View from a tanker window

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
  • U. S. Central Air Forces-Forward Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) --  By 8:43 p.m. the KC-135 Stratotanker was well on its way to the sky over Iraq from its forward-deployed location. This mission is just one of many combat tanker missions that take place every day in the U. S. Central Command area of responsibility.

Sure, one might say that a KC-135 is not really a combat aircraft, but fighters, bombers or any other plane would be unable to complete a single mission without the fuel the tankers provide.

Tonight our tanker, deployed from Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D., will rendezvous with an E-8C Joint STARS aircraft and two A-10 Thunderbolt IIs on patrol supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

While on this very mission, President George W. Bush addressed the American people about the situation in Iraq and the global war on terrorism. I could not help but compare the position we were in, literally over the front lines of the terrorism war, while the people at home watched our commander in chief on television. If only they could see what I saw, perhaps they would have a different point of view.

I can tell you one thing: When you are 32,000 feet high in the sky over Iraq, there is no “quagmire” to find, or even hostile fire. There are just stars shining over a country that is free of Saddam Hussein’s rule for the first time in more than 35 years.

As I sat buckled in the cockpit, minimal lights on in the plane, cruising to our designated rendezvous point that night, all I could think about was the 140,000-plus American troops beneath me doing whatever they can to help the Iraqi people. It really sort of made my lofty position above them seem so insignificant. Soon though, I would see my comrades in action.

10:52 p.m. -- We descended to cruise at a comfortable level between 22,000 and 28,000 feet and waited for the E-8C. Soon it was in trail behind the tanker.

The E-8C took the fuel in two intervals. First it took 35,000 pounds of fuel in one go-around and then another 10,000 pounds in the final offload. Senior Airman Cy Eckhardt, the boom operator on the flight, performed this refueling job under very low light conditions to protect the night vision of the pilot of the receiving aircraft. Eckhardt worked like a cat in the night with quickness and precision. Before I knew it, the E-8C was refueled and on its way.

I remember telling Eckhardt as the E-8C approached for the second time, “You’ve got a great job. Where else on this planet would you be able to do something like this?”

He replied jokingly, “Singapore.” Singapore is one of a handful of other countries that have air-refueling capabilities close to those of the U.S. Air Force.

Meanwhile, the pilot, Capt. Joel Rivard also from Grand Forks AFB, and co-pilot, 1st Lt. William Jimenz from McConnell AFB, Kan., kept the plane steady during the refueling. They were the epitome of good “crew resource management,” minimizing the risk of any mishap with the other aircraft. When you have refueling involved, a small miscue by either side could be a costly one in terms of life and death.

Flying steady and straight is one, if not the most important thing during a refueling. However, I think if you were to ask Eckhardt, he would probably say the pilot and co-pilot were just “driving him to work.” This may be one way of looking at it, I guess.

So we waited for them to “drive” him to his next refueling job, a pair of A-10s.

12:10 a.m. -- I was nearly asleep when Eckhardt told me the A-10s would be refueling in about 10 minutes. So, like a good little observer, I got ready and headed to the back to watch the action.

As the KC-135 decelerated to accommodate the A-10’s slower speed, Eckhardt connected with the first at 12:17 a.m. He started refueling and talking to the pilot of the A-10, who asked him where he was from. I could hear a loud “Grand Forks” over the aircraft noise.

They continued chatting about their mission that night. Eckhardt later told me the A-10s were “toolin’ around,” standing by to provide close-air support for the ground troops just in case.

A formidable tool for ground troops, the A-10’s seven-barrel Gatling gun is capable of pounding a target with up to 4,200 rounds of 30 mm bullets per minute. In Operation Desert Storm, the A-10 received a reputation as a devastating “tank killer.” I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of an A-10’s gun!

By 12:36 a.m., he finished refueling the second A-10 and it was time for us to head back to our base. On the way back, I saw what appeared to be thousands of twinkling stars on the ground. It was really thousands of lights from Iraqi cities. And when I say lights, I mean a lot of lights. In some areas it was almost like flying over a major American city.

2:18 a.m. -- Our plane lands. Now that we were back, I reflected on the success of that mission. But not just the success of the crucial global-reach, global-power tanker force over Iraq. I was jolted into the reality that if only the folks watching the president this very night could see the glimmering lights that I saw, perhaps they would have a different point of view about our progress in Iraq. The coalition is getting the Iraqi infrastructure back up and running! The lights are on, and freedom has found a new home.