On a sunny day in Manchester, Tennessee at Arnold Air Force Base, the Tennessee National Guard – both Air and Army – demonstrated a unique capability: the ability to rapidly deliver thousands of pounds of fuel from the air to the ground anywhere in the world in a matter of hours.
As part of the historic Tennessee Maneuvers exercise (TNMAN), a KC-135 from the 134th Air Refueling Wing conducted aerial refueling with a C-17 from the 164th Airlift Wing. The C-17 then landed at Arnold and offloaded 2,500 gallons of fuel to a Tennessee Army National Guard Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck, better known as a HEMTT.
Col. Robert Underwood, the director of operations for the Tennessee Air National Guard, said, “This exercise is incredibly unique because it’s showcasing our ability to use combat assets for domestic emergency management. This highlights our ability to perform the dual mission of the Guard – at both the state and federal level – with excellence.”
The fuel truck then drove across the base to refuel a Tennessee Army National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk that was simulating water rescues with the Helicopter-borne Aquatic Rescue Team (HART) team.