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Airmen heard Japanese eagles

April 30, 2003

Hamamatsu, Japan - When a KC-135 tanker and a fleet of F-15 Eagles took off from separate bases several hundred miles apart, airmen in the Airborne Warning and Control System showed them the way and ensured they had a safe contact at the same speed and altitude.

Prior to recent training at Hamamatsu Air Base, south of Tokyo, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's AWACS crews never needed to learn how the air refueling process worked since their planes had never approached a tanker, but all that changed last week with the first-ever air-to-air refueling of a Japanese F-15.

Air Force AWACS controllers Maj. Charles Grahn, 5th Air Force staff, and Maj. Tom Moose AWACS senior director, 961st Airborne Air Control Squadron, Kadena AB, Japan, were there to show them how.

"Basically we're teaching them the procedures required for the planes to meet up safely," said Maj. Moose. "We are accustomed to using one frequency to control thirty planes and three tanker tracks at the same time, but they have never done anything like that - they simply have not trained for it."

While the airmen adapted quickly to slightly different Japanese procedures, like marching to the plane, the Japanese controllers did their best to nail all the safety checks and gather every bit of information necessary from their Air Force instructors to get their planes the fuel they need during the refueling mission.

In addition to introducing new concepts, it was imperative to establish firm ground rules from the start since future air refueling training will often be conducted entirely in English.

The instructors stressed the importance of establishing the critical aspects of air refueling like altitude and airspeed before worrying about the details of administrative issues.

"Get those down first," Maj. Moose emphasized to the students at the final brief, "then if there's time, take care of the other things. Safety is most important."

By the end of the first week, the JASDF weapons directors were qualified for air-to-air refueling missions. Courtesy of Pacific Air Forces News Service