Mesa native deploys, helps bring fuel to fight

Photo By Master Sgt. Sara Keller | U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Chris Whynott, a KC-10 Extender flight engineer from the 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, completes a pre-landing check during an air refueling mission in Southwest Asia Feb. 25, 2012. The 908th EARS provides critical air refueling to aircraft in the area of responsibility, delivering more than one million gallons of fuel to the fight every day. In 2011, the 908th EARS offloaded more than 390 million pounds of fuel to more than 28,000 aircraft, and flew more than 36,700 hours in almost 4,600 missions. The average sortie length for a KC-10 mission in Southwest Asia is about eight hours.  

AFGHANISTAN

03.01.2012

Story by Staff Sgt. Sara Keller 

United States Air Forces Central     

SOUTHWEST ASIA – Tech. Sgt. Chris Whynott, a KC-10 Extender flight engineer from the 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, recently deployed from the 70th Air Refueling Squadron, Travis Air Force Base, Calif.

Whynott, a Reserve airman and Mesa, Ariz., native, fills the role of flight engineer on his four-man team, but possesses the skills to do almost any job on the aircraft.

As a flight engineer, his responsibilities include performing aircraft inspections, non-scheduled aircraft maintenance, maintaining aircraft forms and records during flight and while the aircraft is away, among many other things. When he’s not flying with the Air Force, he works as a captain for a civilian commercial airline, flying cargo in and out of the area of responsibility, contributing to Operation Enduring Freedom out of uniform as well.

He has served in the Air Force for nearly 20 years, first in aircraft maintenance, and then as a flight engineer.

His crew consists of an aircraft commander, a co-pilot and an in-flight refueling technician, or boom operator.

Every other day Whynott and his crew fly anywhere between seven to 14-hour missions over Afghanistan, off-loading nearly 50,000 gallons of fuel to aircraft such as A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, U.S. Marine Corps Harrier A/V-8Bs, and F-16 Fighting Falcons. They also receive fuel from KC-135 Stratotankers and other KC-10s.

It is the 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron mission to bring fuel to the fight and has been for many years.

“In 2011, the 908th EARS offloaded more than 390 million pounds of fuel to more than 28,000 airplanes and flew more than 36,700 hours in almost 4,600 missions,” said Lt. Col. Kenneth Moss, the 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron commander. “In the last year, my unit provided about one-third of the airborne fuel used to protect our ground troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, allowing us to support 1,643 troops-in-contact events, 1,488 shows-of-force, 1,445 strikes and 2,555 priority events. Broken out another way, the 908th EARS provided critical aerial refueling to support four-and-a-half TICs, four SOFs, four strikes and seven priority events every day.”

Whynott contributes to these types of numbers every time he steps onto the flight deck and helps refuel aircraft in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

“We are providing fuel for the troops on the ground and it feels good to be a part of that mission,” said Whynott. “My favorite part about this deployment is the guys I’m working with. We fly more than 30 hours a week together and having a good crew that works well together makes the deployment a lot better.”

• Date Taken: 03.01.2012
• Date Posted: 03.01.2012 06:29
• Story ID: 84536
• Location: AF