Looming cuts to the budget of Air National Guard and Reserve refuelers in the northeast has left the Air Force scrambling to find ways to move troops and equipment from the U.S. to Europe and the war zones. (Ben Bloker/Stars and Stripes)
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Looming budget cuts have the Air Force scrambling to find ways to get troops and supplies to Europe and the war zones.
Since 2003, 400 Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve airmen who are part of the stateside Northeast Tanker Task Force have been working full time to perform air-to-air refueling for fighters and transports heading to Europe, Iraq and Afghanistan.
But funding for the program was cut by Air Mobility Command for the current fiscal year, and was only allowed to continue after the Air Force granted a one-month extension as officials tried to determine how to meet current refueling demands. So unless another extension is sought and granted, funding for the program will end next week.
The task force — made up of four national guard units and one reserve unit in the Northeastern U.S. — has performed about 1,000 refueling flights so far this year, Air Force officials said. Aircraft can be refueled as far north as Nova Scotia, allowing military flights to fly the shortest routes to Europe without landing to fill up.
"We're analyzing every aspect of the mission to find the right balance between fiscal constraints and our needs," said Capt. James Bressendorff, a spokesman for the Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base, Ill.
While the Air Force considers its alternatives, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is trying to get the funding restored. Of the guardsmen and reservists who stand to lose their full-time pay, 145 are part of the 101st Air Refueling Wing in Bangor, Maine.
On Oct. 7, Undersecretary of the Air Force Erin Conaton agreed to review the budget cuts after a phone call from Collins, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
But "to date, [Air Mobility Command] has not informed Sen. Collins of an official decision," said Kevin Kelley, Collins' communications director, on Thursday. "We have been told there have been meetings to discuss the situation."
Guardsmen operating the refueling flights in the Northeast say their location makes refueling in their region far more efficient than elsewhere in the United States. KC-135 tankers based in Maine can reach their primary refueling route over Nova Scotia in just 18 minutes, Col. Gerard Bolduc, the 101st vice commander told The Associated Press. Their proximity to Nova Scotia saves between $2,000 and $8,000 in fuel per sortie, he said.
Most active-duty bases flying tankers are in the Midwest, 101st commander Col. John D'Errico told AP. "The cost would be astronomical to fly these same missions out of active-duty bases," he said.
Aircraft that cross the Atlantic without needing to refuel do have options before heading to the Middle East. They can receive air-to-air refueling from tankers at multiple bases, including RAF Mildenhall in England, Ramstein Air Base in Germany and Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, according to Air Force websites.
However, it was unclear how any added duties for Europe-based refuelers would affect mission loads for some of the Air Force's busiest aircraft — the KC-135 tanker, which has been in service for more than 50 years, and the KC-10 Extender.
U.S. Air Forces in Europe officials declined to comment on the situation, saying they were not authorized to speak about budgetary issues.
Tanker crews flew 17,465 missions in 2009 worldwide, according to the Air Force's Combined Air and Space Operation Center. The Northeast Tanker Task Force includes the 101st ARW at Bangor Air National Guard Base; the 108th ARW and 514th Air Mobility Wing at Joint Base McGuire, N.J.; the 157th ARW at Pease Air National Guard Base, N.H., and the 171st ARW at Pittsburgh International Airport, Pa.
