Tanker crew helps keep TT-03 flying
May 1, 2003
By Airman 1st Class Abby Young
35th Fighter Wing public affairs office
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam -- Every successful flying mission begins and ends with flight checks and paperwork, and any sustained mission requires refueling.
For a tanker crew of airmen deployed in support of exercise Tandem Thrust '03 from Kadena Air Base, Japan, the mission of other aircraft couldn't go on without them.
The KC-135's crew consists of three airmen from the 909th Air Refueling Squadron: Capt. Jason Goodwin, pilot; 1st Lt. Ernest Herrera; co-pilot and Airman 1st Class Corvis Lowery, boom operator. Their mission is to refuel planes in mid-air so they can complete their missions.
In combat areas, this process is essential; so a mid-air refueler's performance could mean the difference between life and death because fighters and bombers typically fly missions far from the battlefield.
"Generally, the planes are flying about 1,000 miles to get to, say, Iraq or Afghanistan. A lot of these planes can only make it 500 miles or so on the fuel they take off with," Capt. Goodwin said. "So, they won't be able to make it from where they take off from to their destination. That's why they need to be refueled.
"A plane can only take off of the ground with so much weight. When you start putting on weight in bombs and things like that you have to start taking away weight in gas. So they take off pretty heavy, then meet up with us to get the gas they need to do their mission," he said.
However, serving as a mid-air refueling source so planes can take off with more weapons isn't the only role tankers play.
Once planes get to their destination they frequently have patrols that can last several hours. With the fuel their [attack aircraft] tanks hold, they can only stay in the air for about an hour and a half, said Capt. Goodwin.
"Force extension is what they like to call it. We allow other planes to do their mission because where they're going they can't do their mission without taking gas," he added.
Flying a typical mission during TT '03 isn't too different from the ones this crew flies back at home. Being the only active duty tanker unit in the Pacific, the 909th ARS is used to getting tasked for exercises like TT '03.
The tanker has several standard missions they perform in TT '03.
Working with the F-15s is a normal routine for the tanker crew, but throwing in the F-16s, B-52s and working with the Navy is what makes these missions unique.
Typical of the six-hour mission, the crew flew April 28; a normal flying day begins with checking the weather and flying conditions, taking a look at who they'll be refueling, and getting what they'll need for the half-day flight. They examine a condensed version of what's called an air tasking order. An ATO contains intelligence information, as well as each plane's agenda in the air for that day.
"Everyone who flies in this exercise has planners who come together and make the ATO, which is basically a game plan for the whole exercise," he said. "That comes out each day and we have a couple of planners here who break it down for us into one sheet that gives us everything we need to know: who we're refueling, when, what time, what altitude, what frequency, things like that."
Taking off from the runway at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, the crew refueled eight F-15s over the Pacific Ocean with a total of 12,000 pounds of gas. They then met up with two B-52s.
"We're not giving them gas today, but they've been here for a couple months and haven't been doing a lot of flying, so they wanted some air refueling practice," said Capt. Goodwin.
About an hour later the KC-135 met up with some F-16s also located at Andersen. Toward the end of the flight, they refueled another group of F-15s between air-to-air practices.
The trick to refueling planes lies in the hands of the boom operator. Lying on his stomach in the back of the plane, Airman Lowery actually refuels the planes as they move in. As the planes approach, he dons his straw cowboy hat and maneuvers the boom with a panel of buttons and joysticks. After making contact and refueling the aircraft, he usually receives a peace sign or thumbs up of thanks from the pilots before they turn back to finish their missions. Tipping the brim of his hat, he positions the boom to receive another plane.
Even though boom operators must have several special qualifications to be able to refuel the different planes, Airman Lowery said his job is pretty simple.
"Getting fuel to the right person on time is the most important part of what I do," the airman said.
The time it takes to refuel each individual plane depends on the amount of gas that plane is receiving.
"Generally when we're going with all of our pumps we can offload about 6,000 pounds a minute," said Capt. Goodwin. "So, since the F-15s are only getting about 4,000 pounds apiece, it only takes a minute or two to give them gas.
"But say we were doing a standard B-52 mission and giving them about 70,000 pounds of gas, that'd take roughly 15 minutes. So it all depends on how much gas they're taking," the captain said.
Their mission ends with touchdown back at Andersen, another series of checks before the pilots leave the cockpit and, once back at the hangar, paperwork to log the events of the flight. (Courtesy of Pacific Air Forces News Service)
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