Team Travis boom operator refuels Thunderbirds

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Joshua Crane
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Many people who enlist or commission in the United States armed forces have their own bucket-list. Senior Airman Dave Pingleton, 9th Air Refueling Squadron KC-10 Extender boom operator, was able to check off one item on his list July 28 as he performed, what he described, as a "standard refueling mission."

That standard refueling mission involved traveling in the air for about three hours and refueling the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds to ensure their timely arrival at Travis for the 2011 "Skies Over Solano" Air Power Expo.

"I've been to the desert four times for approximately 75 days each and almost every day we refuel fighters, bombers and other coalition aircraft," said Airman Pingleton.

Airman Pingleton said it was just like refueling any other F-16 Fighting Falcon with one exception; it was red, white and blue.

The Thunderbirds received approximately 30,000 pounds of fuel cumulatively from the Team Travis Extender.

Though Airman Pingleton controls the boom, there are many factors and Airmen who play roles in a successful refueling mission.

"The way the crew compliment works for tanker air refueling is that the two pilots up front are monitoring air speed, altitude and any air traffic control we may receive. The engineer is monitoring all of the electrical, hydraulic and fuel systems along with the fuel offload which I am also monitoring."

Airman Pingleton said one of his roles is to give the pilots a picture of what's happening behind the aircraft so they know what's going on.

"As an example if a receiver becomes erratic or comes in too fast I will let the pilots know so they can be prepared to perform a break-away, which involves the two aircraft separating quickly," said Airman Pingleton

Like any mission, things can change quickly or deviate from the original plan. Airman Pingleton said that when he connected with Thunderbird #6 the pilot told him that he only had 200 pounds of fuel remaining and he would have had to divert to an airfield if it wasn't for the Extender.

Airman Pingleton said now he's focusing on his upcoming temporary duty in Hawaii that will hopefully result in his instructor status so that he may pass on his knowledge to Airmen new to the career field.

"Refueling the Thunderbirds was a great experience and I definitely wouldn't mind doing it again someday, but now my focus is back on the mission" said Airman Pingleton.