The BOOM SIGNAL 2015 “Boom Operators Making Contact Worldwide” The Legacy Continues 36th EDITION TABLE OF CONTENTS (**Denotes no unit submission) Base Organization Affiliation Table of Contents Dedication Prep for Contact Reader Disclaimer Altus AFB 54 ARS AD 97 TRS AD 730 AMTS AFR HQ AMC/AOS Det 2 AD CAE Civ Andrews AFB National Guard Bureau AFR 756 ARS** ANG Bangor ANGB 132 ARS ANG Battle Creek ANGB 217 AMOS ANG Birmingham IAP 106 ARS** ANG 99 ARS AD Boeing Field Seattle WA Boeing Flight Test Civ Boeing Training Civ 418 FLTS Det 1 (Edwards) AD AFOTEC & AMC/TE AD Centennial CO Flight Safety Civ Edwards Flight Test Center AD/AFR Eielson AFB 168 ARS ANG Fairchild AFB 92 OG AD 92 ARS AD 93 ARS AD 509 WPS AD 116 ARS AD DRG Civ Forbes ANGB 117 ARS** ANG Ft Walton Beach Jacobs Civ Gen Mitchell IAP, WS 126 ARS ANG Grissom ARB 72 ARS** AFR 74 ARS AFR Guam 36 MRS** AD Hurlburt Field MOB OPS DET 1 AD/Civ Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst 2 ARS AD 32 ARS AD 76 ARS AFR 78 ARS** AFR 141 ARS ANG 305 OSS/FTU AD 621 CRW** AD DRG Civ Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam 203 ARS ANG 96 ARS AD Joint Base San Antonio 344 TRS AD HQ AETC/A3V AD HQ AETC/A3Z AD Kadena AB 909 ARS AD Key Field 153 ARS ANG Lincoln ANGB 173 ARS ANG MacDill AFB 91 ARS AD 63 ARS AFR CAE Civ March ARB 336 ARS AFR 912 ARS AD 4 AF AFR McConnell AFB 22 ARW AD 344 ARS AD 349 ARS AD 350 ARS AD 384 ARS AD 18 ARS AFR CAE Civ McGhee-Tyson ANGB 151 ARS ANG Osan AB 607 AOC AD Pease ANGB 133 ARS ANG 64 ARS AD Phoenix ANGB 197 ARS** ANG Pittsburgh ANGB 146 ARS** ANG 147 ARS** ANG RAAF Amberley 33 SQN AD RAF Mildenhall 351 ARS AD Ramstein AB HQ USAFE/A3TV AD Rickenbacker ANGB 145 ARS** ANG 166 ARS** ANG Salt Lake ANGB 191 ARS ANG Scott AFB HQ AMC Boom Operator CFM AD HQ AMC/IG AD HQ AMC/A3C AD/Civ HQ AMC/A3TK AD HQ AMC/A3NR AD HQ AMC/A3VK AD HQ AMC/A5QX AD USTC AD 618 AOC (TACC) AD 108 ARS ANG 906 ARS AD 18 AF AD CAE Civ Atlas Air Civ Selfridge ANGB 171 ARS ANG Seymour-Johnson AFB 77 ARS AFR 911 ARS AD DRG Civ Sioux-City ANGB 174 ARS** ANG Tinker AFB 10 FLT TEST AFR 465 ARS ANG Travis AFB 6 ARS AD 9 ARS AD 60 OSS/FTU AD 70 ARS AFR 79 ARS** AFR 621 CRW** AD HQ AMC/AOS Det 1** AD Flight Safety Civ Tyndall AFB 601 AOC** ANG UAE 10 Squadron Civ Wright-Patterson AFB KC-46 Directorate AD/Civ KC-46 ATS Civ Appendix 1 Boom Operator Memorial Names Appendix 2 Boom Operators Prayer Appendix 3 Boom Operator Coin/Card Rules Appendix 4 SMSgt Albert L. Evans & Award Recipients Appendix 5 KC-135 Class Rosters Appendix 6 KC-10 Class Rosters Appendix 7 KC-46 Class Rosters Appendix 8 Tanker Unit Locations THE 2015 BOOM SIGNAL IS DEDICATED TO: Richard (Dick) Taylor 1921-2015 Dick Taylor was a design engineer and test pilot. He joined The Boeing Co. in 1946 as an engineer for the B-29 modified aerial-refueling tanker which later became the KB-29. Having been part of the test team for the original KB-29 he was the perfect person to demonstrate and test the flying boom concept. Since he was the first person to make contact with the boom, he became the world’s first boom operator. His contributions to the Boom Operator community will never be fully realized. It was only fitting that on Sept. 25, 2015, Mr. Taylor was at Paine Field to watch the first flight of the newest tanker, the KC-46. Dick Taylor passed away nine days later at the age of 93. 2015 Prep for Contact Welcome to the 36th edition. Thanks to the overwhelming support from Boom Operator leadership who understand the importance of our traditions and heritage, The Boom Signal is alive and well! This has been one of the most successful years as far as participation to the Boom Signal, thank you for your inputs! This has been an amazing year for the tanker community, especially for the KC-46 program. On December 28, 2014 the 767-2C (tail # 11-46001) first flew from Paine Field in Everett WA. The “-2C” will be used primarily for FAA certification testing and uses a dummy Boom and WARP systems for stability/control and flutter testing. Eventually the dummy equipment will be replaced with fully operational air refueling equipment. The first KC-46 (tail # 11-46004) flew for the first time on Sep 25th, 2015 from Paine Field in Everett WA. This aircraft has fully functional air refueling equipment and will be used for air refueling testing to include boom, centerline drogue, and WARP. The third and fourth KC-46’s will join the test team soon. All testing will be based out of Boeing Field in Seattle WA. Finally I would like to thank all the participating units for their 2015 Boom Signal inputs, as busy as you all are, you still managed to take time and contribute to the Boom Signal- THANK YOU for keeping the tradition alive! Checkout the latest edition and all of the previous editions here: http://www.theboomsignal.net/ Ernest “Burnsie” Burns Boom Signal Editor READER DISCLAIMER: The Boom Signal is a private effort, compiled during off duty hours and not sponsored by the USAF. The Boom Signal Editor is not responsible for the content of the entries. The Unit's submissions are edited for format, and compiled in geographical order; the original content is left wholly intact. It is the responsibility of each unit and their Chief Boom to scrub the entries and ensure they are appropriate to publish on public media. Any content that is deemed inappropriate and/or disrespectful will be removed from this site. The Boom Signal Editor ALTUS AFB, OK 54 ARS “Jesters” CMSgt Sean Rix (CEM) – For those that know Chief Rix, you know he’s been marching around acting like a Chief for years. This year he finally added the stripe to go along with the ego. If you need to know something, Chief has a story for it, and he will tell it to you more than once. Some of us think he has a mild case of Alzheimer’s as he repeats himself quite often. You can find Chief driving one of his two Jeeps to the local gun range to practice his sharpshooting skills. Oh, he does some of that mentoring stuff too. Operations Superintendent/First Sergeant MSgt Michael “Potato” Russell – MSgt Russell is the 54th’s resident vegan expert. Aside from the lack of red blood cells in his diet, he enjoys long walks around Lake Altus and handfuls of Tofu as a treat. You can find him ordering stockpiles of tofu through Amazon and occasionally disappointing his wife when throws meat down his gullet over at Val’s. He also handles day to day issues that arise during training as the Ops Super. Pretty sure the only perk to being Chief Rix’s henchman is the reserved parking space. Student Training Management MSgt Justin “Papa D” Dixon – MSgt Dixon is the NCOIC of the Student Training Flight. His days are filled with all the joys of explaining to students why they are on CAP, how to not be on CAP, and completing the paperwork associated with it. He had shoulder surgery late last year and still hasn’t flown. If you’re looking for him, just call, he is more than likely on leave. TSgt Earl Mayhew – TSgt Mayhew is MSgt Dixon’s right hand man, and served almost literally in that capacity after Dixon’s shoulder surgery. Earl fills in where needed, stealing the First Sergeant’s parking spot on occasion, and basically being a jack of all trades. Well, he kind of is, just ask him about his pre military job history. I think the only things missing from that list are rocket scientist and cartoonist. TSgt Matthew Hunsinger– TSgt Hunsinger is our most recent NCOA graduate. He collected himself a little DG action from there, and I don’t mean Dunn Gradgiated. Matt puts all the students at ease when passing out his Werther’s Original candies and tells stories of when he was in boom school. Matt has enacted “common law” marriage with his BFF Nate Bahr. They make a great couple. TSgt Logan Berry - If you’re looking for TSgt Berry you can find him snuggled away at his desk or taking long runs around Altus. Logan has become our running expert and has been known to give classes on running shoe type and running technique. You can catch him on the schedule flying quite a bit as well. SSgt Kristopher Echols –A recent addition here at the school house. Kris was here long enough to sign in, and off to Honor Guard he went. We see him floating around the building once in a while. SSgt Alexander McGinness – Alex served as the past years ABOA president. He is highly involved in the male Boom Op review calendar, where half-shirts are mandatory. When Alex wasn’t busy flipping tires and doing two-adays, he was busy doing some really great things to propel the ABOA into the local community.