RAF Mildenhall bids farewell to flagship, welcomes new one

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Kevin Wallace
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  While dismal clouds hung overhead to potentially pound the faces of spectators with blankets of rain this afternoon, the spirits of those present refused to be dampened, as they came to bear witness to history, and to bid farewell to their treasured flagship.

Aircraft 58-0100 appears to be very much like the other 14 KC-135 Stratotankers routinely soaring in the European skies. Still, this plane is very different as it's the 100th Air Refueling Wing's flagship and a prosperous symbol of many successful missions carried out by the wing.

After a swap-out ceremony concluding Aircraft 0100's service here, the plane will spend a few months in depot maintenance where it will undergo a major overhaul, and then it will be re-assigned to Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash., said Col. Creg Paulk, 100th Operations Group commander.

Effective today, Aircraft 62-003519 will assume the title of the 100th ARW flagship. The transfer of title was symbolized by moving the engine covers from the outgoing aircraft to the new one, thereby sealing the transfer in the wing's history books and logging an end to nearly five years of continual service from the outgoing plane.

Aircraft 0100 arrived here Nov. 27, 2005, and has flown more than 400 sorties since. With a total of 1,558 hours flown, the flagship offloaded nearly 9.5 million pounds of fuel, and was utilized in missions to directly support the United States President and Vice President.

"[Additionally,] the craft provided an air bridge for wounded warriors bound for emergency medical treatment back in the United States," said Senior Master Sgt. Clarence Jacobs, 100th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron.

Though the symbolic craft flew many vital missions for the wing, this trend is not specific to the flagship alone. Being the only U.S. refueling wing in Europe or Africa, and having an area of operation spanning over 20 million square miles, all 100th ARW tankers remain busy.

RAF Mildenhall's fleet has the capability to refuel any type of U.S. and allied aircraft using either a probe boom system or drogue wing-mounted system. The boom operator is the Airman responsible for guiding the boom and actually refueling the receiving aircraft.

"Because we have the ability to provide receivers with extra fuel in the air, we expand their combat capability exponentially," said Chief Master Sgt. Christopher Powell, 100th Operations Group superintendent and boom operator.

Chief Powell cited the RAF Lakenheath-based F-15E Strike Eagles as an example.

"On a full tank of fuel, Lakenheath's fighters can safely fly to Germany and back. Any attempt to go further, they would have to land and take on fuel," said the chief. With tanker support, the same Lakenheath fighter can fly to the Middle East or Africa, perform a combat sortie, and fly home to the U.K. without ever landing.

"Our tankers allow all types of aircraft the ability to leave stateside bases and fly directly to the Middle East without landing in Europe," Chief Powell said. "They also extend the capability to our allies."

Remembering the achievements flown aboard Aircraft 0100 and looking forward to similar accomplishments with the new flagship, Col. Chad Manske, 100th ARW commander, turned to the crowd of spectators and offered the following:

"A flagship is a very symbolic representation of all of you," he said, explaining how symbolic it was that Aircraft 0100 was the flagship of the 100th ARW, who stem from the "Bloody 100th," 100th Bomb Group stationed just North of RAF Mildenhall during World War II.

Losing Aircraft 0100 and gaining 3519, the colonel explained the following:

"The 3-5-1 in the new flagship's tail number is symbolic of the 351st Bomb Squadron, one of the four squadrons assigned to the 100th Bomb Group, and the same number as the only current flying squadron here - the 351st Air Refueling Squadron," he said.

On that note, "farewell to number 100 and welcome 3-5-1-9," said Colonel Manske to a thunder of applause from the pilots, boom operators, maintainers, and other support Airmen and civilians, who will be responsible for Aircraft 3519's future missions here.