Tankers support Icelandic NATO operations Published Feb. 28, 2006 By Capt. Anne Noel 72nd Air Refueling Squadron Grissom Air Reserve Base, Ind -- Members of the 72nd and 74th Air Refueling Squadrons are currently filling a five-month rotation to Keflavik Iceland in support of the Iceland Defense Force. The crews and their KC-135R Stratotankers are rotating to Keflavic in two-week rotations to meet Iceland’s defense needs. “We’re about one-third of the way through our Iceland AEF deployment,” said Col. Fritz Linsenmeyer, 434th Operations Group commander. “Since beginning our rotation in January, we’ve flown about two dozen sorties and off-loaded more than 600,000 pounds of fuel to the F-15s.” The Iceland Defense Force is composed of approximately 2,200 members of all four branches of the U.S. Armed Services, and commanded by a U.S. Rear Admiral. The 85th Group is the lead Air Force component and reports to the Eighth Air Force, a component of Air Combat Command. The group is responsible for deterring aggression in the North Atlantic and protects Iceland’s airspace. Aircraft assigned include the KC135R and the F-15, F-16, and HC-130. They also support contingency operations through surveillance, air superiority and search and rescue. Grissom members fly daily missions supporting F-15s and remain on alert at all times. “The mission has some challenges, most of which are due to unpredictable and rapidly changing weather conditions, however, the 85th Group has a great support staff and they have plans for almost every contingency,” Colonel Linsenmeyer said. “The operators and maintainers have done a great job of promoting the 434th Air Refueling Wing as ‘The Unit of Choice’ and we sincerely appreciate the assistance and help we’ve received from the 434th ARW support agencies in making this deployment successful.”
