Jan. 17 -- GRAND FORKS -- More B-1B Lancer bombers and the personnel attached to them have arrived at Grand Forks Air Force Base in recent weeks, with plans for most of the bombers to touch down in Grand Forks by the end of the month.
Presently, four aircraft and a little more than 100 service members from the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base have touched down, with several hundred more personnel expected to arrive in January.
The bombers are temporarily relocating to Grand Forks for the next 10 months while Ellsworth undergoes renovations to prepare it to host the new B-21 Raider stealth bomber. The air base is home to the 319th Reconnaissance Wing, commanded by Col. Tim Monroe.
Col. Derek Oakley, commander of the 28th Bomb Wing, says 500 to 700 airmen will be temporarily stationed in Grand Forks at any given time over the next several months, with some planes and crew posted to Dyess Air Force Base in Texas for heavy maintenance or deployed elsewhere.
"As more of our airplanes show up, more of our people will show up," Oakley said.
The bulk of the airmen are expected to arrive before Feb. 1, when Ellsworth shuts down its runway for renovation.
More of the $415 million aircraft and their air crews will arrive in March after completing a deployment in the Pacific.
"The first few weeks are going to be largely about getting everyone settled in on the installation -- building up their office space, their workspace, familiarizing themselves with the installation," Monroe said.
People living closer to the base can expect an increase in air and ground traffic, depending on weather and maintenance on the B-1Bs. (Mechanical issues prevented two bombers from landing at the air base last week.)
Highway 2 in particular is expected to see a significant increase in traffic, said Monroe, with fuel trucks entering the base multiple times a day all days of the week to accommodate the gas-guzzling B1-Bs.
City residents can also expect an increase in military personnel in the city: all of the Ellsworth personnel will be housed off-base, in apartments and hotels located in Grand Forks.
Air Force Civic Leader Bruce Gjovig touted the economic impact the visiting airmen would have on the community in fields like hospitality and retail.
"To compare it, if you would, to a convention or conference that typically lasts a long weekend or maybe a week, this one is 10 months," Gjovig said. "That's quite an impact on our community."
The Ellsworth airmen are expected to arrive in three tranches as service members rotate on and off the base, according to Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Barry Wilfahrt.
The Chamber of Commerce is planning several social events to welcome each new crop of airmen, with planned appearances by base and community leadership as well as airmen stationed in Grand Forks.
Oakley, who is still in South Dakota, said he hadn't met with Grand Forks' civic leaders yet but his team had been impressed by how local civic leaders had responded to the temporary beddown.
"What's pretty impressive for us is most folks will be staying off the installation, and the ability for the community to take care of our airmen off-installation has been amazing," he said.
The visiting bomb wing is expected to participate in training missions throughout their stay including certifying new air crews.
Training will take place over the Air Force's Powder River training complex, some nearly-35,000 square miles of airspace over Montana, Wyoming and the western Dakotas.
The number of training missions flown will vary based on weather conditions and maintenance on the aging aircraft; an Air Force spokesperson noted fleet B-1Bs were an average of 34 years old.
Mechanical issues prevented several bombers from completing their flight from outside Rapid City, South Dakota to Grand Forks last week.
Monroe said visiting air crews would be briefed on the air traffic above and surrounding the base, which includes manned and unmanned aircraft piloted by commercial air carriers, UND students, GrandSky tenants, and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.
Grand Forks' base commander has said he's looking for opportunities for the 319th, which flies the unmanned RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance plane, to train alongside the 28th Bomb Wing.
He said the two units have discussed partnering for exercises or even live flight training that would put two very different military aircraft in the same airspace.
"This will be one of the very few opportunities where we get to do detailed planning together with a different weapon system -- learn about its capability, learn about their organizational culture, and use that for the benefit of tactical knowledge," Monroe said.
Oakley was less committal, saying he'd welcome any training integration between the two wings but pointing to the logistical challenges posed by having planes from both wings airborne at the same time.
"Any time you put manned and unmanned aircraft together in the same airspace takes collaboration," Oakley said, saying the two units were "still real early in the conversation."