201104-F-OD616-1005
Airman 1st Class Hunter McCanch, 388th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, prepares a GBU-12 laser-guided bomb for loading during a weapons evealution exercise at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, Nov. 4, 2020. F-35A Lightning IIs assigned to the 34th Fighter Squadron, along with F-16s from Shaw AFB, South Carolina, AC-130 gunships from Hurlburt Field Florida, and B-2s flying from Whiteman AFB, Missouri, will participated in WSEP West, also known as Combat Hammer. During Combat Hammer Airmen evaluate every aspect of air-to-ground weapons employment, from building and loading munitions, to aircraft and pilot performance hitting targets on the Utah Test and Training Range. WSEP West is conducted by the 86th Fighter Weapons Squadron at Hill, which is the only DOD agency charged with conducting predictive battle damage analysis of precision guided air-to-ground munitions using operational weapons, aircraft, maintenance personnel and aircrew. (U.S. Air Force photo by R. Nial Bradshaw)