b'Refueling Through The CenturyFortunately, Allied forces gained enough ground in success and a testament to the strategic importancethe Pacific so aircraft were able to reach their targets of inflight refueling.without refueling. When fighter and bombing technology outpaced theThough refueling did not play an operational role in Worldpiston-engined KC-97, the Air Force searched for new War II, the Army Air Forces finally did see its potential andrefueling technology. Specifically, a new turbojet refueling continued to experiment with new planes and equipment.aircraft.By 1948, General Spaatz made air refueling the highest After SAC issued a requirement for new tankers in 1953, priority for the new Air Force and took advantage of the latestboth the Douglas and Lockheed Corporations submitted refueling technology the British had churned out.paper proposals, but only Boeing had an operational Using the British loop-hose refueling system, the Air model. In 1957, the Air Force procured 29 Boeing KC-135 Force and Boeing produced 40 KB-29M tankers and Stratotankers which would grow to 830 in the next two 40 B-29 receivers for the newly created Strategic Airdecades.Command (SAC). The SAC leadership made the decisionAir refueling continued to make progress throughout the that all new bombers in the future would have inflight 20th century, providing vital support in Vietnam, Operations refueling capabilities. Desert Shield and Storm, and other military and humanitarian As the Air Force fully embraced air refueling, this operations. During Vietnam, the KC-135 enabled fighters technology advanced more quickly. In May 1948, the to carry out missions over Southeast Asia and delivered Air Force began testing the probe-and-drogue systemapproximately 1.4 billion gallons of fuel. Not only did SAC developed by Sir Alan Cobham, a British aviator. Whentankers deliver 28.2 million gallons of fuel during Operation refueling crews struggled to control the loop-hose systemDesert Shield, they also transported 74 percent of SACsduring bad weather and as more advanced aircraft werepassengers and 56 percent of its own cargo to the area.developed, the Air Force looked for something different.Immediately following the tragic terrorist attacks on By September 1950, Boeing developed a flying boomSeptember 11, 2001, KC-135 Stratotankers and KC-10 which could better withstand bad weather, night refuelings,Extenders were among the first aircraft to take to the skies and high speed aircraft. The new boom design allowedover the U.S. to refuel fighters and protect the homeland aircraft to refuel more quickly and safely. The Air Forcefrom further aggression. ordered 100 new B-29s with the new boom system andThese tankers, crewed by Air Force active duty, Air Force gave these aircraft the designation KB-29P. Reserve, and Air National Guard personnel, supportedIt was not long after the advent of the boom technologycombat air patrols and delivered an overwhelming example that the legendary KC-97 Stratotanker with the flying boomof Total Force. After September 11, 2001, tankers played came into existence in 1950. By 1953, SAC commandeda critical role in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi nearly 30 air refueling squadrons with a majority of squadronsFreedom. From the beginning of Operation Enduring flying KC-97s. Freedom to 2008, tanker crews flew 37,140 sorties andThe quick development of this technology was offloaded nearly 1.5 billion pounds of fuel to U.S. andfortuitous as the U.S. once again found itself engaged incoalition aircraft. another conflict across the Pacific. Just a few years before,Those tankers in the theater and under the control ofthe U.S. military shipped many of its planes to the Pacific byU.S. Air Forces Central flew an additional 91,382 sorties sea and then refueled on various Pacific islands.and offloaded more than 5.7 billion pounds of fuel.By the time the Korean War started, the Air Force wasNot only were tankers refueling military aircraft, they were now in a position to refuel its fighters and bombers in flightalso transporting passengers and cargo and were even which saved valuable time. From July 4 to July 17, 1952, being used for aeromedical evacuations. By 2007, security three squadrons of F-84Gs of the 31st Fighter Escort at Bagram Air Base (AB), Afghanistan allowed the 618th Wing participated in Operation Fox Peter One.Tanker Airlift Control Center to schedule aeromedicalThe fighters traveled from Georgia to Travis Air Forceevacuation missions on KC-135s. This additional capability Base (AFB), California, and then made the long trans-Pacificdecreased the patient transport time to Ramstein AB, flight to Hickam AFB, Hawaii, refueling in-flight severalGermany from up to two days to just 10 hours.times. From there the fighters island hopped to Japan In todays U.S. military, air refueling is no longer seen as and prepared for combat in Korea.a party trick with no practical use, but as a necessary tool in Operation Fox Peter Two launched between October 1 the war fighting and peace keeping efforts. The air refueling and October 14, 1952, with fighters being refueled from themission continues to expand with the development of the U.S. mainland all the way to Japan. Both operations were anew KC-46.JJBMDLAir and Space Open HousePower In The Pines 2023 19'