When seconds count: Ops schedulers coordinate high-altitude connections

Published Feb. 6, 2015
By Tech. Sgt. Benjamin Mota
434th ARW Public Affairs

GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. -- Two jet aircraft racing toward each other at over 300 mph, then maneuvering just miles apart to connect for inflight refueling at exactly the second they were scheduled isn't just amazing, it's reality here at Grissom.

Working behind the scenes to make that midair connection happen are planners and schedulers with the 434th Operations Support Squadron who coordinated nearly 1,300 successful missions in 2014 alone.

"On average, we fly 20 sorties a week, not including the deployed missions," said Lt. Col. Todd Thibault, 434th OSS chief of scheduling. "Preparation for the actual mission begins months in advance and requires coordination efforts with several other organizations before the aircraft leave the ground."

Those missions include various training and real-world operations to include inflight refueling, cargo operations, personnel movement and aeromedical evacuation missions.

Each year the 434th Air Refueling Wing is allocated a number of flying hours, which require schedulers to balance flight hours and missions to stay on target.

"Last year 4,884 flying hours were allocated, but to stay within those parameters we overschedule to compensate for an estimated 15 percent attrition rate," explained Thibault. "That means if we do not fly due to maintenance, weather or for a variety of reasons we still fall within our allocated flight hours.

"In addition, our allocated flight hours are constantly shifting to maintain mission requirements such as deployments," he added.

Despite all of the variables, schedulers were able to meet their mark with 4,866.5 flight hours flown during fiscal year 2014 out of 4,884 allocated, and that process began with coordination through the 434th Maintenance Group.

"We begin by communicating with maintenance for an amount of sorties we want to fly to create a long-range schedule," said Maj. Dave Curl, 72nd Air Refueling Wing pilot tasked with flight scheduling and planning.

Throughout the scheduling process communication with receiver units with aerial refueling requirements is critical, said Thibault.

"It's my responsibility to communicate with all the units that have an aerial refueling requirement," he elaborated. "I look at our schedule and determine if there is a refueling track, aircraft and all essential personnel to complete the requested mission; I then correspond with maintenance to ensure we will have enough aircraft to complete that particular mission.

"In addition to maintenance, we also plan to ensure we have enough pilots and boom operators for the missions," he added.

After the task of the long-range planning is completed, schedulers go through another planning process to ensure nothing has been missed, said Curl.

"Two weeks prior to the mission, we iron out all of the maintenance and aircrew schedules in addition to coordinating with standardization and evaluations and training flight to confirm the mission is still a go," explained Curl. "Planners then take the details and build a packet with all essential paperwork for the mission."

However, after a mission gets its final go, schedulers go one step further to ensure aircrews are taken care of.

"Between family and civilian jobs, reservists are limited to the amount of time they have here, so we ensure they are taken care of by setting up transportation, lodging and any other needs they might have for a particular mission," said Thibault. "This allows them to spend their time here focusing on the mission and getting the most out of it."

Ultimately, getting the most out of the allocated flight hours to ensure aircrews remain mission ready is what it is all about, said Thibault.

"The majority of refueling missions are used to complete required training for the aircrews including the receiver pilots," he concluded. "Successfully scheduled missions here ensure when aircrews deploy somewhere they have the experience and certifications needed to be mission ready."

Grissom is home to the 434th Air Refueling Wing, the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command, as well as three Army Reserve units. Airmen, Soldiers and Marines routinely deploy from Grissom around the world in support of the Department of Defense mission and U.S. strategic objectives.

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Refueling tracks