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Home , 100th Air Refueling Wing, RAF Mildenhall

By John A. Tirpak, Editorial Director

A Swedish JAS-39 Gripen flies off the wing of an RAF Mildenhall, UK-based USAF KC-135 during air refueling familiarization training over Hungary. US, Swedish, and Hungarian airmen participated in the 2015 training, which certified the Hungarian Gripen for tanker operations.

24 FEBRUARY 2017 H WWW.AIRFORCEMAG.COM USAF photo by SrA. Kate Thornton

being busier than ever as the , by contrast, will grow through.” Torkelson said he’s “a big primary US aerial tanker capabil- considerably, as it prepares to receive the believer in institutional momentum, ity for , the 100th Air Re- first contingent of F-35 fighters the US and there’s a lot of momentum in both fueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall, will deploy in Europe. Though Laken­ nations.” The base will revert to British UK, is preparing to move permanently, heath’s fence line will not expand, its use after the US departs. ending what will be a 77-year US contingent of US personnel is expected To soften the blow, “we’re trying to presence at the historic facility that to swell by about 1,200 people and the transfer as many jobs as possible over to began hostingAmerican bombers just base will host more than 100 American Lakenheath to support the new missions after World War II and a variety of fighter aircraft. there,” he said. missions ever since. Under the EIC agreement with Britain, Site activation task forces are already Mildenhall is one of the bases affected though, Mildenhall’s US missions won’t figuring out how other facilities will ab- by the European Infrastructure Consoli- be leaving until 2022, so the transition sorb functions that will move under the dation, announced by the Pentagon in will happen gradually. Nothing irrevers- EIC. Other noteworthy bases used by the 2015 as a way to save money by huddling ible has yet been done to begin the move. US since before the , such as military functions at fewer bases around “The locals cling to things like that,” RAF Alconbury and RAF Molesworth, the continent. Mildenhall’s tankers will Col. Thomas D. Torkelson, 100th ARW will also revert to British use or close. move to Ramstein AB, ; its commander, said in an interview last Torkelson is keen to preserve the 352nd Special Operations Wing MC- summer. Many British employees at Mildenhall heritage. Many of the ivy- 130s and CV-22s will go to Spangdahlem Mildenhall who have made a career covered buildings on the base date back AB, Germany; and its other assorted there are “nervously waiting out the to World War II, bearing plaques noting missions will move piecemeal to other time,” hoping for a change in the plan, the history of the facility. locations in Britain. Most will go to RAF Torkelson said. But “this is not a US Air “We are the only Active Duty Air Lakenheath, a mere five miles away—so Force decision; this is a US government Force unit” with World War II markings close that the air traffic patterns practi- and UK government decision,” and to on its aircraft, he said. The KC-135s of cally overlap. all appearances, they plan “to see this the “Bloody 100th” wear the “Square

FEBRUARY 2017 H WWW.AIRFORCEMAG.COM 25 D” that emblazoned B-17s operating “deep shared sacrifice” during World briefing forAir Force Magazine that any from Thorpe Abbotts, some 35 miles War II that has been a foundation of the plans will have to wait until the British east of Mildenhall during the war with “” between the US military services decide if any of them Germany. Air Force heraldry experts are and Britain ever since, he said. want the facility. The British Army is trying to figure out a way to preserve the contemplating taking over the base, as markings and unit history because the WITHER MILDENHALL? there are nearby ranges it could use. 100th will be folded into the 86th Wing The UK government is trying to Despite the move of several hundred when it moves to Ramstein. decide what to do with Mildenhall. The miles, US tanker capabilities in Europe Top USAF leaders in Europe “recog- government has committed to free up should not appreciably change, 100th nize the significance of that heritage,” public land for use as public housing, leaders said in interviews. Tankers will Torkelson said. “I’ve even made it part and there is a tentative plan to build be an hour further away from aerial of the EIC working group” to ensure the 4,000 houses on the Mildenhall tract. refueling missions in the Atlantic, but lineage is kept alive in the transition. Other plans suggest light industry us- will be an hour closer to missions in That heritage forms a strong bond age or a mix of industry and housing. the . between the Air Force and the com- However, US Air Forces in Europe The European tanker operating tempo munity. The British appreciate the (USAFE) officials said in a background peaked in 2011, and it has scarcely re-

USAF photo by Capt. Jason Smith USAF photo by SrA. Erin Babis

USAF photo

26 FEBRUARY 2017 H WWW.AIRFORCEMAG.COM laxed since then. In 2011, the 100th sup- for the air campaign against ISIS. supporting the transit of the President ported operations Odyssey Dawn and Torkelson would like to conclude that or Secretary of Defense into or through Unified Protector, the air campaign in open-ended detachment because the the European Theater. . Mildenhall-based tankers were situation has changed. Where once To help, the or Air asked to provide “maximum effort,” the Incirlik duty represented a good Force Reserve have started sporadically Torkelson said. The unit understood way to rapidly build hours and season deploying a tanker to the base, and they that to mean putting every one of its aircrew, “those hours are so generic will pick up some lower priority, nonki- 14—now 15—KC-135s and aircrews now and so canned that I don’t think netic missions, Torkelson said. At first, into the fight. they’re as good an experience as what he feared the presence of the Guard or “No other wing did that,” he said, we do here” at Mildenhall, he asserted. Reserve tanker would simply expand what noting that other units flew, at most, There was a dip in activity in 2012, was being asked of the wing, but “they 80 percent of their allocated aircraft. but “every year since, … it’s been a help more than they hurt” in that regard. The 100th flew “exceptionally long” slow ramp-up in quantity” of mis- “I would love to see more Guard and missions from its home station at sions, Torkelson said. “We are more Reserve perpetual presence in this AOR Mildenhall for three weeks during the max-tasked than we ever have been,” [area of responsibility] that is so excep- Libya operations, he said, until some now asked to fly every single asset on tionally busy.”

USAF photo by SSgt. Micaiah Anthony

Clockwise from upper left: A French Mirage takes on fuel from a Mildenhall-based KC-135 Another big booster of activity has over Africa in 2013. French fighters have flown combat missions over Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, and Iraq. / A pair of KC-135s sports the ’s Square D on the been supporting the European Reassur- ramp at Powidz AB, . The refuelers were preparing for Baltops 2016, a multinational ance Initiative (ERI), calling for frequent maritime exercise around the Baltic Sea. / SrA. Kendall Bryant, a refueling boom operator, deployments to Europe of Stateside F-22, peers from a window during Tonnerre Lightning, an interoperability exercise with the US, UK, and . / A British Tornado links up with a USAF KC-135 during Unified Protector. A-10, F-16, and B-52 units in theater The 100th ARW refueled 325 aircraft during 2011 operations in Libya. security package missions. They alone account for 40 to 50 percent of the of the tankers were moved to Istres, operational missions “35 to 40 percent 100th’s load, Torkelson said. France, to be closer to the action. The of the time.” The ERI “shows of force and pres- French air force also operates KC-135s In Fiscal 2015 the unit overflew its ence” are “on the backs of our KC-135s,” from Istres, located in France’s south- budgeted program by 127 percent, he he said. The deployments are typically east coastal Mediterranean region, and said. The wing is “routinely canceling” for two weeks, so “we’re refueling all there is now a two-ship detachment lower priority sorties “for higher prior- the time.” from the 100th stationed at the Istres ity missions because our percentage of The 100th is not the only tanker capa- base all the time, helping France’s anti- priority ones has grown to 56 percent.” bility in Europe; terrorism effort in Mali. The French Typically, those high priority missions (AMC) sends tankers through the AOR call it Operation Serval, the US name come with “late notice” and the lower to destinations elsewhere all the time, is Operation Juniper Micron. priority ones just don’t get flown. and they pick up some of the load. Mildenhall maintains a one-ship High priority missions can be anything “All the desert swap-out tankers flow detachment at Incirlik AB, Turkey, from an emergency aerial tanking to through here,” Torkelson observed.

FEBRUARY 2017 H WWW.AIRFORCEMAG.COM 27 Another AMC KC-135 detachment During the interview with Torkel- a lot of the bread-and-butter training at Geilenkirchen, Germany, is typi- son, he received a call from USAFE work is done in the base’s simulator, cally slaved to refueling the NATO headquarters dictating a high priority run by contractors, Barnes said. France Airborne Warning and Control System mission to South Sudan. Asked what sends its KC-135 pilots to Mildenhall (AWACS) aircraft. it was all about, he could only answer, for simulator work, as does Turkey, The European air refueling mission “You can Google it.” also a Stratotanker operator. For pilot is attractive to tanker pilots because The vast majority of European al- upgrades, most will go Stateside to the “it is really diverse,” said 351st Air lies use the probe-and-drogue system KC-135 schoolhouse at Altus AFB, Refueling Squadron chief Lt. Col. of refueling, so the 100th crews are Okla., he pointed out. Jason Barnes. frequently tasked to configure with a “We do a mix of everything,” he said. basket on their booms, or use scarce TIP O’ THE HAT Coronet missions are those that support wing pods—the Multipoint Refueling For being a 50-plus-year-old platform, fighters coming across the Atlantic System—that deploy hoses and baskets. the KC-135s are holding up remarkably from the States. The wing supports The 100th also refuels the 352nd SOW’s well, Barnes said. the F-15s of the MC-130s. Attempts to directly refuel the “My hat’s off to our maintainers. at Lakenheath, and there is a steady CV-22 tilt-rotors from KC-135s have They do a very good job … and with a array of allied aircraft that get their proved technically challenging and are very high mission effectiveness rate.” fuel from US tankers. A KC-135 crew not yet a normal procedure. He said he is not seeing an increase

USAF photo by SrA. Erin Trower USAF photo by SSgt. Chad Warren

L-r: Airmen assigned to RAF Mildenhall review flight plans in 2016 at Istres-Le-Tubé in aborts or mechanical problems in AB, France. USAF supports French anti-terrorist operations in Mali and North Africa the last few years, despite the higher with airlift and air refueling. There is now a two-ship KC-135 detachment assigned to the Istres base at all times. SrA. Tyler Miller performs a preflight check on a KC-135 at operating tempo. Keflavik Airport in Iceland. The tanker provided air refueling to NATO fighters performing The KC-135 maintenance team helps Icelandic air surveillance and policing missions in 2015. SrA. Daniel Lamey inspects a with some of the back-shop maintenance KC-135 in Istres. USAF has been supporting counterterrorism efforts there since 2013. needs of RC-135 Rivet Joint intelligence, surveillance, and aircraft could easily see, in a week, Rafales “The procedures are aircraft-specif- that operate from the base, including from France, Tornados from Germany, ic,” Barnes said, so pilots and boom one—called Airseeker—that belongs and even Gripens from Hungary or operators alike rarely get into a rut to Britain. Sweden. (When a US tanker refuels a of doing the same old, same old. The Torkelson said the Airseeker is visit- partner country, the US is reimbursed European Theater requires diplomatic ing from RAF Waddington, where the for the fuel passed and a percentage clearances needed for overflight of is being rebuilt. of the cost of the mission, Torkelson its many countries, Barnes said. The “The UK doesn’t like Waddington as a explained.) European airspace is dense with air long-term solution for their Rivet Joints, The 100th is the only air refueling traffic and is “challenging airspace because the runway is too short and they wing directly supporting Air Forces to fly in,” he said. require a tanker for every mission from Africa, so in addition to tanking French Even though there are always more there. And so they’ve been waiting for fighters going to and from Mali, the tanking missions to do than there are our basing decision [for the location of wing refuels aircraft striking ISIS tankers available, the unit still does US Air Force RC-135s in Europe] to targets in Libya and other locations. some missions strictly for training. But see if they might be able to potentially

28 FEBRUARY 2017 H WWW.AIRFORCEMAG.COM pile onto that and maybe put their UK tankers, “as proof of concept that we Though Mildenhall’s closure will Rivet Joints there,” Torkelson explained. can do it.” leave no resident US tanker capability As the principal engine of US aerial Another “hot topic” of the sympo- in Britain, the has its refueling in Europe, the 100th has been sium, Briones reported, was how to own robust refueling capability, field- trying to build partnerships with other successfully bring new tanker capa- ing MRTTs at RAF Brize Norton, the countries having a refueling capability, bilities into NATO and the European RAF’s mobility hub. There will be according to Maj. Steve Briones, the Union. New countries are “looking to no tanker deficit after the Mildenhall wing’s chief of operations group plans, get into the refueling business” and are closure. strategy, and exercises. buying aircraft like the Airbus A330 Asked what the tanker mission in He helped organize the European Multirole Tanker Transport (MRTT). Europe needs that it doesn’t have, Air Refueling Symposium, held at the In the “not-too-distant future” such Torkelson said that any wing com- base last spring. The conference drew aircraft will be in more European mander would answer, “Manning.” air refueling practitioners from eight fleets, he said. “No one asks for better working countries, he said, and they were not There was agreement to expand or living conditions,” Torkelson said. all NATO members. the conference from two days to two “Everyone asks for bodies,” but he “Everybody told their story of what weeks, to have it annually instead of recognizes that even though USAFE they do and have been doing” since the every other year, to include more coun- is requesting more airmen, they may 2014 meeting, he said. tries, and to have live-fly exercises, not arrive quickly. The better answer

USAF photo by SrA. Erin Trower

At Torkelson’s direction the 100th Briones said. There will be work done to the question is an ability “to bear is encouraging standard tactics, tech- to better coordinate between USAF and the burden better. … Give us broader niques, and procedures (TTPs) among European Air Transport Command and shoulders.” He said that calls for fixing the European countries that do air the Movement Coordination Center in “internal processes, internal schedul- refueling. Some of their TTPs, Briones Europe, both located in Eindhoven, ing, to minimize waste, redundancy, said, are quite different from US Air Netherlands. Briones likened them to a minimize aircraft generation that Force standards. European version of US Transportation doesn’t lead to anything. That makes Other countries “fly really close Command and Air Mobility Command. us able to bear the burden more.” to each other” when doing refueling More cooperation will make it Torkelson said he’s “agnostic” about operations, he said, and USAF doesn’t possible to better distribute available the relocation of the 100th to Ramstein, see a good reason to do that. Although tanking assets and render assistance if but feels strongly that a permanent US Briones didn’t say the close formation a tanker is needed for an emergency. tanker presence is definitely needed tactic is unsafe, “we’ve actually had Up until now, “the US has not been in Europe. to cancel and say no to formation … heavily involved” in European “You’re flying through all these dif- flying because their TTPs are not as tanking operations “on a tactical level,” ferent nations, … all the voices and conservative as ours.” Briones said. On a strategic level, accents on the radio, from here to Bul- One of the action items from the however, “that is happening.” garia, all … distinct. It’s such a unique May meeting was to start doing mixed All this partnership activity “is a place to project and employ airpower.” formation flights that the US can say critical step forward if we do end up Helping the allies “be interoperable and yes to, and plans are being made to fly doing something like [Operation Uni- more capable because of our routine formation with German and Spanish fied Protector] again in the future.” presence is satisfying.” J

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