My son is a KC-135 pilot who has deployed twice now. He lost a pilot friend this past week in Afghanistan.
I might be spewing non-sense with suggesting escorts for the KC-10's/KC-135's.
But one thing is that if an A-10 Warthog is the escort, and they know where someone fired from the ground, then the A-10 is a nice aircraft to be in. It has the ability to go in low and slow and smoke those firing on the tankers and escorts...
If I were to grade the Obama Administration over things that are going on, they would get a low F grade -- not even close to a D grade...