Free Republic

3/23/2006 - MANAS AIR BASE, Kyrgyzstan (AFPN) -- On any given night over Afghanistan, a KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft may be flying nearby as Soldiers in night-vision goggles move in on an enemy position. If needed, Soldiers call for close-air-support from the Air Force -- an A-10 Thunderbolt II may answer the call for help. No matter how well-trained the ground troops are, or how skillful the pilot is, if the A-10 runs out of fuel, it could spell failure. But the pilot knows a tanker will be there. Introduced to the fleet in 1954, there are more than 400...

A U.S. Air Force KC-135R Stratotanker refuels a B-52 Stratofortress on a mission in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, March 13, 2006. The B-52 provides close air support for ground troops in Afganistan. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Douglas Nicodemus Aircrews Refuel B-52s in Flight for the Fight In six short weeks, KC-135s here have delivered more than 11 million pounds of fuel to B-52s that have flown forward into Afghan airspace providing close air support for U.S. and coalition forces on the ground. By U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Scott King OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM, March 17,...

/8/2006 - OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM (AFPN) -- They have their hands in virtually every aspect of the KC-135 Stratotanker mission here -- they are the flow, the operational heartbeat. It starts at the top with their commander, runs through the operations officer, to a KC-135 mission planning cell, then to the aircrews. Then there is a support cast comprising 12 people who work in intelligence, crew communication, flight records, life support and flight medicine specialties. Each one of these sections is key to the team and vital to getting gas safely delivered to our customer on time. It’s pretty clear...

USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT, At sea (NNS) -- During their current deployment with USS Theodore Roosevelt’s (CVN 71) embarked air wing, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8, the “Scouts” of Sea Control Squadron (VS) 24 have taken the capabilities of the S-3B Viking to a new level. Since late October, in addition to performing their normal missions of conducting in-flight refueling for CVW-8 and surveillance operations for Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group (TRCSG) in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and maritime security operations (MSO), the Scouts have also been flying intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions in support of British-led coalition...