If you are old enough to remember the cold war you likely know what a B-52 Bomber looks like. For years B-52’s were stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City. The giant bombers were as frequent over the Black Hills as the newer B1’s are today.
B-52’s are returning to the Black Hills next month.
The fleet of Cold War era bombers stationed at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota will call Ellsworth home through October. The B-52’s are being temporally re-stationed while the runway at Minot is under construction. 2nd Lieutenant Rachel Allison is a spokesperson at Ellsworth.
“While they’re here we’ll be housing about 300 of their airman, while they’re maintaining and flying their aircraft. And, yea we’re excited to have them here. And we’re hoping to be able to just you know with the integrated operations the bombers have worked together before and we’re looking forward to having them work together again temporarily,” Allison.
B52’s have been in military service for over 50 years. They have been deployed to every major conflict since Vietnam.