GWOT mission - Reserve tankers provide daily support

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman William P. O'Neil III
  • 514th Air Mobility Wing
MCGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, N.J. - --  The Northeast Tanker Task Force is an ongoing air refueling operation, executed in part by the 76th and 78th Air Refueling Squadrons of the 514th Air Mobility Wing in support of the Global War on Terror. 

The operation takes place 24 hours a day, seven days a week, everyday of the year. Crew members who volunteer for the duty are on-call and must report to the base within one hour to fly the mission. Crews may be on-call for up to seven consecutive days. At the end of each flight, crews enter a 12-hour crew rest period, after which members return to on-call status. 

"The NETTF began at McGuire in the summer of 2003 in support of the Global War on Terror and provides an air bridge to all US assets, extending them to and from the theater of operations," said Lt. Col. Tom Ayers, deputy commander, 514th Operations Group.
 
The 514th AMW is one of the five units executing NETTF missions, which flies an average of 10 Tanker Task Force missions per day. The units are under Tanker Airlift Control Command, Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill., the command center for planning and directing tanker and transport aircraft operations around the world. Missions are planned and sent to the NETTF at Bangor Air National Guard Base, Bangor, Maine, where the workload is divided amongst the five units. 

The Reserve KC-10 Extenders average one-half of the NETTF missions per month. Due to capabilities unique to the KC-10, additional missions are also tasked to the wing. Up to 84 percent of the missions are in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. The remaining missions include support of special operations, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, humanitarian relief, Detainee Return from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Presidential tasks. 

"For this fiscal year the 76th and 78th squadrons have performed 325 sorties, offloaded 24,702,300 pounds of fuel for 346 receivers and amassed over 1,500 flying hours," said Lt. Col. Ayers. 

Lt. Col. Ayers noted approximately one-third of the 76th and 78th squadrons members have been on voluntary active duty status since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.