The munitions themselves, 500-pound BDU-50s and 2,000-pound BDU-56s, were built to mimic the size, weight and handling characteristics of live bombs without the risk, allowing crews to rehearse the full sequence of loading and dropping ordnance under realistic conditions. Previously, this kind of testing on the F-15EX had been confined to the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida; Mountain Home marked the first time an operational unit, rather than a dedicated test squadron, had carried it out.
The distinction matters because of what the F-15EX actually is. Though it shares a strong visual resemblance with the wing’s aging C-model fleet, the EX is built as a multi-role fighter, retaining the air-to-air capability of its predecessor while adding genuine air-to-ground strike capacity, a capability that takes considerably more than a new airframe to unlock.
Turning that potential into a demonstrated capability required months of groundwork led by a small group of specialists. Maj. Jesse Loya is one of three pilots in the 142nd Wing with prior air-to-ground experience, having completed a nine-month course covering the technical and tactical fundamentals of bombing before being tasked with building a training program to bring the rest of the wing’s pilots up to speed.
Loya said the approach taken at Mountain Home was designed to compress that learning curve dramatically, training pilots to safely employ ordnance on a much shorter timeline than the standard nine-month course typically allows. “I think it’s a testament to the pilots themselves and the skills that they’ve developed over the years to be able to do that in such a short amount of time,” he said.
The pilots were not the only ones racing against the clock. Weapons loaders faced their own certification challenge, with Tech. Sgt. Tyler Phelps among a small group who traveled to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada earlier this year to train on F-15E-models with the 59th Test and Evaluation Squadron and become certified to load live ordnance.
Phelps and his newly certified colleagues then returned to Portland Air National Guard Base in Oregon, where they trained the additional weapons loaders who would ultimately deploy to Mountain Home. For many in the unit, watching the bombs go onto the jets for the first time carried weight beyond the technical milestone itself, a visible payoff for months of coordinated preparation across multiple specialties and locations.
Col. Joshua Hovanas, commander of the 142nd Operations Group, framed the achievement as evidence of what the unit’s personnel are capable of under pressure. “The speed at which this wing established a completely new capability is a testament to our Airmen,” he said, crediting what he called “the drive and seamless collaboration of the entire team, from the flight line to the cockpit.”
“It speaks volumes about the caliber of our people,” Hovanas added, a sentiment echoed in the numbers the unit posted. Across ten missions, the crew dropped 24 BDU-50s and 12 BDU-56s with zero safety incidents and satisfactory scores throughout, results Loya said exceeded internal expectations.
“The team as a whole outperformed any expectations that we held and went above and beyond, and I think the results ended up speaking for themselves,” Loya said, adding that the experience carried personal significance as well. “It was a privilege…just to be able to kind of usher in this new generation of multi-role fighters for us.”
The Mountain Home exercise was only the first phase of a longer qualification process. The unit’s next test will come at the end of August at Nellis Air Force Base, where the crew is scheduled to load and drop live bombs for the first time, a step that will bring the wing closer to full air-to-ground mission readiness.
Hovanas described the training completed so far as the foundation for a broader transformation underway within the unit. “What we’ve demonstrated is our ability to deliver ordnance to a pre-determined target. This is the first milestone on our path to becoming a premier multi-role fighter squadron,” he said. “It’s about building a dynamic and versatile organization, and we are just getting started.”
