Global Strike Challenge

Creating Global Strike Challenge is the world's premier Bomber, Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, Helicopter Operations and Security Forces competition with units from Air Force Global Strike Command, Air Combat Command, Air Force Reserve Command and the Air National Guard. Since the first Global Strike Challenge in 2010, the exercise is designed to enhance readiness, teamwork, esprit de corps, mission pride and a competitive spirit.

Global Strike Challenge is run every other year with operations and maintenance competitions taking place throughout the summer months. Teams compete at both their home bases and other competition bases from June to August. Global Strike Challenge concludes in November with the score posting, awards and trophy presentations at Hoban Hall on Barksdale AFB.

Bombardment Unit Category
Legacy Trophies: Named for General Muir S. Fairchild, former USAF Vice Chief of Staff, the Fairchild Trophy has been awarded at every bomb competition since 1951. The trophy, which was donated by Hughes Aircraft Corporation, is awarded to the best bomber unit in the combined fields of navigation and bombing.
 * Fairchild Trophy

The LeMay Trophy will be awarded for the best bomber operations category. First awarded in 1980, the trophy was named after the former CINCSAC General Curtis E. LeMay.
 * LeMay Trophy

This GIANT SWORD bomb loading legacy trophy will be awarded for the best bomber maintenance. General Ellis, former CINCSAC, donated his personal Order of the Sword presentation sword to honor maintenance personnel during the GIANT SWORD bomb loading and security competition in the early 1980s. The loading portion of this competition has a proud heritage that dates back to the SAC Weapons Loading Competitions established in 1958.
 * Ellis Giant Sword Trophy

First awarded in 1988, the Mitchell Trophy will be awarded for the best bomb. This trophy is named after General Billy Mitchell, one of America’s aviation pioneers.
 * Mitchell Trophy

First awarded in 1988, the Eaker Trophy will be awarded for the best B-1B squadron category. This trophy is named after the wartime 8AF commander General Ira Eaker.
 * Eaker Trophy

The Tibbets Trophy will be awarded for the Best B-2 squadron category. This trophy was first awarded in 2010 and recognized the B-2’s first appearance in a bombing competition. The Tibbets Trophy is named after the 509th Composite Group’s first commander, Colonel Paul W. Tibbets.
 * Tibbets Trophy

This trophy is awarded for the best B-52 squadron category. Continuing the tradition established in 1974, the Linebacker Trophy is named in honor of those crews who participated in the Linebacker missions over North Vietnam between May and December 1972.
 * Linebacker Trophy

Missile Unit Category
Blanchard Trophy Awarded since 1967, this rotational legacy trophy will be awarded to the best missile wing. The Blanchard Trophy is named in honor of General William H. Blanchard who served as Strategic Air Command’s Director of Operations in the early 1960s during the command’s operational development of the nation’s ICBM force. Blanchard was serving as the USAF Vice Chief of Staff at the time of his death on 31 May 1966.
 * Legacy Trophies

This rotational trophy will be awarded for the best missile maintenance. Dating back to the 1990s, this trophy is named in honor of Colonel Charles E. Blackburn who was a pioneer in ICBM maintenance and who helped refine maintenance practices for the Atlas, Titan, Minuteman, and Peacekeeper weapon systems.
 * Blackburn Trophy

Awarded first in 2010 recognizing the Best in ICBM Operations, this rotational legacy trophy is named in honor of Lt Gen Frank Klotz, the first commander of Air Force Global Strike Command. This trophy will be awarded for the best missile operations.
 * Klotz Trophy

This rotational legacy trophy will be awarded for the best missile crew. This trophy which was first awarded in 2010 is named after Major General Robert E. Linhard. General Linhard served as a Titan and Minuteman launch officer and was appointed senior director and given a presidential commission as special assistant to President Ronald Reagan for nuclear issues and arms control.
 * Linhard Trophy

This rotational legacy trophy will be awarded for the best EWO score. This trophy which was first awarded in 2010 is named after space pioneer and former Twentieth Air Force Commander Major General Thomas A. Neary. General Neary spent several years in missile operations at Malmstrom AFB. He then served in various staff positions in nuclear planning and missile force development. He held positions at Headquarters Strategic Air Command and the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff in Omaha, as well as Headquarters U.S. Air Force, the Pentagon, and Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Mons, Belgium.
 * Neary Trophy

This rotational trophy will be awarded for the best weapon system score. This trophy which was first awarded in 2010 is named after Major General Timothy J. McMahon. After missile operations duty at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base and Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., General McMahon held staff assignments at Strategic Air Command headquarters, the Air Staff, and at Air Force Space Command headquarters. General McMahon also served as the Director of Nuclear and Counterproliferation with the Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations at the Pentagon.
 * McMahon Trophy

This traveling legacy trophy was first awarded during the 2011 competition for the best helicopter squadron. The trophy is named in honor of Major Ken Bourland, a UH-1N helicopter pilot who served with a number of 20AF units and perished during a massive earthquake at Port Au Prince, Haiti on January 12, 2010.
 * Bourland Trophy

Team and Individual Trophies

 * Best Missile Maintenance Team (MMT) Trophy – Awarded to the missile wing team compiling the highest MMT competition score.
 * Best Electronic Laboratory Team (E-Lab) Trophy – Awarded to the missile wing team compiling the highest E-Lab competition score.
 * Best Power, Refrigerator, and Electrical Team (PREL) Trophy – Awarded to the missile wing team compiling the highest PREL competition score.
 * Best Mechanical and Pneudraulics Team (MAPS) Trophy – Awarded to the missile wing team compiling the highest MAPS competition score.
 * Best Nuclear Munitions Team (MUNS) Trophy – Awarded to the missile wing team compiling the highest MUNS competition score.
 * Best Helicopter Tactical Trophy – Awarded to the helicopter crew compiling the highest tactical competition score.
 * Best Helicopter Aerial Fires Trophy – Awarded to the helicopter crew compiling the highest aerial fires competition score.
 * Best Helicopter Security Response Trophy – Awarded to the helicopter crew compiling the highest security response competition score.
 * Best Joint Fires Observer (JFO) Trophy – Awarded to the individual compiling the highest JFO competition score.

Bartsch Trophy
Awarded since 1978, the Bartsch Trophy is named in honor of Major James F. Bartsch, a 410th Bombardment Wing electronic warfare officer killed in a B-52 accident on 2 April 1977. The trophy was donated by the Association of Old Crows and is awarded for the best electronic countermeasures category.

Team Trophies

 * Best Conventional Weapons Load Team Trophy – Awarded to the bomb wing team compiling the highest conventional weapons load team score.
 * Best Nuclear Weapons Load Team Trophy – Awarded to the bomb wing team compiling the highest nuclear weapons load team score.
 * Best Conventional Aircraft Crew Chief Team Trophy – Awarded to the bomb wing team compiling the highest conventional crew chief team score.
 * Best Nuclear Aircraft Crew Chief Team Trophy – Awarded to the bomb wing team compiling the highest nuclear crew chief team score.
 * Best Conventional Munitions Maintenance Team Trophy – Awarded to the bomb wing team compiling the highest conventional munitions maintenance team score.
 * Best Nuclear Munitions Maintenance Team Trophy – Awarded to the bomb wing team compiling the highest nuclear munitions maintenance team score.

Security Forces Category
This trophy will be awarded for the best security forces team. This trophy is dedicated to all security police and security forces members who have given their lives in support of the U.S. Air Force’s nuclear mission. It bears mention that in past Giant Sword competitions, winning security and weapons load teams shared the Barrentine Trophy which was retired to the Enlisted Heritage Institute at Gunter AFB in 1994. The year 2010 marked the first time that a separate legacy trophy was be awarded to security forces.
 * Charlie Fire Team Trophy

Team and Individual Trophies

 * Best Security Forces Tactics Trophy – Awarded to the SF team compiling the highest SF Tactics competition score.
 * Best Security Forces Marksmanship (Firing) Trophy – Awarded to the SF team compiling the highest SF Marksmanship (Firing) competition score.
 * Best Security Forces Mental and Physical (MAP) Challenge Trophy – Awarded to the SF team compiling the highest MAP Challenge competition score.
 * Best M9 Shooter Trophy – Awarded to the top individual scoring the most combined points in the M9 competition.
 * Best M4 Shooter Trophy – Awarded to the top individual scoring the most combined points in the M4 competition.
 * Best M24 Shooter Trophy – Awarded to the top individual scoring the most combined points in the M24 competition.
 * Best M249 Crew Trophy – Awarded to the top crew scoring the most combined points in the M249 competition.

Special Awards
The Spirit Bell was first awarded in 1978 during the Giant Sword bomb loading competition. Judges and competitors awarded the Spirit Bell to the team that epitomized professionalism, teamwork and esprit de corps during the competition. The Bell holds special provenance with SAC and now AFGSC since it accompanied a B-52 crew on a Linebacker combat mission over North Vietnam in May 1972.
 * Spirit Bell

AFGSC Innovation Excellence Award
First awarded in 2014, this trophy promotes an ongoing culture of innovation across the spectrum of AFGSC mission sets. The trophy is awarded to the wing that is recognized for the best innovation (encompassing techniques, processes, and programs that enhance mission effectiveness or morale by achieving sustained results that maximize efficient operations).

Team Member Patches
Competitors, having completed their home unit’s competitive selection process, will be recognized with a patch denoting their team member status.