US tankers support Australia exercise

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Charles Rivezzo
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  KC-10 Extender aircrews from the 60th Air Mobility Wing at Travis and 305th Air Mobility Wing at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, combined flying operations July 8 to provide air refueling support to a five-ship C-17 Globemaster III package enroute to exercise Talisman Sabre 2015.

Creating an air bridge over the Pacific Ocean, the seven-ship formation of KC-10s offloaded approximately 800,000 pounds of fuel to the C-17s - who originated out of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska - allowing for a non-stop flight, crossing two hemispheres in one day.

The mission culminated with more than 450 paratroopers with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division from Fort Richardson, Alaska, parachuting from the C-17s onto Kapyong Air Field, Queensland, Australia.

Two of the seven KC-10s continued forward to Royal Australian Air Force Tindal, in northern Australia.

Col. David Mott, the 60th Operations Group commander and tanker mission commander, explained that the flight served, "almost as a proof of concept" adding that it, "demonstrated the KC-10 communities' ability to mobilize a unit from garrison to a combat environment in one flight."

"We put a lot of focus on our combat operations training," Mott said. "The seamless integration between Travis and McGuire aircrews is something we routinely accomplish in the CENTCOM AOR. We just showcased that same capability within the Pacific theater."

With TS15 slated to continue until July 19, Travis and McGuire tanker crews and support personnel are staging and executing two sorties a day out of RAAF Tindal, routinely providing aerial refuel to U.S. Navy and RAAF F/A-18 Hornets via the airframe's drogue-and-hose system.

"The most important part of this exercise is seeing each other's capabilities firsthand," Mott said. "In the tanker world, communication is essential. This exercise allows our aircrews the ability to hone and refine their skill-sets in interoperable communications with our allied partners."

TS15 is a biennial combined Australian and U.S. training exercise, designed to train both countries' military forces in planning and conducting Combined Task Force operations to improve the combat readiness and interoperability between the two nations.  

This year is the exercise's sixth iteration and incorporates force preparation and special forces activities; amphibious landings, parachuting and land force maneuvers; urban, air and maritime operations; and the coordinated firing of live ammunition and explosive ordnance from small arms, artillery naval vessels and aircraft.