Sixty Years of Service
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SEPTEMBER 2016 ONTHE OFFICIALF MAGAZINEINAL OF THE 507TH AIR REFUELING WING SIXTY YEARS OF THESERVICE: KC-135 REACHES A NEW MILESTONE Vol. 36, No. 9 // 2016 SEPTEMBER COVER THIS MONTH WING COMMANDER New LRS Commander Col. Douglas E. Gullion SIXTY YEARS OF SERVICE 4 Recruiting Team A KC-135 on the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center periodic depot mainte- 5 WING COMMAND CHIEF nance line in the late 1950s. Chief Master Sgt. Stephen A. Brown On the Okie Radar: Important Dates STORY ON p. 8 6 PUBLIC AFFAIRS COVER PHOTO Courtesy of Tinker History Office New Vice Wing Commander 7 CHIEF, PUBLIC AFFAIRS Closer Look: Maj. Jon Quinlan SUICIDE PREVENTION MONTH Tech. Sgt. Michael Moore September is suicide prevention month, a reminder to #BeThere for your collegues, 10 SUPERINTENDENT family and friends. September Promotions Master Sgt. Grady Epperly 17 11 UNDER ITS WING Quarterly Award Winners PHOTOJOURNALISTS 14 Tech. Sgt. Lauren Gleason A trip on a KC-135 refueling mission from local reporter Silas Allen of the Tech. Sgt. Charles Taylor Oklahoman. 9/11: Remembering Welles Crowther 18 21 507TH AIR REFUELING WING Contents of On-final are not necessarily endorsed by or the official views of the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, or the Department of the AF. Published by The Journal Record Publishing Company, a private firm in no way connected with the U.S. Air Force, under exclusive written contract PUBLIC AFFAIRS with the 72nd Air Base Wing commander or 507th Air Refueling Wing commander. This civilian enterprise Air Force newspaper is an authorized publication for members of the U.S. military services. Contents of the Tinker Take Off and On-final are not necessarily the official views of, or 7435 Reserve Rd, Suite 114 endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense or the Department of the Air Force. The appearance of advertising in this publica- Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. 73145 tion, including inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense, the Department of the Air Force or The Journal Record Publishing Company of the products or services advertised. Everything advertised in this publication shall be made available for Phone: (405)-734-3078 purchase, use or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical handicap, political affiliation or any other non-merit factor of the purchaser, user or patron. The editorial content is edited, prepared, and provided by the 507th Air Refueling Email: [email protected] Wing’s public affairs office, which is located at 7435 Reserve Road, Suite 4, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., 73145-8726. All photographs are Air Force photographs unless otherwise indicated. URL: WWW.507ARW.AFRC.AF.MIL photos by Tech. Sgt. Lauren Gleason 2 // ON-FINAL 3 // ON-FINAL Reserve FUELING THE FIGHT RECRUITERS Senior Master Sgt. Donald Cantrell Flight Chief Tinker AFB, OK Office (405) 734-5331 Cell (405) 409-4784 Master Sgt. Master Sgt. Derrick Mills Colin McDonald In-Service Recruiter In-Service Recruiter Tinker AFB, OK Tinker AFB, OK Cell (405) 409-5170 Office (405) 734-5555 Cell (405) 409-4784 Tech. Sgt. Tech. Sgt. Keith Hassell Nickelette Parrish Line Recruiter Line Recruiter ABOVE: A German Tornado receives fuel from the 507th ARW over Nor- Midwest City, OK Moore, OK way in August 2016. In August, members of the 507th ARW supported Cell (405) 409-5811 Cell (405) 409-6311 NATO operations in the European theater at RAF Mildenhall, England. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Shaylon Ladd) For information on opportunities in the AF Reserve, RIGHT: A U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle gets gassed up by the Okies over Swe- give one of our team members a call today. den in August 2016. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Shaylon Ladd) aj. Damien C. Miller assumed through the ROTC program at Florida Atlan- effective.” command of the 507th Logistics tic University in Boca Raton, Florida. He has Lt. Col. Greg Russell, 507th Mission Sup- TAKING COMMAND: Readiness Squadron here Aug. 6, held various logistic positions and served in port Group deputy commander and presid- 507th LRS gets new commander 2016. Southwest Asia, including Afghanistan. MMiller is the former Director of Opera- As the commander, Miller will lead the to the new commander. tions of the 482nd Logistics Readiness squadron to provide contingency deploy- ing “Empowerofficer of the your ceremony, troops,” offered said Russell. advice Squadron at Homestead Air Reserve Base, ment support, material management and “They’ll give you everything you need to get Florida. fuels services in the continental U.S. and lo- the job done.” As he took command, Miller thanked the cations around the world. The 507th LRS trains and equips the 507th LRS Director of Operations, Maj. Brit- “To the men and women of the 507th Lt Col. Gregg Russell, deputy commander of the 507th Mission Sup- nee McIntyre, and logistics manager, James LRS, I am honored to be your commander, The personnel performs aircraft fuels sup- port Group, passes the 507th Logistics Readiness Squadron guidon (Woody) Steinmann, who led the squadron but this is not my assumption of command warfighterport, asset management,for worldwide deployment combat support. plan- to Maj. Damien C. Miller during an assumption of command cer- during the interim. ceremony, it is ours,” said Miller. “I chal- emony Aug. 6, 2016, at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. (U.S. Air Force Miller received his commission in 2004 lenge each of you to become more combat photo by Master Sgt. Grady Epperly) ning and execution, vehicle operations, fleet and traffic management services. 4 // ON-FINAL 5 // ON-FINAL Meet the vice wing commander: Col. Dana Nelson ,, NOVEMBER UTA NOV. 5-6 MARK YOUR CALENDAR WITH THESE UPCOMING EVENTS: COMMANDER’S CALL @ TBD BASE THEATER NOV. 6 SEPTEMBER UTA SEP. 10-11 DECEMBER UTA DEC.3-4 507TH ARW SUPER FAMILY DAY @ 1200 ir Force Reserve Command officials an- Attaché. She served as an attaché in Slovenia, as an ANNUAL AWARD PACKAGES DUE NLT 1600 nounced this month Col. Dana N. Nel- analyst at the Joint Intelligence Center, U.S. Trans- IN HANGAR 1030 DEC. 3 son has been selected as the new vice portation Command and as the Chief of the Survey SEP. 10 Awing commander for the 507th Air Refu- Analysis Center in Doha, Qatar. In 2005, she joined eling Wing here. the 459th Air Refueling Wing, Joint Base Andrews, Nelson last served as an Individual Mobilization Maryland, and held various leadership positions SFS ASSUMPTION OF COMMAND @1000 JANUARY UTA JAN. 7-8 970TH AACS AUDITORIUM Augmentee to the Chief, Air Advisor Branch, Joint including Chief of Training, Chief of the Exercise Base Anacostia-Bolling, Maryland. She arrived at Evaluation Team, flight commander and command- SEP. 11 Tinker Sept. 7, and is now serving as the second in er of the 756th Air Refueling Squadron. While sta- command of the largest Air Force Reserve flying tioned at Andrews, she also volunteered for several unit in the state of Oklahoma. tours at Headquarters, Air Force, in Information Op- OCTOBER UTA OCT 15-16 SUPER UTA Nelson received her commission in 1990 following erations and Special Access Programs, and further 4TH QUARTER AWARDS DUE FEBRUARY UTA FEB. 2-5 graduation from the United States Air Force Acad- volunteered for a DIA Air Attaché tour to Suva, Fiji. emy. She began her flying career at Robins Air Force Nelson is a veteran of Operations Southern OCT. 15 Base, Georgia. While on active duty, Nelson flew Watch, Allied Force, Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Free- DATES AND TIMES SUBJECT TO CHANGE. FOR various models of KC-135s for more than 10 years. dom, New Dawn and numerous other operations EXERCISE UPDATES, CHECK THE 507TH WEBSITE HERE. In 2002, she joined the Air Force Reserve with the and contingencies in support of the nation’s security OCT. 27-30 Defense Intelligence Agency as a Foreign Area Air strategy. 6 // ON-FINAL 7 // ON-FINAL Soaring to Sixty: KC-135 remains backbone of air refueling By Tinker Air Force Base Public Affairs Published August 31, 2016 of the U.S. Air Force. The KC-135 is a true testament of tankers,The Air along Force’s with fleet special eventually mission totaledvariants 732 for planesrecon- thewould dedication not be flying of generations if it was not of for Airmen the men past and and women pres- The KC-135 Stratotanker celebrates its 60th anniver- naissance,produced betweenelectronic 1954 surveillance, and 1965. ThisVIP andfleet airborneincludes ent from engineers and aircrew to mechanics on the sary this year and from the start, Tinker Air Force Base command posts. In 1976, Air Force Reserve Command ground.” has played a crucial role in the longevity of the jet while The Stratotanker’s capabilities go beyond those of operating and maintaining this strategic aircraft. The KC-135 has been the stalwart refueling asset just aerial refueling. As an airlift platform, the KC-135 usedreceived to supporttheir first the KC-135. United States’ readiness and war can carry up to 83,000 pounds of cargo and almost 40 direction of General Curtis Lemay, needed an air refu- capability since reaching initial operating capability. For passengers. It can also perform in an aeromedical evac- In the mid-fifties, Strategic Air Command, under the uation role, capable of transporting litter and ambula- bomber aircraft of the day. At the time, B-52s often had War as part of the nuclear deterrence “Global Reach” ca- tory patients using patient support pallets and a medial toeling lower aircraft their that landing could gear keep to up create with enoughthe fighter drag and to pabilityyears the of aircraft Strategic flew Air missionsCommand in and support other ofcombatant the Cold commands.