[AlaskaErik]

In fact, it is often said throughout the tanker community that the last mother of the last pilot of the KC-135 has not been born yet, which is a testament to the experience and professionalism of the maintenance personnel that work on the aircraft.

And as we say in the C-130 world, when the last KC-135 goes to D-M, it'll be a C-130 that flies the crew home. Same with the C-5 and C-17. BTW, the first C-130 flew two years before the KC-135, in August 1954.

[sukhoi-30mki]

Big difference is that the C-130 is still being built ; the last KC-135 to be built joined the USAF in 65.