Well I have to agree that this ol’ gal has turned a few tricks, but my nostalgic side still love this plane. Of the nearly 750 produced, only 85 still remain active - all H models and they’re assigned to Air Force Global Strike Command. But as Uncle Bob’s link attests, there’s some still waiting at Davis-Monthan AFB that can be brought back to operational status fairly quickly.

I know that currently, as part of joint service efforts with the US Navy, the B-52 is used for ocean surveillance. As per the B-52 Fact Sheet, “Two B-52s, in two hours, can monitor 140,000 square miles of ocean surface.”

Combat ready the B-52 can fly over 8,000 miles at 650 miles per hour without refueling. With inflight refueling, the range is limited only by crew endurance. During Desert Storm, B-52s launched from Barksdale AFB and clobbered the living hell out of the bad guys with cruise missiles and returned to base for a non-stop 35 hour mission.

And then there’s the 70,000 pound bomb load – that’s a lotta boom.

BUFF is an appropriate moniker – but if the US Government would let me and a couple dozen other old guys I know loose with a dozen of these bad-ass birds we could wrap ISIS mess up real quick – jus’ sayin’…. Anyone else game?