Fill'er up: guard refueling mission proves a bit too exciting.

• Author: Kennedy, Harold

The capabilities and limitations of aerial refueling tankers have been the source of heated debate in Washington, D.C., for the past year.

To see what really goes on in the day-to-day life of the tanker fleet, a National Defense reporter rode along on a recent training mission flown by the 108th Air Refueling Wing of the New Jersey Air National Guard.

It was supposed to be a routine practice flight by three KC-135Es, based at McGuire Air Force Base, N.J., but things did nor go as planned.

The mission began with a 7:30 a.m. briefing for the three crews. Lead pilot Maj. Jim Casalino, who flies for United Airlines in his civilian job, outlined the day's assignment--to refuel a group of three Air National Guard F-16 fighters, from nearby Atlantic City. The tankers would rendezvous with the fighters just off the New Jersey coast.

In the aftermath of 9/11, Virginia-based Navy air controllers--known by the call sign "Giant Killer"--carefully monitor the airspace along the coast. No aircraft can enter the area without their specific permission.

Half an hour had been allotted to accomplish the refueling, noted Senior Airman Robert Butler III. A waiter at an Atlantic City casino in civilian life, Butler was training to become an in-flight refueler, better known as a "boom operator."

The boom operator, lying prone in the rear of the tanker, uses a joystick to control the transfer of fuel to the recipient aircraft. The fuel flows from the tanker to the recipient via an extendable, 30-foot-long tube called a flying boom. The operator has to fit the end of the boom into a small receptacle on the other aircraft.

Master Sgt. Joseph Lamantia, an in-flight refueling instructor, emphasized the need for speed and precision during refueling. "We're going to lose a lot of crunch time if we don't get in real quick and real tight," he said. Lamantia, in his civilian job, is a systems technician for Verizon Communications Inc.

"An F-16 can't get too close during refueling," he explained. "Its receptacle is just behind the canopy. If it comes up too high, the angle is wrong, and the boom won't fit."

During this flight, Butler, under Lamantia's tutelage, served as the boom on the lead tanker. The boom is one of three crewmembers normally assigned to this particular aircraft. The other two positions are pilot and co-pilot. A fourth position, navigator, was eliminated a few years ago on many KC-135s with an avionics upgrade known as Pacer CRAG, for compass, radar and...