Wing flawlessly supports international naval exercise

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Rich Curry
  • 507th Air Refueling Wing
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Oklahoma --  Personnel from the 507th Air Refueling Wing deployed to Hickam AFB, HI from June 29 to August 4 supporting the Rim of the Pacific 2008 (RIMPAC 08) Exercise. 

This was the fourth time wing members have participated as the sole Air Force refueling assets in this major exercise. 

RIMPAC, hosted by Commander, U.S. Pacific fleet, demonstrates the U.S. Navy's commitment to working with our global partners in protecting the maritime freedom as a basis for global prosperity and to ensure stability throughout the Pacific. RIMPAC has been conducted since 1971. 

This year's exercise involved 10 nations, 35 ships, six submarines, over 150 aircraft and 20,000 Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Soldiers and Coastguardsmen. Participants included Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, Netherlands, Peru, Republic of Korea, Singapore, United Kingdom and the United States. 

The exercise consists of three major phases. Phase I, the Harbor Phase, from June 29 through July 8 consists of operational planning meetings and safety briefings. This phase is designed to make final preparations for the at-sea phases of the exercises, as well as foster teamwork and international goodwill. 

Phase II, the Operational Phase, driven by a schedule of events, started July 8 and continued through July 20. This portion included live fire exercises, missile exercises, anti-surface warfare, undersea warfare and naval maneuvers. This phase exercised the U.S. military's ability to conduct robust command and control operations with multinational players and enhances combined warfighting capabilities. At the completion of the Operational Phase, participating units repositioned to prepare for the final phase of RIMPAC. 

Phase III, the Tactical Phase of the exercise, is scenario-driven and took place July 24 through July 28. This phase concluded with the ships' return to Pearl Harbor. The intense training during this phase allows participating nations to strengthen their sea control capabilities and improve their ability to communicate and operate in simulated hostile scenarios. 

The wing's deployment consisted of two rotations with four KC-135Rs, 6 aircrews, 12 staff members, 63 maintenance personnel and a Detachment Commander (DETCO) for a total of 80 plus deployed troops. The mission objective was to establish and operations and conduct air-refueling as tasked by the Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC). 

Detachment Commanders were Lt. Col. Thomas Hudnall for the first half and Lt. Col. Andrew Worth for the second. Captain Carol Stanley and Major Daniel Moore were maintenance OICs respectively. 

According to Colonel Hudnall, "The staff performed admirably establishing operations in minimally equipped buildings. Extensive ADVON preparation and coordination resulted in our achieving operational capability within 24 hours of arrival." 

Hudnall said wing flying operations consisted of refueling US and allied aircraft in various areas according to operational requirements. "Our aircraft flew 64 sorties for 257 hours and offloaded over 2.2 million pounds of fuel," he said.  While most of the daily sorties averaged 4.4 hours many did last more than seven hours. More than 90 percent of the missions flown involved use of the drogue boom. 

"Aircrews and maintenance personnel displayed their flexibility and positive attitude by adjusting to numerous mission changes. As a result of this, sortie reliability of our 50-year-old aircraft was an unprecedented 100 percent!" Hudnall said. "This deployment resulted in excellent training in a multinational, diverse environment for operations, maintenance and support personnel and I think it greatly furthered our readiness for operational employment," he said.