Tankers keep fighters fighting at Red Flag-Alaska

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Shawn J. Jones
  • Red Flag-Alaska Public Affairs
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  In the skies above Iraq and Afghanistan, a tanker is always ready to provide in-flight refueling to another aircraft in need. At Red Flag-Alaska, an air combat exercise in the Last Frontier, that same ever-ready tanker presence allows the fighters to focus on fighting. 

Red Flag-Alaska is a multinational exercise that began July 12 and will conclude July 27. Throughout the course of the exercise, American and Turkish KC-135 Stratotanker crews provide in-air refueling to aircraft from America, Japan, Spain and Turkey. Without topping off at these gas stations in the clouds, the contingent of multinational fighter aircraft would only average 60 to 90 minutes of flight time. 

"Our refuelers, both American and coalition, allow us to maximize the multi-role capabilities of the F-15E Strike Eagle," said Col. James Jinnette, 335th Fighter Squadron commander from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., "They allow us to extend our flying time, hit our targets and remain on station to protect all assets involved in a strike." 

Red Flag-Alaska's training scenarios require fighter aircraft to perform extended missions for durations that would exceed standard fuel capacity. 

"Air refueling gives the Strike Eagle the capability to swing from an air-to-ground to an air-to-air target," said Lt. Col. Rich Tobasco, 335th FS. 

While the Stratotankers primarily provide a support function at Red Flag-Alaska, their role as a logistical powerhouse is indisputable. There are two primary methods of getting fighter aircraft into and out of conflict areas in the Southwest Asia - air bridges and coronets. 

An air bridge occurs when air-refueling tankers meet other aircraft along their route. Since fighters can not carry enough fuel to make it to Southwest Asia without refueling, tankers provide in-air refueling to prolong the fighters' non-stop range. The individual tanker's mission in an air bridge is to provide enough fuel to the traveling aircraft to get them to either the next tanker or their final destination. After refueling the traveling aircraft, the tanker returns to its home station. The traveling aircraft will make numerous in-air pit stops before reaching their destination, said Maj. John Pannell, a KC-135 pilot from the 434th Air Refueling Wing at Grissom Air Force Base, Ind., who is here supporting Red Flag-Alaska. 

The coronet, unlike the air bridge, makes use of an air-refueling tanker that travels with aircraft with less fuel capacity, refueling them as necessary along the route. On their way to Alaska, six Japanese F-15Js were refueled seven times by an American KC-10 Extender on their seven-hour journey from Hyukari Air Base near Tokyo. 

It's about an eight-hour trip from Seymour Johnson to Eielson with air-refueling capability. Without it, it can take days, said Colonel Tobasco. 

The practice of airborne refueling, where an aircraft positions its nose just under a refueling boom that extends from the back of the Stratotanker, requires good communication skills and patience, said Tech. Sgt. Paul Sherrod, an in-flight refueling technician, or boom operator, with the 434th ARW. 

Boom operators lie belly-down with their head toward the rear of the Stratotanker. As fighter aircraft position themselves, the boom operator uses a control stick to maneuver the refueling boom into the fuel receptacle of the aircraft. 

"I've got to be able to communicate under stressful conditions," said Sergeant Sherrord. "Pilots don't have rearview mirrors."