Below bingo: KC-135 enables second tanker to stay in flight
By Airman 1st Class Christopher Thornbury, 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs / Published May 15, 2016
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. (AFNS) -- Flying closely to mountainous terrain in Afghanistan, a KC-135 Stratotanker aircrew found themselves low on fuel when they were unexpectedly requested to refuel an AC-130H Spectre in pursuit of a high-level Taliban leader on the ground.
Answering the call to refuel the fight, the aircrew gave the AC-130 as much fuel as they needed. But the fuel transfer meant they could not return to their destination, an instance known as "below bingo."
A KC-135 can store 322,500 pounds of fuel and offload 200,000 pounds of it.
The Feb. 25 mission originally began by refueling two MC-130J Commando IIs, so they could land in a forward area and refueling point to enable trucks and helicopter crews to reach their area of operation with less threat of an ambush or triggering an improvised explosive device, said1st Lt. Steve Hartig, a 350th Air Refueling Squadron pilot.
A tanker is often the aircraft offloading fuel, but certain missions require Stratotankers to be refueled in the air. During this mission, in between refueling the MC-130s, the tanker was refueled by other KC-135s three times.
"This was my first deployment as a receiver-qualified pilot," said Capt. Kirk Evans, a 384th ARS pilot. "Receiving fuel from a tanker at 27,000 feet (was pretty challenging). The air is thinner, and I had less control authority over the aircraft because the engines are less responsive."
After refueling the second MC-130, the original mission was complete. Before heading back to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, they were instructed to relocate to potentially refuel the AC-130 because an alert refueling aircraft could not make it in time.
"The only useable airspace we had was in a bowl of mountains, and we had to refuel them at 5,000 feet," Evans said.
Both aircraft made contact far below the surrounding 9,000-foot mountains, flying in circles to stay in a safe area while descending to compensate for the AC-130's slower speed.
The mission became increasingly complicated when the gunship crew confirmed they needed 18,000 pounds of fuel and the KC-135 had only 7,000 pounds before it had to go below bingo, Evans said.
Committing to the gunship crew's mission, the refueling crew offloaded the amount of fuel needed for them to complete the mission and return safely.
Now, the KC-135's gas tank was 12,000 pounds below bingo. Unable to reach their base, they began contemplating their options -- land in Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, which had recently been getting attacked; or Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, in the middle of a thunderstorm.
"We were authorized to divert to Kandahar when we were notified there happened to be another tanker on their way back to Al Udeid that had a little extra gas," Evans said. "We met them and they drug us out of Afghanistan, giving us enough fuel to meet the alert KC-135 halfway, so we didn't need to divert."
With the tanker back at Al Udeid AB it ensured that the unique receiving ability could be used for other missions more quickly.
"There were a lot of unknown circumstances, but the experience of the crew made the mission happen," said Senior Airman Katy Johnson, a 350th ARS boom operator.
The efforts of the crew enabled the close-air support mission with the first mission and helped bring an end to a high-level Taliban leader with the second.
"As good as I felt completing the mission and making it home, I always enjoy the next day more," Hartig said. "After the gunships reported to intelligence, (we saw the effects of the mission). It is always nice to see what we supported and what they managed to do because of (the support), knowing that those 13 1/2 hours of chaos and stress paid off."
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