U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Noah Rutan, 100th Air Refueling Wing KC-135 Stratotanker boom operator, refuels a U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress during Bomber Task Force 20-1, Nov. 4, 2019. This deployment allows aircrews and support personnel to conduct theater integration and improve bomber interoperability with joint partners and allied nations. (U.S. Air Force video by Staff Sgt. James Cason)
Transcript
[Noah] We are the number one air-refueling in the world. Our country is the best at it. We have the most tankers, we have the most hours. We keep up on top. Today’s mission was refueling a B-52. So the KC-135 was pretty much built for the B-52 back in the World War II era, Cold War era time frame. We keep them in the air as long as they need to be in the air. If we weren’t there then they can’t travel their distances and get to our bases and get to the targets that they need to be on. Us in doing the hauls, we have a entire operating range of the Middle East and it is very important to keep all of our aircraft in the air and be able to reach even the furthest points of the horizon.