It's not often we find ourselves flying with an Air Reserve unit, even if it's a routine refueling mission over the Appalachian Mountains. But that's what 13 members of the Hoosier Chapter of PRSA did Wednesday at Grissom Air Reserve Base. The event began early by most accounts with a 7:30 a.m. check, followed by crisis communication presentations by Fred Bagg, Col. Gary Lockard and Bob Dittmer.
(In flight refueling aboard the KC-235R Stratotanker)
After a brief review of best practices in crisis communication, Hoosier PRSA members were briefed on the flight activities of the day before boarding a KC-135R Stratotanker. Our mission was to rondez-vous with a C-3 (pictured above) over the Appalachian Mountains.
Our first attempt at leaving Grissom was thwarted by an angry Monther Nature. Within about 20 minutes, however, the skies cleared and the crew at Grissom were able to realign the mission plans.
There's a lot we learned from our visit to Grissom. For instance, the length of the runway makes the base an alternative landing point for the Shuttle. Growing up watching the shuttle blast into space was always a treat for me, but learning that the space craft could have landed here in Indiana brought a whole new prespective to the program. Part of me (a very large part) wished that would have happened. But the mission we flew was neat in its own right.
(Cargo bay of the KC-135R Stratotanker)
The KC-135R Stratotanker is an amazing aircraft. Despite the lack of creature comforts of commercial aircraft, the KC-135R ride was quite comfortable.
Grissom has two squardons of KC-135R Stratotankers and is the largest refueling wing in the Air Force Reserve Command. The squadons supports the Air Force, Navy Marines and allied nations refurling needs.
The Hoosier Wing (that's what the squadons from Grissom are called) has been a part of Indiana since World War II, and has been used in every major conflict since. And the Hoosier Wing flies about six missions daily out of the Grissom base.
Besides its missions, the base has a tremendous local impact. "We put about $100,000,000 into the local economy and employ the largest number of people in Miami County," said Col. Lockard.
With that impact, the 434th ARW performed 290 missions in one week, making the record for the most aerial refuelings in that time period.
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