Freedom Wing KC-10 crew returns from training mission

  • Published
  • By TSgt Monica Ricci
  • 514th Air Mobility Wing

Cabin ready! A KC-10 Extender crew with the 76th Air Refueling Squadron and maintainers from the 714th Aircraft maintenance Squadron returned home from a routine training mission Thursday. 

KC-10 pilot Captain Peter Schlech was the aircraft commander for the mission, which took off from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and stopped in Key West, Florida, and Colorado Springs, Colorado. In addition to providing the aircrew and maintainers with the opportunity to perfect their skills, they were also able to help out a team of Army personnel with a flight home to Colorado. 

“The synergistic effects of our training missions in the joint warfare environment are essential in ensuring our Reserve Citizen Airmen are prepared for the modern battlespace,” Schlech said.

The team of Airmen on the trip was made up of four pilots, three maintainers, a boom operator, and flight engineer. In their civilian careers, some work as commercial pilots and law enforcement.

One of the maintainers, Staff Sgt. Angel Delgadillo, previously served on active duty but is now a fulltime Air Reserve Technician at the Freedom Wing.

“It’s a good training experience, it helps us be ready to be in another place at a moment’s notice and gets us into that mindset.”