In August 2024, three B-2 Spirit Stealth Bombers deployed from the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, to Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia to support Pacific Air Forces’ Bomber Task Force missions.
The 29-hour sortie demonstrated continued U.S. commitment to allies and partners by showcasing their ability to deliver lethal, ready, long-range strike options to Geographic Combatant Commanders anytime, anywhere.
“We are excited to return to this important location. [Diego Garcia] puts the “INDO” in INDOPACOM,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Conant, BTF commander. “This Bomber Task Force is our National Defense Strategy in action. We are sharpening our lethality while strengthening relationships with key allies, partners, and our sister-service teammates. Despite a global pandemic, the Airmen of Whiteman Air Force Base and Air Force Global Strike Command stand ready to support INDOPACOM and the Department of Defense in achieving our nation’s strategic objectives.”
The last B-2 Spirit BTF deployed to INDOPACOM was in January 2019 from the 393rd Bomb Squadron from Whiteman AFB. Three B-2 Spirits and approximately 200 airmen deployed to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
During that BTF deployment, the B-2s flew 27 sorties for a total of 171 hours in multiple local and long-duration missions, conducted hot-pit refueling training, and accomplished eight integrated sorties with the Hawaii Air National Guard’s 199th Fighter Squadron F-22 Raptors.
Diego Garcia and National Defense
A lifetime ago, shortly after the end of World War II, a group of advanced B-36 bombers flew nonstop from Florida to Hawaii as a show of force against the Soviet Union. They barely made it, but they made it. The flight was significant because the distance from Florida to Hawaii is about the same as the round-trip distance between the Dakotas and Moscow. The B-36 was such an advanced plane that it was more like a flying saucer than an airplane.
It was a slow, propellor-driver bomber. But the huge B-36 could easily carry several humongous 1950s hydrogen bombs. Furthermore, it had a ceiling of about 30,000 feet. The jets at the time could fly that high, but they could not maneuver at that altitude.
However, the super bomber had a short lifespan. By the early 1950s, jet technology had advanced to the point that MiGs and other enemy aircraft could quite literally fly circles around the defenseless B-36. By the late 1950s, the B-36 was completely obsolete.
The 1955 Jimmy Stewart film Strategic Air Command, which is basically a propaganda film but a good film nonetheless, showcases the B-36.
The B-2 flight is a similar show of force, this time against China. 30 hours is the approximate round-trip flight time from Diego Garcia, a small dot in the Indian Ocean, to Beijing.
This show-of-force flight has an additional dimension. The B-2, which, like the B-36 is basically a flying saucer, remains on station at Diego Garcia, ready to drop who knows what on China. Will the B-2 superbomber be effective longer than its superbomber predecessor? Probably. The B-52, the bridge between these two bombers, is still in service today.
Contractors on Diego Garcia
Superbombers require super facilities. They also require advanced maintenance. Private military contractors are ready, willing, and able to do these things.
For the last several decades, not much has been built on Diego Garcia. That is partially because the island is so small that existing buildings must be demolished before new ones can be built. Buildings constructed before 1980 are usually laced with asbestos, so the army puts off demolition/reconstruction as long as possible. But on Diego Garcia, these projects can’t be pushed back any longer.
Asbestos remediation is a dangerous business that only highly qualified contractors can handle. This process usually includes an air test, removal, and disposal. OSHA permits an ambient air level below .01 ppm, but OSHA also states that no asbestos exposure level is safe. So, the DoD must decide whether to risk it or proceed.
Asbestos disposal is usually the trickiest part. This highly toxic substance cannot be thrown in the garbage, and no competent asbestos waste disposal areas are in the middle of the Indian Ocean. So, this toxic substance must be carefully stored and loaded onto ships.
The Defense Base Act, which compensates injured overseas contractors, is part of the Longshoreman’s Division of the Department of Labor. Therefore, Administrative Law Judges who rule on DBA appeal matters are intimately familiar with dock-related injuries.
The B-2 itself, like other advanced weapons, also requires extensive maintenance. But not everyone who can turn a wrench can work on a B-2. The maintenance must be specialized. Bombers and other aircraft that mostly sit in hangers often require more maintenance than those that regularly fly. B-2s are bombers, not museum pieces.
Injury Compensation Available
The stress of a work-related injury is bad enough. The stress of a work-related injury on the other side of the world is much greater. The stress of a work-related injury on the other side of the world that causes financial distress is almost unbearable. Therefore, lost wage replacement might be the most important DBA benefit.
Depending on the nature and extent of the injury, one of the following four kinds of Defense Base Act lost wage replacement are available:
- Temporary Total Disability: Most injured victims cannot work until their doctors fully clear them to return to work. Usually, injured overseas contractors can pick their own physicians, which means they don’t have to see company doctors.
- Temporary Partial Disability: Most victims want to return to work as soon as possible. Therefore, in many cases, doctors partially clear victims to return to work. They can work part-time or a light-duty office assignment while they continue to recover.
- Permanent Total Disability: Disabled individuals cannot work because of their injuries or other medical conditions. “Cannot work” also means that a disability includes non-medical factors, such as age, employment history, and educational background.
- Permanent Partial Disability: PPD is basically long-term TPD. If the disability partially impairs work functions, partial benefits are available. The VA system is similar (e.g., a 50 percent back disability means 50% cash benefits).
All DBA lost wage replacement benefits are based on the victim’s average weekly wage. The AWW must account for future wage increases, such as scheduled yearly increases, and irregular bumps, such as lost overtime opportunities.
For more information about DBA medical benefits, contact Barnett, Lerner, Karsen, Frankel & Castro, P.A.