There were 4 scored events. 

The first event, a 45 HARB, involves a high altitude delivery from over 20,000 feet, where the target appears as nothing bigger than a thumb tack.

The second and third events, a 20 LD and 10 HD, are delivered from a “pop” attack, where the pilot flies at the target 500 feet above the ground and 500 knots, then “pops” the aircraft up with a quick climb before diving in at the target and dropping the bomb, then quickly returning to 500 feet and egressing the danger area.

The fourth event is a strafing event, where pilots attempt to hit a strafe pit with practice ammunition from the F-16’s 6-barrel machine gun.  The score is based on the most hits out of 100 rounds fired.

 The Buzzards dropped their bombs and tallied their scores up back in February.  The Nickel just recently came back from Spain.  Now that their scores are in, the results are final.  It was a great chance for some old fashion bomb dropping on the Zaragosa bombing range.

After the scores were compiled, the bulk of the top scores came from the younger pilots in the 510th, showing that experience isn’t always a match for plain natural ability.

Here are the results:

For the 45 HARB

• 1st place – with an average hit of 1.9 meters – Lt. Bret “Razor” Rurka - 510
• 2nd place – with an average hit of 3.6 meters – Lt. Phil “Sherman” Stein - 510
• 3rd place – with an average of 6.9 meters – Capt. Mark “Slammer” Bjorgen – 510
• 6th place – with an average of 32.5 meters – Lt. John “Slick” Baum - 555

For the 20 LD

• 1st place – with an average hit of 1.51 meters – Lt. Tony “Scrappy” Marek - 510
• 2nd place – with an average hit of 3.39 meters – Capt. Nathanial “Buster” Jaros - 510
• 3rd place – with an average hit of 5.1 meters – Lt. Ronnie “Zogg” Hawkins – 510
• 7th place – with an average hit of 28.4 meters – Lt. Keith “Ghost” Butler - 555

For the 10 HD

• 1st place – with an average hit of 2.3 meters – Lt. Keith “Cracker” Carson - 510
• 2nd place – with an average hit of 2.69 meters – Maj. Andrew “Mayo” Hecht - 510
• 3rd place – with an average hit of 3.51 meters – Lt. Dave “Ripper” Devemark – 510
• 4th place – with an average hit of 5.10 meters – Lt. Tom “Gunn” Burke - 555

For the strafe

• 1st place – with a total of 96 hits – Capt. Nathan “Wiz” Graber - 510
• 2nd place – with a total of 89 hits – Capt. Lynn “Riddler” Savage - 510
• 3rd place – with a total of 69 hits – Lt. Joe “BNG” Bassett – 510
• 8th place – with a total of 13 hits – Lt. Kyle “Rooster” Schlappi - 555

There is also one last award that is traditional in all Turkey Shoots – the Hamfisted Slinger award.  This goes out to the pilot whose total score was the worst.  This is an award given with a smile and a pat on the back, in jest, since all pilots know that there are good days and bad days… you just hope no one’s around for the latter.

The winner of the 2003 Annual Spring Turkey Shoot Hamfisted Slinger award goes to Capt. John “Nut” Peterson.  Nut is the 555th Weapons Officer and is in charge of squadron tactics and staying up-to-date on all of the new systems and weapons being developed for the F-16.  He also dabbles in finger painting in his spare time, and the squadron walls have a few of his better creations hanging proudly.

The Turkey Shoot was a great success, and it showed that the 510th and the 555th are finely tuned, rock solid units that can be relied upon for massive sortie generation and high tempo operations with minimal maintenance difficulties.  When the time comes to drop ordinance in the field, the Buzzards, and the Nickel, will be ready and able thanks in part to competitions such as this one. 

Now, for the real story!