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Extending the fight

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Patrick Harrower
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AFB, Calif. --  It's no secret Travis has some of the largest aircraft in the Air Force. To keep such large aircraft in the air, it can take thousands of pounds of a special fuel. With such massive aircraft, carrying tons of cargo, it is often necessary to receive extra fuel in-flight to complete the mission. The fuel is Jet Propellant 8 and some of the pilots that rely on it, fly C-5 Galaxies.

"We cannot accomplish our mission without JP-8," said Capt. Jason Roberts, 22nd Airlift Squadron pilot. "We need it to fly."

It is a careful science to calculate exactly how much JP-8 a C-5 needs to carry to accomplish a mission. Among the many variables that must be taken into consideration are how much cargo the plane is carrying, the distance of the leg being flown, the cost of fuel and whether or not the aircraft will be refueled in-flight, Roberts said.

"Poor planning and carrying too much extra gas is financially irresponsible and can lessen our performance due to the extra weight," Roberts said. "Carrying too little gas will cause us to divert to another airfield before we reach our final destination."

When a C-5 needs to be refueled in-flight, it can be very challenging, said Maj. Jason Holcomb, 22nd AS pilot.

"The challenge with air refueling is to have two aircraft taking off from two different locations in the world meeting up at the exact same spot at the exact same time while flying within very tight tolerances; all at over 350 mph," Holcomb said. "It's pretty amazing."

All that JP-8 doesn't just appear on aircraft to be passed back and forth. It must be carefully delivered on ground with safety being the number one priority. The fuel is loaded onto the plane by Air Force crew chiefs, Department of Defense contractors, international partners and even the aircraft flight engineers, Holcomb said.

When it comes to in-flight refueling, however, the Air Force takes full responsibility, Holcomb said.

"In the air, it's all Air Force for the C-5," he said. "We air refuel with KC-135 Stratotanker and KC-10 Extenders; its total force integration as we take gas from active duty, Air National Guard and Reserve aircrews stationed around the globe."

In this past year, the 22nd AS flew a total of 10,400 hours and utilized 31 million gallons of JP-8 in the process. In total, more than 15,000 troops and 65 million pounds of cargo were delivered directly to the frontlines of Afghanistan, Iraq and other worldwide locations in support of Department of Defense contingency operations.