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Air Force reservists take part in RIMPAC

  • Published
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  Air Force reservists from Tinker AFB, Okla., traveled to the Pacific theater in July to take part in RIMPAC, a large-scale, biennial, multinational exercise.

Aircrews and aircraft maintainers along with four KC-135 aircraft from Air Force Reserve Command’s 507th Air Refueling Wing participated in the sea mobility exercise. Seven Pacific Rim nations and the United Kingdom sent 40 ships, six submarines and more than 150 aircraft off the coast of Hawaii.

“We flew three or four sorties a day refueling Navy and Air Force aircraft,” said Maj. Gerald Malloy, chief of current operations for the Reserve wing’s 465th Air Refueling Squadron. “The sorties were typically four hours long with a 60,000-pound offload capability.

“We were the only Air Force tankers deployed for the exercise,” he said. “The Canadians were there, but I don’t think we refueled them since they had their KC-130s.”

RIMPAC is designed to enhance the tactical capabilities of participating units in major aspects of maritime operations at sea. (AFRC News Service)