Extending Tanker Power

Airmen with the 305th Air Mobility Wing and Air Force Reserve Command’s 514th AMW at JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., put the KC-10’s refueling capacity through a rigorous test during an exercise at Travis AFB, Calif. Neptune Falcon blended combat, mobility, and intelligence-reconnaissance-surveillance air forces into a “cohesive warfighting capability,” said Col. Paul Murphy, 305th AMW commander. Airmen planned and executed 28 sorties during the week-long exercise in late March. They achieved a 100-percent maintenance reliability rate. “From the top down, everyone was watching how we could execute and we did it perfectly,” Murphy said. He added,” My group commanders and I could not be prouder of how well our ‘can do’ KC-10 team performed. This exercise validated our warfighting doctrine and employment.” (McGuire report by A1C Dennis L. Sloan)