Grissom performs refueling 'first'

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Doug Hays
  • 434th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. --  Seventeen members of the 434th Air Refueling Wing wrapped up a near month-long deployment to Southwest Asia as they deployed to participate in Exercise Iron Falcon 0701.

The description that Iron Falcon is to Southwest Asia what Red Flag is to Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., is very accurate, said Lt. Col. Gerry Conway, deployment commander said.
The exercise included several firsts for the tanker community.

Grissom was the first unit to refuel Pakistani aircraft. Four Pakistani F-16 pilots became certified for in-flight refueling during the deployment.

"The Pakistanis had a good instructor and were very skilled," Colonel Conway said.
The Grissom tanker was the first refueling aircraft to participate in the exercise. The unit flew 13 sorties and more than 74 hours. During those flights they offloaded more than 415,000 pounds on a whopping 300-plus refueling contacts.

Boom operators are required to have 36 contacts during a year to maintain proficiency. In one day, Master Sgt. Kim Orange had 51 contacts, and Master Sgt. Mike Morgan had 49 contacts.

"Busy doesn't truly paint the picture," said Sergeant Morgan.

Even though it was busy, it was a great experience, Morgan said, we got to fly and work with several different countries. I really enjoyed it."

The missions were between 6-7 hours each and a variety of aircraft were refueled from countries such as United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom and France, in addition to Pakistan.

"Those that represented the tanker community from Grissom did so very well, from both our maintainers and our aircrew members. They worked tireless hours and did a great job," Colonel Conway said.

"The true experience of our two boom operators was both called on and required - and they met every challenge very well," he said.

Grissom maintainers played a vital role in the exercise ensuring that the lone KC-135 was mission ready at all times. Without their efforts, all aerial refueling activities would have come to a halt.

"It was a very successful operation. We provided valuable air refueling training," he added.

"The tanker community can be a strong part in that coalition for years to come, and I think we did a very good job building a solid foundation for future relations," Colonel Conway said.

"The relationships we built may pay dividends down the road, because you never know when you will be hooked together on the boom again in some other situation in some other place," he added.