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Early Friday morning at RAF Mildenhall, England, more than half the fleet of KC-135R Stratotankers assigned to the base performed a massive-rapid response exercise. The event, which involved the launching of eight refueling aircraft, benefitted two parts of the installation’s flying community. Airmen assigned to the maintenance squadrons were able to test their abilities to launch several aircraft simultaneously while the refueling squadrons took advantage of the large number of aircraft in the air by performing formation flights. The last time a large-scale take-off of this kind took place was on March 13, 2006, when seven KC-135R aircraft crews participated. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Teresa Hawkins)