Total Force in full force

Published June 20, 2013
By Staff Sgt. Katie Spencer
459th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. -- The U.S. Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve all have different missions when providing air power and support across the globe.

When added together, they become a trifecta called the Total Force Integration and provide enhanced combat capability and increased force-wide efficiency by leveraging the resources, strengths, and experiences.

The members of the 459th Air Refueling Wing, here, got first-hand experience working within this trifecta during an overseas mission, June 7-12.

Two pilots, three maintainers and a boom operator traveled to the European country of Estonia to provide air-to-air refueling to a team of Air National Guard A-10 Thunderbolt II fighter jets from the 175th Wing, Baltimore. The fighter jets participated in an international and collation training exercise called Saber Strike and needed refueling support on the trip back to the U.S.

The 459th crew did not act alone in their mission to assist the A-10s.

An active duty tanker team from the 22nd ARW, McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., partnered with the 459th ARW to ensure the fighter jets were fueled throughout their journey across the Atlantic Ocean back to America.

In preparation for the actual mission, the crews must come together on the ground and brief as a team to ensure everyone is on the same page.

"When you step in a briefing room, it doesn't matter if you are active, Guard or Reserve," said Lt. Col. Richard Coalson, 350th Aerial Refueling Squadron commander, McConnell AFB. "We all have a mission to do and it comes together seamlessly. We brief, we take-off and we do our jobs."

When it comes time for the teams to do their jobs, the two KC-135 Stratotankers are in the air with four A-10s surrounding them waiting to be refueled. The McConnell and Andrews tankers are in constant communication with the Baltimore fighter jets who pull up to the booms, the tankers fuel nozzle, to get their fuel. A few fuel dispenses and eight hours later, the trifecta lands at Lajes Field, Azores (Portugal) for crew rest. The teams will reconvene the following day and do it all over again.

"These long trips require everyone to really work together and become an integrated force," said Coalson. "I think working in a total force environment is the best way to complete missions and it is important we do it and do it well."

In addition to proving support to different units across the world, some of the team from this TFI mission are about to join their deployed wingmen of the 459th Operations and Maintenance Group who are currently deployed to Southwest Asia in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Working in a total force atmosphere helps to prepare them for a total force deployment.

"I enjoy working side by side with the other components," said Maj. Brian Fisher, 756th ARS pilot. "Although we all adhere to the same standards and support the same overall mission, each component has a slightly different perspective, approach, and experience level when working to meet the challenges. These differences tend to produce more robust solutions to a given mission scenario."

While working in a total force atmosphere provides different perspectives and approaches, this mission supplied crew members with necessary skills in order to be current on their training.

Things like oceanic procedures, communication/data link procedures, formation events, and off-station transition procedures are all part of training needed for deployment, said Fisher. They also give the aircrew opportunity to operate the aircraft in areas of the world which are different from the local training environments. Overall they are great experience builders and contribute to increasing the combat support capability for the aircrews and maintainers, he said.

From global missions in a TFI environment to deploying in support of a war, the 459th ARW continues to provide mission support to its Active Duty and Air National guard counterparts.