![\"Wise](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/buff-wise-guy-e1558146236473.jpg\")
\nCol. Robert Burgess, 307th Operations Group commander, gives a thumbs up after flying a B-52 Stratofortress, nicknamed “Wise Guy,” to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, May 14. The bomber had been at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, since 2008. It took a team of reserve and active duty airmen four months to prepare “Wise Guy” for flight after its decade-long hiatus at AMARG. (Master Sgt. Ted Daigle\/Air Force)<\/p>\n
A BUFF nicknamed \u201cWise Guy\u201d this week became the second B-52 Stratofortress ever to be returned to service from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, the airplane cemetery known as the \u201cBoneyard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another BUFF nicknamed “Ghost Rider” was the first to come back from the dead.<\/p>\n
The bomber was was selected to replace another B-52 that was damaged in a fire, said Maj. Phillip Ventura, spokesman for the 2nd Bomb Wing.<\/p>\n
On Jan. 28, 2014, an oxygen leak caused a fire on a B-52H, which was undergoing routine maintenance, Ventura said in an email Thursday to Air Force Times. Although the plane was not destroyed, repairing the damage was deemed to be too costly.<\/p>\n
Global Strike Command decided the most cost effective option was to replace the damaged bomber with another B-52H in storage at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.<\/p>\n
After “Ghost Rider” was selected to replace the damaged B-52H, crews from the 2nd and 307th Bomb Wings spent 70 days at Davis-Monthan making the plane able to fly to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, he said. <\/p>\n
Which brings us to “Wise Guy.” <\/p>\n
By: Stephen Losey <\/strong><\/p>\n Wise Guy was retired to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, in 2008, where it sat under the hot sun for more than a decade. Typically, aircraft that retire there are cannibalized for parts, and the vast majority of B-52s there never fly again.<\/p>\n But after another B-52 was consumed in a fiery, aborted takeoff at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam in 2016, the Air Force said in a release Thursday, the service needed a replacement, and the process of resurrecting Wise Guy began. It arrived at its new home at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, on Tuesday.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cThis was a command-wide effort, with reservists and active duty offering a great deal of experience,\u201d said Col. Robert Burgess, the commander of the 307th Operations Group, who also flew the bomber to Barksdale. \u201cIt took four months to get ready, so it was really a small effort on the aircrew side and a major effort on the maintainer side.\u201d<\/p>\n After the bomber arrived, Barnhill reflected on the role he played in restoring not only Wise Guy, but also Ghost Rider in 2015.<\/p>\n \u201cBringing a bomber out of AMARG is once-in-a-lifetime chance, and I have been able to do it twice,\u201d Barnhill said. \u201cIt\u2019s just an honor to bring it back into service.\u201d<\/p>\n When the maintainers began their work on Wise Guy, they even found a message left in its cockpit, written in black marker on a metal clipboard.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Every B-52 Stratofortress has a global nickname, BUFF, because it’s a Big Ugly Fat, ahh, Fellow.<\/p>\n Well done Air Force, in resurrecting these Cold War Warriors and returning them to meet today’s challenges.<\/p>\n Read the entire article here: Air Force Times<\/a> <\/p>\n Hat tip to my pal Rod for the link.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"Wise](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/buff-wise-guy-returns-e1558146168843.jpg\")
\nA B-52 Stratofortress, nicknamed “Wise Guy,” makes its final approach to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, May 14. The bomber was flown out of the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, also known as the “Boneyard”, where it had been since 2008. (Master Sgt. Ted Daigle\/Air Force)<\/p>\n![\"wise](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/wise-guy-note-e1558147436553.jpg\")
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