Youth group visits during Jan UTA

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. -- Students from the Patriots of Technology Learning Center with FIRST Lego League Robotics enjoy a firsthand view of the boom pod of a KC-135R Stratotanker Jan. 9. The aircraft tour was part of an overall base visit the group had here during the January Unit Training Assembly. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Senior Airman Amber Russell Ford)

Jan UTA static display

Servicemembers (from left to right) standing - Master Sgt. Richard Carlton, 459 MXS/ISO, crew chief, kneeling - Staff Sgt. Catherine Jordan, 459 MXS/AGE, TSgt. Chris Oshoa, 756 ARS, boom operator and Maj. Derek Levine, 756 ARS, pilot are posing with (left to right) Jerri Walsh of Patriots Technology Training Center and Lt. Col. Cris Marchiori, Air Force Academy addmissions counseling representative, Maj. (ret.) Sal Bova, JROTC.

Unit hosts static display during UTA

Published Feb. 3, 2010
By Senior Airman Amber Russel Ford
459 ARW/PA

Andrews AFB, MD -- Servicemembers of the 459th Air Refueling Wing spent time with the community by hosting a static display and tour of Hangar 11 during the unit training assembly, Jan. 9.

Students from the Junior ROTC of Eleanor Roosevelt High School and the Information and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Lego League Robotics visited the wing in order to gain more insight into aviation and the Air Force Reserve by looking at the aerial refueling mission.

The group received a mission briefing by Col. James M. Allman, Vice Commander, 459 ARW. Colonel Allman informed the group of the Wing's capabilities and purpose, "We are responsible for aerial refueling, medical evacuation, and air cargo," he said.

Following the mission briefing, the students were transported to Hangar 11 where the crew members of the KC-135R and maintainers stood by the aircraft static display. Tech Sgt. Chris Ochoa, 756 Air Refueling Squadron spoke to the group about the fixed boom and allowed the students to take turns laying in the boom pod asking questions about the equipment and refueling process.

"This airplane is like a flying gas station," said one youth with a smile.

The KC-135R Stratotanker allows for aircraft to fly longer periods of time and reach greater distances, thus allowing for Global Reach - one of the key elements the Air Force and Air Force Reserve provides to the Nation's warfighting capability.