Photo By Master Sgt. R Denise Mommens | KC-135R Stratotanker Boom Operator Senior Master Sgt. Mat Ellison from the 155th Air...... read more read more
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Nebraska Air National Guard aircrew members tackled some important readiness training when they utilized their KC-135R Stratotanker to conducted air refueling exercises with four F-16 Fighting Falcons out of Buckley Air Force Base, Aug. 12, in the skies over Colorado.
The training was designed to give both groups of Air National Guard Airmen the opportunity to perfect the precision needed to safely and successfully conduct aerial refueling operations. That particularly important due to the fact that most U.S. military aircraft cannot get from the United States to any global mission without KC-135R Stratotanker support.
“By practicing the refueling mission, we’re ensuring that capability for the combatant commanders and then the national leadership structure,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Shannon, 173rd Air Refueling Squadron director of operations.
Shannon said maintaining military readiness requires U.S. Air Force pilots to demonstrate certain tasks over a specific amount of time. That can sometimes be challenging for members of the Air National Guard or U.S. Air Force Reserve who must balance their military duties with their civilian careers, education or other pursuits.
That is why the Nebraska Air National Guard puts such a premium on making sure training flights such as the one with the Colorado Air National Guard F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters, which were conducting dog-fighting training, gives the Nebraska aircrew multiple opportunities to receive valuable training.
“When our part-timers come in, we’ll set up a flight and identify the tasks we need to accomplish,” said Shannon. “We’ll create schedule to get those things done. Then we go up in the airplane and execute that schedule.”
Shannon said the operations schedulers are constantly reaching out to other units to coordinate training efforts which meet the needs of both organizations. And distance usually isn’t an obstacle in pulling those efforts off, he added.
“We’ve gone all the way both east and west coast to pick up various receivers to conduct training,” said Shannon. “And along the way, we’ll stop in another airfield for practice training for our aircrews, as far as approach and pattern work, of strange airfield operations.”
The training doesn’t end in the cockpits, either. The training that goes on within the KC-135R Stratotankers’ rear-facing boom pod where the aircraft’s aerial boom refueler operates is equally important in maintaining both individual and unit readiness.
Senior Master Sgt. Mat Ellison, 173rd Air Refueling Squadron senior evaluator boom operator, said being a boom operator is not a hard job, but it carries a ton of responsibility. That means that unit “boomers” – many of whom are young Airmen just recently graduated from their Air Force technical school -- must continuously refine their skills in a variety of challenging flying conditions.
“I love watching new guys when it clicks,” Ellison said. “Everybody’s got to know what they’re doing or it’s not going to work.”
“The guys that make it are the guys that can adapt, roll with the punches, learn from being told what their mistakes are and move on and become better. That’s what it takes to really be successful in this job,” he added.
| Date Taken: | 09.24.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 10.01.2020 18:03 |
| Story ID: | 380038 |
| Location: | LINCOLN, NE, US |
| Web Views: | 59 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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