Tanker crews gain valuable experience over Iceland

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Nathan Gallahan
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
KEFLAVIK AIRPORT, Iceland --  Flying high over the waters just southwest of Iceland, a Norwegian F-16 slowly creeps up on the boom of the U.S. Air Force KC-135, while the racket of the tanker prevents any hope of hearing the approach of the one-engine fighter.

The concentration in Airman 1st Class Danny Ingram's eyes grows more intense as the F-16 draws closer.

The two planes connect. They refuel. Mission accomplished.

Unfortunately for the three international photographers that were granted permission to board the aircraft and witness the refueling, it didn't seem to take much longer than that. But, in that short amount of time, they were able to see the U.S. Air Force's ability to keep another nation's fighter fighting during the multinational Northern Viking 2008 exercise.

"The fighters need us around if they're up there, especially if they're going to be burning off a lot of fuel," explained Airman 1st Class Ingram, a boom operator from the 351st Air Refueling Squadron, RAF Mildenhall, England. "And we'll be up there supporting them."

The tanker support allows the fighter pilots from Norway, Canada and the United States to continue practicing their high value, defensive air and offensive air scenarios. These scenarios are designed to provide the pilots with the training required to assist with the defense of Iceland.

"This exercise is getting everyone prepared," Airman Ingram said. "If you don't practice the way that you are going to play, you may not end up playing the right way."

If the sovereignty of Iceland's airspace was compromised in some way, NATO air defense forces would respond in a way that would mimic the scenarios being exercised here, which is a little different for the tankers than normal day-to-day operations out of RAF Mildenhall.

Capt. Joe Payner, the KC-135's pilot from the 351st ARS, said that aircrew members like himself usually deal with ground controllers when refueling fighters from RAF Lakenheath when back at home station. But during this exercise, he has been working directly with the NATO E-3 airborne warning and control system, or AWACS - a first in his career.

Although English is the standard in aviation, with six different nations represented on the E-3, he said that sometimes they have to ask the controllers to repeat what they've said..

"It's a little different," the pilot from Tampa, Fla. said. "Being at Mildenhall, you're used to hearing foreign controllers on the ground and you become more proficient at identifying those different accents over the radio. So when we had the AWACS come up today, it makes you a little bit more prepared for trying to decipher what they're saying."


Getting the hang of working with an AWACS isn't the tanker aircrew's sole learning opportunity; there's still more learning before and after takeoff.

"Another variable is just the fact we usually have a little more time to prepare for the missions,," he said. "It's good to be put into more stressful situations so when it comes down to it you're ready to go."

Another bonus of this exercise is the fact the tanker crews get to meet the pilots, who will receive fuel during their mission, face-to-face. Usually when the tankers fly missions from home station, they only deal with the pilots over the radio, the captain said.

"Here you get to see all these people come together for these mass briefs and you understand a little bit better what they're going through."

One of the main goals of the exercise is to give the pilots here a chance to increase their interoperability, which in turn, will increase the safety and security of Northern Europe.

"This whole exercise has been a positive experience. This will help to improve the defense of Iceland," said Capt. Payner. "That's what these exercises are designed for, so everyone can come together and synergize and see this plan we have in place for these things we do on a day-to-day basis can actually work for a potential real world situation."