Military

PACAFNS

Release No. 2003132

April 22, 2003

Eagle Drivers help JASDF reach new heights

By 2nd Lt. Michael Cumberworth
5th Air Force Public Affairs

NYUTABARU AIR BASE, Kyushu, Japan - When your car runs low on gas during a long trip, it's easy to pull up to the pump, pop open the tank, and "fill 'er up" like you have done a hundred times before, however it involves a lot more planning if you're at 25,000 feet traveling several times faster than the speed limit while speaking a foreign language.

This is precisely the case for a group of Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-15 pilots and their U.S. Air Force instructor pilots here on the island of Kyushu.

Throughout the week, the IPs provided instruction on air-to-air refueling from the classroom to the boom - everything you need to know to gas up at 310 knots while cruising three miles above the ocean. More notable than the challenge of the task itself is that Monday marks the first attempt in JASDF history.

"In the short term we hope to provide them [the JASDF] the ability to refuel and extend their training," said Maj. Pete Ford, an F-15 pilot from the 18^th Wing at Kadena AB. "In the long term, we hope [our new contacts] have a long-lasting impact in PACAF. There's not much closer relationship than the brotherhood of flying."

The Air Force team included visiting instructor pilots from Yokota and Kadena Air Bases, Japan, Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, an Air Force exchange officer stationed at Nyutabaru and an aircraft fuels system technician from Kadena who was on the ground for several days working with Japanese maintenance crews. Their combined wealth of experience ensured a successful first run for the Japanese, and set the stage not only for solo and evening flights later in the week, but also for a variety of future training using their own tankers in coming years.

"One of the most challenging aspects of this training obviously has to be language considerations, but more than that it is that these are completely new concepts to them, so as instructors we have to develop new analogies by using familiar ideas," said Maj. Ford. "But the rewarding part is the actual joy of instruction. When you come up with an analogy that works, you teach them something and you see it in their eyes, they get it." Courtesy of Pacific Air Forces News Service.

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