MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, Calif. — Airmen from the 912th Air Refueling Squadron (ARS) and the 452nd Maintenance Squadron (MXS) recently conducted a confined space extraction exercise, testing their emergency response skills inside the fuel tanks of a KC-135 Stratotanker.
The exercise, held on the flight line at March Air Reserve Base, simulated a "man-down" scenario inside the narrow confines of the aircraft's fuel cell—a high-risk maintenance environment that demands precise coordination and swift action.
“We went through our emergency response procedure—an extraction exercise where we simulate a man going down inside of a fuel tank,” said Tech. Sgt. David Scannell, 452nd MXS. “We have to go through a series of safety checks, attempt a self-rescue, and then call March emergency services.”
Fuel cell maintenance is one of the most dangerous maintenance tasks in the Air Force, requiring Airmen to operate in confined spaces with potential exposure to toxic fumes. To ensure safety, March ARB teams regularly rehearse extraction procedures to maintain readiness for real-world emergencies.
“This is really important because in a real-world scenario, you want to have had the practice, because things can get out of control really fast,” Scannell explained. “We like to rotate guys who do this so that everybody is familiar with the different roles—entrant, attendant, and runner. It increases trust among the team, so if I happen to go down, they know what to do to get me out safely.”
For the active duty team assigned to the 912th ARS fuel shop, this year’s training introduced process improvements designed to cut response times.
“Over the last couple of years, our rescue time was at around five minutes,” said Tech. Sgt. Hammond, noncommissioned officer in charge of the active duty section, 912th ARS. “Now we’ve cut that time by about a minute and a half using shortcuts and route changes to get the doors open faster and check air quality more efficiently.”
Hammond credited Master Sgt. Perola, section chief for fuel systems, for recommending adjustments to streamline the air quality checks during the extraction sequence. “Instead of checking door-to-door and then checking air on the way to the other door, we check the air along the way. That helped a lot,” Hammond said.
The exercise is also a critical part of upgrade training for 5-level and 7-level fuel system maintainers, ensuring that every Airman is prepared to lead or assist in emergency rescues.
“We all have pretty well-defined roles,” Hammond added. “The goal is that all of our 7-levels are able to run an in-tank emergency, and even our 5-levels are getting their first experience with these real-world scenarios.”
Throughout the exercise, team members closely monitored each phase to ensure compliance with established procedures and safety standards.
“I’m timekeeping today,” said one team member overseeing the exercise. “I’m tracking when each component arrives, making sure they’re following procedures safely and that the victim gets taken care of.”
Every maintenance entry into a fuel tank at March ARB follows a Master Entry Plan, which outlines roles and documentation procedures for entrants, attendants, and runners during both routine maintenance and emergency extractions.
Exercises like this fuel tank extraction scenario underscore the ongoing commitment by Team March to ensure mission readiness, safety, and teamwork across both reserve and active duty components.
| Date Taken: | 06.18.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 08.14.2025 12:53 |
| Story ID: | 545629 |
| Location: | MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 17 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Team March Airmen Sharpen Fuel Tank Extraction Skills During Joint Exercise, by MSgt Wendy Day, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
