JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. -- Off the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, amidst sunny April skies, boom operators with the 459th Air Refueling Wing peer out the boom-pod window of a KC-135R Stratotanker. Headed straight for them, at speeds nearing 350 miles per hour, is a gleaming-white, fixed-wing aircraft. As it gets closer, Chief Master Sgt. Frankie Rollins, 756th Air Refueling Squadron superintendent and boom operator, readies himself to conduct an in-flight refueling. When the aircraft comes within just 25-30 feet of the boom pod, it slows to about 315 mph, and Rollins, using a joystick, extends the boom arm toward a small receiving port on the top of the fuselage. Mindful of wind and aircraft movement, Rollins carefully maneuvers the arm into place. Contact! The receiver latches on to the boom and is ready to be refueled.
The 459 ARW helped make history last week when its KC-135 was the first to operationally refuel a Naval Air Systems Command, Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, P-8A Poseidon.
“The 459th and the Air Force Reserve Command is honored and delighted to support the Navy on the P-8A project,” said Lt. Col. David Williams, 459th Operations Group deputy group commander. “We have a longstanding relationship with NAVAIR and we were excited to play a role in assisting the engineers with the development of the boom refueling capabilities of the P-8A.”
As the Navy’s newest aircraft for maritime patrol and reconnaissance, it is important the P-8A is able to sustain flight for lengthy periods of time.
“The intent behind the aerial refueling capability on the P-8A is to enhance strategic mission effectiveness by extending the range and endurance of the platform,” said Commander Shannon “Hoov” Hoover, Commander, Naval Air Forces Atlantic VX-1 Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron P-8A operational test director. “The team has completed operational tests on the integration of the AGM-84 Harpoon [missile system] for surface warfare and [multi-static active acoustic search systems] integration used in anti-submarine warfare.”
Prior to contacting the 459th for tanker support, pilots with NAVAIR underwent rigorous training toward in-flight refueling certification; a skillset unfamiliar to many Navy aircrew members.
“We are coming from a community that has never had an organic tanking capability, so we are learning how to get this done,” said Hoover. “The pilots completed ground school, as well as a simulator training course, both in the E-6B Mercury and the P-8A Operational Flight Trainers. When it came time to start scheduling a tanker to take us to the next phase of training … we reached out to the 459th.”
A strategic military capability a year in the making, members of the 459th worked closely with NAVAIR, VX-20 Developmental Test Squadron and VX-1 to help bring the complexities of the refueling mission to fruition.
“We provided multiple incentive flights to engineers for research; face-to-face briefings between the chief boom, standards and evaluations technicians and Navy test pilots and engineers; coordinated communication between Navy and AFRC leadership; and transported equipment and personnel to Edwards [Air Force Base, California] for testing,” said Rollins.
With the successful completion of the first P-8A refueling mission, the 459th and the P-8A community are looking forward to strengthening their partnership with future refuelings. According to Rollins, they plan to conduct day and night training missions with the P-8A once a week.
“We are looking forward to a long-standing relationship with the entire team at the 459th as we continue to train and test,” said Hoover. “We are partners in bringing this capability to the fleet. It will take both a P-8A and a KC-135 to get this done, and the 459th has been great to work with in helping us get there.”
The P-8A is only the second Navy aircraft to be equipped to receive fuel mid-flight from a USAF tanker; the first being the E-6B Mercury nearly 30 years ago.