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By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin
Gas to go: A group of F-18 Hornet jet fighters from the carrier
USS Abraham Lincoln refuels at 310 miles per hour with a
KC-135 jet stratotanker from Washington state's Air National
Guard about 85 miles southeast of Honolulu.

Refueling
squadron acts as
high-flying gas
station at RIMPAC

Four jet tanker units pull
two weeks of active duty in the
annual naval war games

By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

Washington state's Air National Guard air refueling squadron can trace its history to biplanes fighting over World War I trenches in France.

The 116th Air Refueling Squadron was one of four Air National Guard jet tanker units pulling two weeks of active duty in Hawaii in this year's Rim of the Pacific, or RIMPAC, naval war games.

Tech. Sgt. Wayne Nelson, a KC-135 jet stratotanker boom operator, was one of 13 air crew members from the Pacific Northwest. His Washington unit returned to Spokane today and was replaced with three other Air National Guard units from New York, North Dakota and Arizona which will be here until the end of the month.

By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin
Boom Operator Wayne Nelson talks to the pilot of an F/A-18
Hornet as they prepare to refuel the fighter /attack plane in mid-
flight about 85 miles southeast of Honolulu. Tech Sergeant
Nelson is with Washington State Air National Guard air
refueling squadron. The F/A-18 is from the carrier
USS Abraham Lincoln.

"Deploying for shorter periods of time throughout the year (is) easier on our employers," said Nelson.

Besides working in Hawaii, which Nelson's unit has visited several times a year for refueling missions, the 116th has supported combat fighters in Desert Shield and Desert Storm and those patrolling the no-fly zone over Bosnia and Yugoslavia.

On a recent RIMPAC mission, Nelson's KC-135 tanker with its crew of five spent more than two hours 85 miles southeast of Oahu refueling nine strike fighters -- F-18 Hornet jet fighters, EA-6B Prowlers and S-3B Vikings -- from the nuclear carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.

Carrying more than 135,000 pounds of jet fuel, Nelson's 136-foot gray tanker cruised at 18,000 feet, moving in a big oval called an orbit.

By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin
Tech Sgt. Sherri Pablham maneuvers the fueling boom and
talks to the pilot of the receiving jet to get a hookup.

Nelson and Tech. Sgt. Sherri Pablham took turns manipulating the boom that extends 50 feet from the tail of the tanker. Only jets that need refueling are allowed to fly into the restricted airspace around the plane.

Lying on his stomach in the tail section and peering through small portholes, Nelson's right hand moved the boom sideways or up or down. His left extended and retracted the boom.

Once a jet fighter made contact with the boom, Nelson signaled the pilot in the cockpit to start the flow of fuel, at a rate of 1,000 to 5,000 pounds a minute.

"The entire refueling takes two to three minutes," Nelson said.