WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. -- Ensuring bullets and bombs are properly stored and transported is important to the U.S. Air Force’s mission.
The Whiteman Air Force Base 509th Bomb Wing Weapons Safety Office makes sure the job gets done.
“We deal with anything explosive, ranging from 9 mm rounds to your 5,000 lb bombs,” said U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jerry Haack, 509th BW weapons safety manager. “We ensure that they are properly stored, maintained and transported.”
There are two sides to the safety office’s responsibilities, safety and surety. Safety creates and updates the regulations involving munitions, both conventional and nuclear. Surety enforces these regulations so incidents don’t become a recurring issue, said Haack.
“We take an in-depth look at how programs on base are run and how they can be improved based on the change in the mission,” said U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Adam Page, 509th BW weapons safety manager. “On the surety side of things, we ensure these programs are being enforced and ran the correct way.”
The 131st BW Weapons Safety Office regularly updates their procedures based on changes in regulations.
“People can get complacent over time and slip up on procedures,” said Page. “When that happens, people get hurt or even killed, it’s our job to ensure that doesn't happen.”
Airmen from the 509th BW and 131st Bomb Wing work as a team to keep Whiteman Air Force Base running safe and efficiently.
Through the concept of total force integration, Missouri Air National Guard Airmen work directly with active duty personnel to ensure mission success.
“We have had little to no incidents in the time I've been here,” said Haack. “When things happen we immediately get on top of it and ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
By ensuring the safety of operations on base, the 509th Weapons Safety Office keeps the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber flying so they can complete their mission to provide strategic deterrence.