Wing gears up for Global Thunder exercise

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Sophia Piellusch
  • 459th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. --  The 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis was Oct. 24,2012, which brought the U.S. and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war. Just days apart, service members of the 459th Air Refueling Wing, here, will ramp up for the Global Thunder 2012 exercise, Oct. 27 and 28.

Global Thunder is a U.S. Strategic Command-led annual training exercise demonstrating the capabilities of various units to generate aircraft for the nuclear enterprise. Today, the nuclear threat is more complex than it was 50 years ago as it now includes countries like Iran and North Korea.

"Global Thunder is the execution of the nuclear deterrent plan to deter a nuclear war," said Lt. Col. Stephen Browning, deputy commander of the 459th Operations Group. "The exercise is all about their [459 ARW] ability to take an air mobility asset and transfer it over to USSTRATCOM."

The 459 ARW has been preparing for this exercise for the last several months. Planning for the exercise involves recalling personnel, updating mobility folders and medical records, as well as providing personnel with meals and sleeping quarters.

"During the weekend we will condense all these actions which would normally take months and weeks to accomplish, [such as] activate our forces and generate our crews," said Browning. "Then for the command and control part of the mission, we will be working directly with USSTRATCOM to execute a quick response team."

The exercise includes everyone responsible for getting the aircraft off the ground from support services, finance, operations, medical, security forces, maintenance teams and aircrews. They will practice their role in supporting the nuclear enterprise.

"Without everyone's contribution the aircraft will not get off the ground," said Lt. Col. Ron Dollesin, deputy commander of the 459th Maintenance Group.

Before the plane can assume alert, aircraft mechanics will take four hours to inspect various systems on the KC-135 Stratotanker, such as electrical, mechanical, fuel and hydraulics. They will also repair structural discrepancies to ensure the tanker is ready for flight.

Once the jet is prepped, it goes through generation configuration. The fuel is loaded, mechanics perform routine maintenance and repair, a security forces team secures the aircraft, and the aircrew is briefed.

Just like in the movies, an alert horn will sound; a 459 ARW aircrew will race out to the flightline toward their flight-ready KC-135 Stratotanker and take off.

On the flightline everyone reacts quickly performing their job. The maintenance team supports the crew chief so if needed, the crew chief can quickly trouble-shoot an issue and repair it on the spot.

It is business as usual once the tanker becomes airborne. The team will meet another aircraft mid-air and the jet will become a gas station in the sky. The boom operator will skillfully maneuver a boom into the other aircraft's gas tank. Both aircraft are flying simultaneously at the same rate of speed in close proximity. Once the fuel exchange is complete, the boom operator disengages the boom and the receiving aircraft will fly on to complete their mission.

After the mission in the air is complete, the tanker and the crew will land back at JBA. The maintenance team will be on the ground waiting to receive the plane and then the crew chief will inspect it for obvious safety and mechanical issues.

Once the plane lands the crews will get ready for their next mission in the exercise.

"Tankers play a key role in the nuclear deterrent mission," said Browning. "Their role is to support this mission with mid-air refueling assets and makes the U.S. a global force."