Isle Guard So far, Hawaii Air National Guard members are not among the 14,000 reservists mobilized for war duty, but the Guard still continues to train, and members wait for the possible call.
staying sharp as
midair refuelers
Hawaii's air units prepare for a
possible duty call to gas up
jet fighters on the flyBy Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.comBrig. Gen. Albert Richards, commander of the 154th Wing, said yesterday that island Air National Guard personnel have been pressed into state active duty in different ways since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
The 2,000 men and women of the 154th Wing, Richards said, have seen limited duty in various ways, beginning within hours of the hijacking of four commercial jetliners on the mainland. Several F-15 combat jets were in the skies over Oahu patrolling and escorting passenger aircraft into Honolulu.
When the Federal Aviation Administration closed the nation's airports, KC-135 jet tankers of the 203rd Air Refueling Squadron shuttled key military commanders who were stranded here to their bases in Asia, Richards added.
Another KC-135 tanker was pressed into service to fly blood samples to Washington to be tested since no commercial air carriers were available. Hawaii Air National Guard C-130 cargo planes also were used to shuttle people between the islands until normal flight operations were resumed at Honolulu Airport.The Hawaii Air National Guard unit, which has seen a lot of active-duty time over the past several years, comprises the nine jet tankers of the 203rd Air Refueling Squadron at Hickam Air Force Base and their crews.
Among the numerous Air National Guard and Air Reserve units now being called to active duty are jet tankers, since nearly half of the Air Force's 600 refuelers belong to reserve units. These flying gas stations, capable of carrying 33,000 gallons of JP-8 jet fuel, form "air bridges" at vital locations around the globe so jet fighters, bombers and cargo planes do not have to land to be refueled.
In 1999 during the war in the Balkans, Hawaii Air National Guard jet tankers were placed in the active-duty rotation refueling jets from a base in France, Richards said.
Yesterday, Richards took 11 members of the news media for a 90-minute refueling mission 160 miles north of Kauai. For security reasons, Hawaii National Guard officials asked the members of the air crew not be identified.
The pilot of yesterday's mission, an ex-Navy A-4 pilot, said his unit "trains as it expects to fight," acknowledging that at tense times like now, "the training takes on more meaning." There is also "personal meaning" for this one pilot, who as a citizen flies for Northwest Airlines, reflecting on the loss of the pilots and crews of the four hijacked commercial jets. "It was a sad day when this (hijacking and bombing) occurred for the victims and their families. It really struck home."
>> Span: 130 feet KC-135 stratotanker
>> Length: 136 feet
>> Gross weight: 322,500 pounds
>> Range: 6,300 miles
>> Cruising speed: 600 mph
>> In service: Since the late 1950s
Flying close to 350 mph, the jet tanker made a wide circle as four F-15 jet fighters pulled alongside to take on fuel.
The KC-135, which is the military's version of a Boeing 707 jetliner, can refuel six jet fighters or one B-1 bomber in midair at 25,000 feet.
A boom operator lies on his belly at the back of the KC-135, peering down as the jets come up to be gassed. Richards said the pilot is guided by a series of white, yellow, green and red lights on the bottom of the tanker. However, more experienced pilots generally fly to within 13 feet of the boom, or gas nozzle, and then let the boom operator do the rest.
Once the boom operator has hooked the boom to the jet, it is the co-pilot sitting in the front of the plane who controls the flow of fuel.
"Up to 1,000 gallons of fuel can be pumped in a minute," Richards said.
At times the jets being refueled are so close that it is easy to see the features on the face of the pilot. There is no sensation of speed even though the two jets are flying in formation at 350 mph. "Everything just seems to float," said Richards, who has also flown F-4 combat jets.
"It's like driving a payloader," said the boom operator who has been doing this for the past 18 years. "It doesn't take much muscle."
