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McConnell provides gas during F-16 delivery to Chile

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Kristine Dreyer
  • 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. (AMCNS) --  Two 22nd Air Refueling Wing KC-135 Stratotanker crews assisted with the delivery of two F-16s to northern Chile in a foreign military sales deal recently.

The F-16s are part of the “Peace Puma” program, which involves the Chilean Air Force purchasing a total of 10 F-16C and D model aircraft from the contractor, Lockheed Martin Corporation.

“Our role in the mission was to enable the delivery of the F-16s to Chile by refueling the aircraft and save travel time by eliminating any stops they would have needed for refueling,” said Capt. Brett Fish, 349th Air Refueling Squadron.

The two KC-135s staged from McConnell to Fort Worth Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, Texas, then launched after the F-16s and began refueling the new aircraft immediately to ensure all refueling systems were working.

“That was first time the two aircraft had been air refueled,” said Capt. David Lee, 349th ARS, “so we wanted to ensure everything was working correctly before we were too far from home.”

After Airman 1st Class Tamra Tacklind, a 349th ARS boom operator, successfully completed the first air refueling of the F-16s, the two KC-135s and two F-16s continued their mission over the Gulf of Mexico from New Orleans, eventually crossing over the Panama Canal. At the half-way mark, the second tanker crew turned back, while the first tanker crew continued on to Chile.

“American pilots flew the F-16s, but each had a Chilean pilot riding in the back seat,” added Lt. Col. Mark Synovitz, 349th ARS.

This was Colonel Synovitz’ second time flying to South America in 16 years, and according to the mission commander, this is a rare and unique experience for KC-135 crews because most will never go there.

“South America has more lurking hazards than we are used to seeing, such as very high terrain, unusual airfields, and the language barrier,” said Colonel Synovitz.

In order to eliminate any surprises and maximize their safety, the crew began preparing for the mission two weeks prior. Capt. Gil Riboni, 349th ARS, and Staff Sgt. Jose Sanchez, 22nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, helped break the language barrier by providing translation when needed.

Staff Sgt. Steve Boettjer, 22nd AMS crew chief, took advantage of the unique opportunity and reenlisted during the trip.

Although the majority of the crew was composed of 22nd ARW pilots, navigators, boom operators and crew chiefs, an extra crew chief was needed to complete the team. The reserves answered the call by providing Master Sgt. Jeff Schrier, 931st AMS.

“We were glad to have him along,” said Captain Riboni. “He stepped up to the plate by augmenting our active duty crew, and as a team we were able to get the mission accomplished.”