350th ARS wins AMC-level award

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class David Bernal Del Agua
  • 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  The 350th Air Refueling Squadron here won the Air Mobility Command's Fuel Efficiency Award, Oct. 31.

AMC's Fuel Efficiency Award is given to units that take steps to reduce their waste and reduce their environmental footprint better than any other unit.

The Red Falcons took initiatives to plan ahead before flights. A lot of work needs to be done behind the scenes to make every flight happen.

"There's been a much bigger focus recently on fuel efficiency as a whole, but especially on the mission planning aspect of it," said Capt. Ralph Hale, 350th ARS executive officer.

Mission planning became a point of emphasis for the Red Falcons, reducing everything they could while still making the mission happen.

"We, as an entire squadron, have embraced the effort to be more efficient," said Maj. Joe Carr, 350th ARS assistant director of operations. "We took a charge to start mission planning a day prior to narrow down how much fuel we need."

The squadron has used other means to reduce their footprint and save resources that are highly valuable.

"We also moved more training out of the plane and into the simulator," said Carr. "Instead of burning fuel and maintenance hours, we're doing that in the simulator. We have reduced the amount of extra fuel that we are burning, which shifts the flying hours and the fuel into more important things."

Squadron members who need to complete similar assignments are being scheduled together to reduce the number of real flights flown.

"It's a very holistic team," said Carr. "Everybody is involved, from the schedulers, to the pilot team, to the simulator instructors. Everyone in the entire squadron, whether they fly or not, has a hand in making sure we fly efficiently."