RAPID CITY, S.D. — B-1 bombers from Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota have been dropping bombs at a record pace this year as part of an escalated assault on Islamic State targets, authorities say.
The 34th Bomb Squadron dropped about 2,200 bombs on targets in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria during a six-month deployment that ended in July, according to Col. Gentry Boswell, the base commander. That's the most bombs dropped during a six-month deployment by an American B-1 squadron in the last 10 years, he said.
"We kill bad people and we break their things," Boswell said during a recent speech in Rapid City, the Rapid City Journal reported. "And we're very good at it."
Ellsworth's 37th Bomb Squadron, deployed in July, has already surpassed the other squadron's mark, with more than 2,700 bombs dropped.
"People are looking now at the Paris attacks saying, 'When are we going to ramp up our operations?'" Boswell said "Well, we actually did. We ramped up about a month or a month and a half ago."
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people and wounded hundreds more.
Boswell said he expects deployments to continue with increased cooperation from European partners as they react to the Paris attacks.
