6th ARS earns top refueler award

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Matthew Bates
  • 60th AMW Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Excellent. 

That’s how the 6th Aerial Refueling Squadron’s commander describes the men and women he leads. Biased though he may be, Lt. Col. Shaun Turner wasn’t alone in his thinking as officials recently awarded the squadron the 2005 Gen. Carl A. Spaatz Trophy, recognizing the unit as the Air Force’s premiere refueling squadron. 

According to the citation accompanying the award, the 6th ARS “provided the finest worldwide air refueling and airlift support, maintaining a constant state of readiness while overcoming the continued challenges of the nation’s mobility requirements.” 

For the men and women of the 6th ARS, this award brings with it a sense of satisfaction.
“It is a huge honor, and I think the award is a reflection of our exceptional performance in that high ops tempo,” Colonel Turner said. “I tell the squadron all the time that I’m the luckiest man in the world … because of the extraordinary family of 6th ARS warriors that I have been blessed to serve with for the last three years.” 

The squadron’s accomplishments speak for themselves. Numbers such as 1,855 sorties, 10, 226 flying hours and 67 million pounds of fuel offloaded provide a glimpse of the feats accomplished by the 6th ARS over the past year. 

But the numbers don’t stop there. The squadron also deployed members for a total of 13,109 days and transported more than nine million tons of cargo – more than any other KC-10 unit – in support of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. 

In addition, the squadron dominated the 2005 Air Mobility Command Rodeo competition and helped lead the 60th Air Mobility Wing to an “excellent” rating during an Expeditionary Operational Readiness Inspection. 

“The 6th ARS truly had a magnificent year,” said Col. Timothy Zadalis, vice commander of the 60th AMW. “They provided exceptional air refueling and airlift support to every major contingency and exercise throughout the world … they epitomized Global Reach and Global Power.” 

Yet, while the unit proves itself on the job, it is also busy setting the standard off duty. The squadron has gone more than seven years without a DUI, approximately 50 percent of its enlisted members are pursuing degrees and the squadron as a whole donated more than 500 hours coaching Travis Little Leaguers as well as high school wrestling, track and field and football. 

“This award was a long time in coming for this squadron, but we’re thrilled it finally did,” said Senior Master Sgt. Gregory Warren, superintendent for the 6th ARS. “We’ve been the wing nominee [for the Spaatz trophy] several times and now we’ve finally won it.” 

The 6th ARS’ boom operators have also been nominated for the Senior Master Sgt. Albert L. Evans Trophy, which is awarded to the top boom operators in the Air Force. Results of this board will come out later this month.