KC-135s make Red Flag possible

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Benjamin Wilson
  • Red Flag Public Affairs
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. --  Red Flag 11-2 is a large force exercise requiring many units to work together like a well-oiled machine, and if one piece were taken out, the whole operation would grind to a halt.

A large and important cog in the Red Flag machine is the combined effort of four KC-135 Stratotanker units.

"We're fueling their fight," said Maj. Emily Huhmann, detachment commander. "The war doesn't happen without the tankers -- it would not be worthwhile to put those support assets and the time into the training if we weren't there."

The KC-135 aircraft and crewmembers from McGhee-Tyson Air National Guard Base, Tenn.; Pittsburgh Air Reserve Station, Pa.; McConnell Air Force Base, Kan.; and Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash., provide the fuel enabling the fighter jets to fly the long mission lengths required for this training, she said.

"If we weren't able to be out here [the fighter jets] wouldn't be able to stay in the air to continue the training they have going on," said Tech. Sgt. Melvin Brandenburg, 134th Air Refueling Wing boom operator.

Without the support of KC-135s, not only would aircraft involved in Red Flag not complete training missions, but they would not have arrived.

"Tankers brought people from Spangdahlem, and it was tankers that brought the airmen from the United Arab Emerates across the pond," Major Huhmann said. "They wouldn't get here without the tanker support."

Although the mission of the KC-135s is to support training for aircraft receiving fuel, Red Flag is not without its challenges for these units.

"You basically go straight to the area and as soon as you get there the receivers are there just coming at you nonstop," Sergeant Brandenburg said. "It all happens pretty quick."

Fueling large amounts of aircraft in a short period of time sometimes requires multiple tankers, which creates added challenges.

"Today it was a big challenge because we were flying in formation with another tanker," Sergeant Brandenburg said. " It was very challenging because they were talking to the receivers on their frequency and we were talking to our receivers all at the same time.

"You can imagine all these different call signs with all these different kinds of numbers going back and forth."

In addition to complications for boom operators, formation flights in a tight airspace are difficult for pilots.

"We had our guys in formation in a very small airspace," Major Huhmann said. "They had to turn more than we would want in a formation with that number of receivers, but they did it."

At the end of the day, the KC-135 crews rose to meet the challenges, and the training was a success because of the fuel they provided.

"We are critical to the training and the whole mission of Red Flag," Major Huhmann said. "The world stops without tankers."