tell me, are you?

BARTHOLOMEW: I can't tell you, sir. Sorry.

FLOCK: We're going to hang around and see if we can get a look at it.

Major, appreciate the time. I know you're very busy. I want to let you get back to it.

Heidi, that is the latest from Whiteman Air Force base in Missouri, an historic day in some sense because this is the first time the B-2, the stealth bomber, the most sophisticated aircraft in the U.S. arsenal, has ever been forward deployed.

The latest from here -- back to you.

COLLINS: Jeff, I do have a question for you, if you can hear me all right -- I hear those engines in the background. The B-2 typically flies very, very long missions, something like 18 hours at a pop. Did they talk to you at all about that and how they keep their spirits up in those long sorties.

FLOCK: It is interesting, because the men and women, and there's one woman who is preparing to deploy, usually fly up to 40 hours. They go all the way over, drop their bombs and come home. It sort of like commuting to work in some sense. But this time, it's going to be very different. They're going to go over much closer to the target areas. which will mean it's sort of like doubling the size of your fleet. You'll be able to run a lot more aircraft over there, so they won't have the same concerns that they've had before in missions to Kosovo and Afghanistan, where they were based here in Missouri -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Jeff Flock, live from Whiteman Air Force Base, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com