JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- Cabin ready! A KC-10 Extender crew with the 76th Air Refueling Squadron and maintainers from the 714th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron returned home from a routine training mission Thursday.
KC-10 pilot Captain Peter Schlech was the aircraft commander for the mission, which took off from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and stopped in Key West, Florida, and Colorado Springs, Colorado. In addition to providing the aircrew and maintainers with the opportunity to perfect their skills, they were also able to help out a team of Army personnel with a flight home to Colorado.
“The synergistic effects of our training missions in the joint warfare environment are essential in ensuring our Reserve Citizen Airmen are prepared for the modern battlespace,” Schlech said.
The team of Airmen on the trip was made up of four pilots, three maintainers, a boom operator, and flight engineer. Their civilian careers ranged from commercial pilots to law enforcement and government. Staff Sgt. Angel Delgadillo, a communications navigation technician on the mission, is fulltime Air Reserve Technician at the Freedom Wing.
“It’s a good training experience," Delgadillo said. "It helps us be ready to be in another place at a moment’s notice and gets us into that mindset.”
Delgadillo previously served on active-duty and brings years of experience to the job.
"I make sure I'm always ready," he said. " I'm always reading my TOs (technical orders). I know them by heart."