Grissom logs record flight hours for FY15

Published Nov. 13, 2015
By Senior Airman Katrina Heikkinen
434th ARW Public Affairs

GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, In. -- To fly, flight and win is the basis motto of the United States Air Force and in 2015 the 434th Air Refueling Wing put more flight into the fight than ever before.

The wing logged 7,030 flight hours during fiscal 2015 - a historical record for Grissom and an increase of 36 percent from fiscal 2014.

"The statistics are remarkable," said Col. Doug Schwartz, 434th Air Refueling Wing commander. "This is a tremendous achievement for the entire wing. Everyone deserves a pat on the back for a job well done."

"This is a milestone for Grissom," said Lt. Col. Todd Moody, 74th Air Refueling Squadron director of operations. "We've never flown this many hours in one year alone."

According to Moody, the dramatic increase in flight hours can be attributed to the support Grissom Airmen provided both stateside and overseas in support of extensive deployments to Southwest Asia.

"We had over 3,600 combat flight hours this year, and it proves that we can employ our capabilities because our training prepared us to do so," Moody explained. "This [record] shows that preparation and training at home station provides what the warfighter needs wherever we deploy to, and kudos to maintenance Airmen for allowing us to accumulate this many flying hours."

In order to carry out the KC-135's Air Mobility Command and aerial refueling mission, Grissom's 434th Maintenance Group maintainers are largely credited for making the 2,000 flight-hour increase a possibility.

"I am very proud of all the maintainers," said Col. Anna Schulte, 434th Maintenance Group commander. "From keeping up with scheduled inspections, to having proactive support personnel from supply and traditional reservists and active reserve technicians working together harmoniously - this [achievement] takes all team players coming together."

The 434th Air Refueling Wing holds the record for most aerial refuelings in a one week period when the unit performed 290 aerial refuelings with over one million pounds of fuel offloaded. The unit also set a single day record of refueling 90 aircraft with over 283,000 pounds of fuel offloaded.

"The success of Grissom's record flight hours is a real barometer of the execution of everyone doing their jobs right," said Lt. Col. Brian Hollis, 72nd Air Refueling Squadron director of operations. "Everyone in this wing should take pride in this milestone."

The 434th ARW is the largest KC-135R Stratotanker in the Air Force Reserve Command. Airmen and aircraft from the 434th ARW routinely deploy around the world in support of the Air Force mission and U.S. strategic objectives.

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Record flight hours

Grissom logs record flight hours for FY15

Public Affairs Staff