RIMPAC

Senior Airman Jonathan Ordonez, a KC-135 crew chief with the 507th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., prepares to cover an engine after a refueling mission on July 8, 2010, in support of RIMPAC 2010 at Hickam AFB, Hawaii. In the future, Air Force Reserve Command plans to use its new Force Generation Center to identify and fill requirements with reservists. The new way of doing business is expected to give planners better insight on what resources are available and how they will be used. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Jeremy Lock)

Refueling at RIMPAC

KC-135 Stratotanker boom operator Master Sgt Alvin Kuper with the 465th Air Refueling Squadron, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., refuels a U.S. Navy F/A-18 during a refueling mission on July 8, 2010 in support of RIMPAC 2010 at Hickam AFB, Hawaii. RIMPAC 2010 is the 22nd in a series of significant international multilateral combined/joint military exercises scheduled biennially by U.S. Pacific Fleet and takes place here in the Hawaiian operating area. RIMPAC includes more than 14 nations, 34 ships, five submarines, more than 100 aircraft and more than 20,000 Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airman. RIMPAC enhances cooperation between partnering nations and practices our ability to plan, communicate, and execute operations. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt Jeremy Lock)

McConnell welcomes reservists home

A happy McNelley family is reunited at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., on July 2, 2009. Capt. Charley McNelley, a reservist assigned to the 931st Air Refueling Group at McConnell, returned from a deployment to Southwest Asia. His wife, Tech. Sgt Rebecca McNelley, is an active-duty Airman assigned to the 22nd Air Refueling Wing, the 931st's host unit at the base. Their son, Jacob, is 2 years old. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Jamie Train)

Citizen Airmen complete inspection

Staff Sgt. Ian Salcedo, an Air Force Reserve Command crew chief, tightens a drain line on a KC-10 Extender May 8, 2009, while being watched by Tech. Sgt. Donald Mozingo, an Air Mobility Command Logistics Standardization and Evaluation Program inspector. AFRC's 514th Air Mobility Wing complied with safety and technical regulations during the LSEP evaluation at McGuire Air Force Base, N.J., May 4-11. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Donna T. Jeffries)

Getting a visual

Tech. Sgt. Alan L. Scott, a pneudraulics technician from the 452nd Maintenance Squadron, inspects a KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft brake assembly, July 30, 2008. Sergeant Scott works in the squadron's hydraulic back shop. Before coming to March Air Reserve Base, Calif., he was a Marine for nine years, got out and became a police officer for the city of Indio, Calif., before joining the Air Force Reserve. He has been a full-time air reserve technician at March ARB for two years. (U.S. Air Force photo/Val Gempis)

Father, son fly together

Lt. Col. Robert Nicholson (right) of Air Force Reserve Command's Detachment 2, 4th Air Force, poses with his oldest son, Capt. David Nicholson of the Michigan Air National Guard's 127th Air Refueling Group, at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich. The occasion was Colonel Nicholson's final KC-135 flight before his retirement after 37 years of service. (Courtesy photo)

Air refueling squadron takes flight to fuel the fight

The reflection of a KC-135R Stratotanker is seen in the heads-up display of an F-15E Strike Eagle from the 336th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron as it refuels over Iraq on Tuesday, April 18, 2006. Fighters like the F-15E are able to stay in the air longer while providing support to ground forces because of the KC-135's mission. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Mark R.W. Orders-Woempner)

Air refueling squadron takes flight to fuel the fight

Staff Sgt. Anthony Krisher uses the mirrors in the boom pod of a KC-135R Stratotanker to check the air refueling boom before he refuels F-15E Strike Eagles over Iraq on Tuesday, April 18, 2006. Sergeant Krisher is a boom operator with the 340th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron. He is deployed from the 434th Air Refueling Wing at Grissom Air Reserve Base, Ind. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Mark R.W. Orders-Woempner)

Operation Noble Eagle

LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (AFPN) -- An F-22A Raptor refuels from a KC-135R Stratotanker Jan. 21. This refueling was part of the Raptor's first operational mission. The KC-135 is with the 916th Air Refueling Wing. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Shane Dunaway)

Aerial refueling

A KC-135R from the 336th Air Refueling Squadron refuels a C-17A from the 729th Airlift Squadron Dec. 6, 2005 over Arizona. Both aircraft are from the Air Force Reserve Command's 452nd Air Mobility Wing, March Air Reserve Base, Calif. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech Sgt Rick Sforza, 4th Combat Camera Squadron)