Tanker units integrate for teamwork

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
  • U.S. Central Air Forces Public Affairs-Forward
SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) --  In a deployed location, one thing is for certain: Teamwork makes a unit. For the 340th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron here, teamwork went beyond that of one unit, combining assets of five KC-135R Stratotanker units.

For a short time the 340th EARS comprised planes and people from the 6th Air Mobility Wing, MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.; 319th Air Refueling Wing of Grand Forks AFB, N.D.; 22nd ARW of McConnell AFB, Kan.; 19th Air Refueling Group of Robins AFB, Ga.; and 92nd ARW of Fairchild AFB, Wash.

"Having so many units under (a) commander from one unit and having the director of operations from another unit can be a challenge, but not from here," said Maj. Eric Brumskill, formerly the 340th EARS director of operations. "There are always issues with deployed members and home units that must give their inputs about their people. The challenge is finding the right belly button to push to make things happen with no familiarity. Overall, the crews and staff have been nothing but professional, and truly exemplify 'one team -- one fight.' We integrated well, and I certainly will see more of these faces from other bases in the future, I'm sure."

Four of the units had combined before the recent arrival of the 92nd ARW. In transition, they further combined to perform hundreds of missions for operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, and Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa for several weeks. On any given day, it was not unusual to see a Fairchild crew flying a McConnell-based tanker with Grand Forks maintenance crews helping get the plane ready.

Lt. Col. Seth Beaubien, current 340th EARS commander from Fairchild, said the work done here before his arrival was exemplary.

"I have an immense amount of respect for the team we replaced last week," Beaubien said. "Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Smith (former 340th commander from McConnell) and his staff did an outstanding job forging a team from units with different policies, operating instructions and cultures. They were 100-percent mission effective in accomplishing every air tasking order over the two months they were here."

"We had people and planes from different bases deployed here and except for different faces, it was pretty seamless,” said Capt. Joel Rivard, a pilot from Grand Forks AFB. “We all come from the same schoolhouse (at Altus AFB, Okla.), so we're all working off the same sheet of music. Yes, there are some differences from base to base, but they're minor.

"Tanker folks all get along very well with one another so we all started off as friends from the beginning," Rivard said. "I'm sure when I see these folks in the future, we'll all remember the time we were deployed together."

The combined effort continued on the support side.

"I thought it was an interesting combination," said Staff Sgt. Shenandoah Ellis, an intelligence noncommissioned officer who deployed from McConnell and worked at the 340th EARS. "People from different units (with) different ways of conducting business (worked) together almost flawlessly. At times it made it fun because we had so many personalities in the same office. But we began to act like we all were from the same unit, and then we began to ask the question of, 'Are you from McConnell, Grand Forks, MacDill, Robins, and eventually, Fairchild?' " (Courtesy of Air Mobility Command News Service)