Exchanging with down under

Published April 18, 2006
By Shadi May
Public Affairs staff writer

FAIRCHILD AFB, Wash. -- The mission of U.S. Air Force’s refueling aircraft is to carry out global air refueling, airlift and humanitarian assignments. Here at Fairchild, that mission isn’t accomplished only by U.S. pilots.

Foreign exchange pilots from Australia assigned to Fairchild help their U.S. counterparts achieve that mission.

The exchange program selects the best flight lieutenant pilots in the Royal Australian Air Force with a minimum of 1,500 flying hours. Although instructional experience is not essential, it is a highly desirable factor to be selected for the three-year program.

“They are sending us their best qualified pilots,” said Maj. Dennis Bernier, 93rd Air Refueling Squadron assistant director of operations. “They are all outstanding pilots and huge assets to the squadron.”

“This is one of the most prestigious jobs in our careers—the location, role and the opportunity to work with the U.S. Air Force,” said Flight Lieutenant Trevor Wright, one of the two exchange pilots assigned to the 93rd ARS. “For a small air force like ours, there are limited opportunities for us to do this type of assignment. It expands our career opportunities back home.”

The RAAF rank of flight lieutenant is equivalent to the U.S. Air Force rank of captain.

Flight Lieutenant Wright has more than 4,500 flying hours in the C-130 and a C-12 equivalent in his 13-year RAAF career. As a newly arrived pilot at Fairchild, he looks forward to the experience in the tanker because once back home, he will be involved with a tanker project for a new aircraft acquisition, the replacement to their current Boeing 707 refueler.

“My KC-135 aircraft commander training at Altus (Air Force Base, Okla.) was hard workload, hard pressure and hard operations tempo,” said Flight Lieutenant Wright. “The training at Altus gives you the tools on how to take off and land the aircraft safely — a license to learn -- but here at Fairchild, I am learning to develop my skills, techniques and traits in an operational setting.”

While flying in Australia and other parts of the world, foreign pilots abide by the International Civil Aviation Organization rules. While assigned in the United States, they must learn and practice Federal Aviation Administration rules, which is one of the challenges with this assignment.

“Learning about the FAA rules is a challenge because it involves a lot of studying since it’s not second nature to us,” said Flight Lieutenant Wright. “And language is also a bit challenging. Although we speak the same language, phraseology is subtly different. Some words can mean quite different things in aviation terminology.”

But the flying experience will make the hard work worthwhile explained Flight Lieutenant Wright. “The KC-135 is a pilot’s airplane to fly. The technology forces you to hand fly the airplane, which is great for a pilot.”

While supporting this squadron’s mission, Flight Lieutenant Wright hopes to achieve one of his dreams—to refuel the B-2. “It is one aircraft I particularly look forward to refueling because it’s the state-of-the-art technology.”

According to Flight Lieutenant Craig Chaseling, who has been at Fairchild for more than two years, the new flight lieutenant should be able to refuel just about everything while on this assignment.

“I have refueled nearly every type of aircraft but the F-22 and the F-117,” said Flight Lieutenant Chaseling. “I would really like to get a chance to refuel those because they are the cutting edge of the aviation technology.”

A C-130 pilot, as well as a PC-9 (a T-6 U.S. trainer equivalent) pilot, Flight Lieutenant Chaseling brings more than 4,200 flying hours and instructional experience in his 12-year career to his U.S. counterparts.

“Professionally, it’s been an incredible operational experience for me, and personally, my family and I have enjoyed our living experience in the United States. I have learned to ski, and we have done a lot of traveling,” said Flight Lieutenant Chaseling.

But the assignment has not been without challenges.

“Command and control structure and rules and regulations are some what different here, so it’s been a challenge to adjust,” he said.

“The end results are the same, but how the goals are achieved is different. Also, every time, we need to deploy, there is a very strict protocol for the United States to put in a request with the Australian government to approve our participation. We cannot deploy to all the locations the U.S. Forces deploy.”

Since his arrival, Flight Lieutenant Chaseling upgraded to instructor pilot and now holds the position of the squadron’s chief of training.

“Because of their hours and experience, they upgrade to instructor pilot fairly quickly,” said Major Bernier. “They have also taken on additional duties and do everything we do and more.

“These are highly qualified individuals, exceptional in every way and very dedicated to doing a good job while here, and it shows.”

The hard work and dedication has paid off for Flight Lieutenant Chaseling. He was selected as the squadron’s instructor pilot of the quarter.

“The most memorable mission while here or perhaps in my entire career has been supporting the Space Shuttle Discovery STS-114 mission,” Flight Lieutenant Chaseling said.

“Last August, we flew a KC-135 as the pathfinder aircraft ahead of the Boeing 747 shuttle carrier from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to Kennedy Space Center, Fla., with a few stops on the way.

“This was the first time a KC-135 had been a pathfinder aircraft for NASA. This particular mission included the Australian astronaut, Andrew Thomas, so it was quite the experience of a life time.”

Both pilots agree that this assignment is a great opportunity and a two-way street for both governments to build closer ties and share new ideas and techniques while working as allied nations.

“Flying with the Australian pilots on a day-to-day basis has really given us a great opportunity to exchange ideas on how we operate,” said Maj. Landon Walker, 93rd ARS chief, standardization and evaluation.

“The Aussies look at what we do from a totally different viewpoint. They give us a fresh perspective about how we do business.”