Team Fairchild keeps aircraft flying at Nellis during Red Flag 07-01

  • Published
  • By Maj. Dennis Bernier
  • 93rd ARS ADO
More than 40 members of Team Fairchild returned home Oct. 21 after spending two weeks at Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas, Nev., supporting Red Flag 07-01.

Red Flag, established in 1975, is a two-week realistic combat training exercise involving combat forces from all branches of the military, including Guard, Reserve and NATO allies.

Red Flag 07-01 included every branch of the U.S. armed forces and members of both the Australian and Belgian air forces.

Red Flag is conducted at the vast bombing and gunnery ranges at Nellis AFB. It is one of a series of advanced training programs administered by the Air Warfare Center at Nellis AFB through the 414th Combat Training Squadron.

Crews from the 92nd Air Refueling Wing were tasked to provide the air refueling support for Red Flag 07-01 which included aircraft, aircrews, operational staff, maintenance support, and additional support to include intel, supply, crew communications and life support. In addition to the Airmen from Fairchild, the 121st ARW of the Ohio Air National Guard provided aircrews and maintenance personnel as augmentees for the 92nd ARW.
Planning for this exercise began months earlier with Capt. Cliff Atherton, 92nd Air Refueling Squadron instructor pilot, and Capt. Beau Jones, 93rd Air Refueling Squadron chief unit deployment manager, attending planning conferences, arranging billeting, reserving rental cars, and compiling data for the Nellis AFB deployed personnel center.

Both individuals worked to ensure the success of this exercise and continued their efforts as part of the operations staff package.

Staff Sgt. Lee Adkins and Senior Airman Shawn Thurman, boom operators from the 93rd Air Refueling Squadron worked as planners, attending daily meetings, planning offloads and scheduling sorties to meet the demands of the mission commanders.

Capt. Bill Savage, 92nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron aircraft maintenance unit officer in charge, and Master Sgt. Phil Smith, 92nd AMXS production superintendent, were charged with leading the aircraft maintenance package for the exercise. They coordinated weeks prior to provide names and equipment necessary to support the required tasking.

During the exercise, they both worked long hours to ensure the aircraft were ready to fly. It became a daunting task when three of four aircraft broke on the first day. They had all three airplanes back on the flying schedule in just two days.

The additional 22 members from the 92nd Maintenance Group and 92nd Mission Support Group provided critical logistical support to get these planes back flying.

The Red Flag Tanker Task Force launched 38 sorties for 102.2 hours flown and 1,466,600 pounds (218,896 gallons) of fuel offloaded to 285 receivers.

Additionally, four enlisted Airmen were recognized as Superior Performers for their outstanding professionalism and unrelenting determination to make the mission a success: Staff Sgt. Louis Cantu, 92nd Maintenance Squadron aircraft fuels system craftsman, Staff Sgt. Buddy Lee, 92nd MXS, Senior Airman Keith Gonzales, 92nd AMXS, and Airman Thurman.