The 22nd Air Refueling Wing conducted a Nuclear Operational Readiness Inspection May 13-20 at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas.
Inspectors from Air Mobility Command, Air Force Reserve Command, U.S. Strategic Command and McConnell evaluated the 22nd Air Refueling Wing and its Reserve associate unit, the 931st Air Refueling Wing, on every aspect associated with the readiness of the KC-46A Pegasus to support the nuclear mission.
That mission is, when directed, to generate and provide air refueling aircraft and aircrews to conduct air refueling of U.S. Strategic Command-assigned strategic bomber and command-and-control aircraft.
“Our single most important priority is supporting the nuclear mission. Strategic deterrence is delivered through our air refueling capabilities," said Col. Joe Wall, 22nd ARW commander.
This is hardly the first Nuclear Operational Readiness Inspection, or NORI, to hit McConnell AFB or other AMC tanker bases.
For decades, the KC-135 Stratotanker has been the backbone of AMC’s air refueling capabilities, extending global reach and global strike for conventional missions, and being prepared for the nuclear mission.
McConnell became the first operational base to receive KC-46s in 2019. It has been a dual-tanker base ever since, juggling the demands and taskings levied on its KC-135 fleet while simultaneously leveraging that KC-135 expertise to grow the operational capabilities of the KC-46 cadre and fleet from scratch. The base has been supporting nuclear readiness with its KC-135 fleet for decades and has leveraged that knowledge and skill set to train and prepare its growing KC-46 fleet to support all of its rapid global mobility, global reach and global strike mission sets, to include the nuclear mission.
“You are a well-oiled machine, and everyone here is a part of that machine,” Wall told the wing prior to the NORI. “So as we’ve done for the past several years, you’re going to break new ground with the KC-46. It is rare during one’s operational career to bring a new weapons system online, and you’re making history during this NORI as we continue building the KC-46 enterprise.”
The inspection had two parts, starting with a Combat Readiness Inspection, or CRI, before fully diving into the NORI portion. The CRI was a rigorous evaluation of the wing’s ability to prepare the force for deployment, run personnel and cargo deployment functions, meet all readiness, training and other requirements for deployment, and deploy the force to perform its wartime missions.
After that, the focus shifted fully to the NORI portion. Inspectors evaluated every aspect of how the wings do command and control, operations, maintenance, servicing, documentation, security, Airmen compliance and nuclear operations support capability with its KC-46s. They also checked compliance with the unwavering security, safety and reliability standards of the nuclear mission.
The nuclear triad is foundational to national strategic deterrence, underwriting diplomacy and global military operations. Air Mobility Command tankers are essential to the nuclear mission, and the KC-46 fleet will further strengthen these capabilities.
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