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Chief of safety by day, Stratotanker pilot by night

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Katrina Heikkinen
  • 434th ARW Public Affairs
GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. --  By day he works to prevent base mishaps and preserve combat capability of Grissom Air Reserve Base. But by night, he can be found on a night refueling mission as a pilot, evaluator or instructor pilot.

While many Grissom members are duel-hatted Reservists and Air Reserve technicians, for Maj. Jeffrey Benware, 434th Air Refueling Wing chief of safety, his Reserve occupation dictates weekly flying missions as a KC-135R Stratotanker pilot for the 74th Air Refueling Squadron.

"The wing commander's number one priority is safety, and my role is to get the base populous to embrace an environment and culture of that," Benware said. "If I can help make a safer future by preventing mishaps, I'm doing my job."

According to Benware, his primary duties include mishap prevention and combat capability preservation. As a pilot and chief of safety, his occupations go hand in hand.

"I work two hats a couple times a week," he added. "I'll work eight hours and then turnover to the traditional reservist role to fly at night or vice versa - depending on the mission and requirements. I have oversight of ground, weapons and flight safety. We conduct investigations to prevent future occurrences or incidents, look for inadequacies and address problems as needed."

Benware's operational background offers direct insight into mitigating mishaps by implementing safety as the number one key to mission success.

"Safety is important in the Air Force because people make up the Air Force; they are the key component that drives the Air Force to continue to do better in both operational and support roles," he said.

Before Benware joined the safety office just over one month ago he worked as an ART in the 434th Operations Group standard evaluation.

"I just came back from safety school and I'm already learning how to adapt to new challenges in a job that has no set routine," he said. "I'm lucky to have come into such a wonderful shop" he said. "They're proficient, very knowledgeable and I hope to continue that process so that we can improve our mission and ultimately be mishap free."

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

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Public Affairs Staff

Material contained on the Official Grissom Air Reserve Base Internet Web Site is written and produced by members of the 434th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs Office. The award-winning staff includes:

Ben Mota
Chief, public affairs

Maj. Elias Zani
Public affairs officer

Master Sgt. Wendy Day
Staff writer

Tech. Sgt. Alexa Culbert
Staff writer

Senior Airman Elise Faurote
Staff writer

Senior Airman Benjamin Cowles
Staff writer