Missouri: Whiteman Air Force Base

Rose and I have, at long last, kicked off our week long anniversary trip across the mid-west. For our first stop we spent the weekend with some good friends and 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base east of Kansas City.

One of the special privileges I got to enjoy while getting to hang out with America's finest, was to go behind the scenes to photograph a supermodel - the stunning B-2 Spirit, Stealth Bomber.

Developed as a cornerstone of our nuclear arsenal during the cold war, the Spirit can slip past enemy radar to deliver its lethal payload with pinpoint accuracy. If you talk to the folks in the squadron they will tell you that their first mission is deterrence. But when the bad guys don't cooperate then the B-2's deliver "Warheads on Foreheads, at the time and place of our choosing."

Here's a teaser shot of the "Spirit of Pennsylvania as she (these planes aren't just machines, they are family members to the crews of the 509th) taxis down the runway for a sortie.

More to come.