United States Air Force

I joined the Air Force with the desire to be an Inflight Refueling Specialist, i.e. a Boom Operator aboard the KC-135 aircraft. There were only 1400 Boom Operators in all of the Air Force and 250 new airmen enlisting daily. To make matters worse, it is one of the (if not the) most desirable and sought after positions for an enlisted person, provided you like to fly.

After Water Survival School (Homestead AFB near Miami, FL) and Basic Survival School and Physiological Training, which included Escape and Evasion training (Fairchild AFB near Spokane, WA) I was sent to Boom Operator school which was conducted at Castle AFB near Merced, California. I finished first in my class at Boom School and was transferred a couple hundred miles north to Beale AFB near Marysville, CA.

At Beale, I was part of a pretty elite air refueling squadron that was the envy of most tanker crews. We were supporting the top-secret reconnaissance aircraft, the Lockheed SR- 71. Aircrews at other bases typically were required to "pull alert" meaning they were restricted to the alert facility for a week once or twice a month. Instead of alert, we went TDY (temporary duty) in support of the SR- 71 mission. A Mach-3+ aircraft (33 miles a minute), the SR- 71 cruised at over eighty thousand feet (more than fifteen miles above the earth) and over two thousand miles per hour. It carried a wide variety of observation equipment and was capable of pre-attack and post-attack reconnaissance missions. Under normal conditions the SR- 71 could fly from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. in just over an hour, and could survey one-hundred thousand square miles of the earth's surface during that hour.

My first and only trip to Wake Island was not planned. At one time, Wake was a stopping point for prop planes en-route to Asia. On this trip we had a single crew, no PAX (passengers) with the mission to swap our plane for another once we arrived in Okinawa, and then return immediately to California. The first trip across the pond for me. Halfway between Hawaii and Okinawa we lost an engine and were forced to divert to Wake. Wake Island is beautiful with just a few inhabitants, other than birds. Spent the night and explored the island (old artillery, remains of crashed KC-135, beach houses) while awaiting a part to arrive via C-9 on a mission to pick up sick Guamanian on the island for transport to a Guam hosp. The C-9 delivered the part and departed. We got our plane working and just before departing for Okinawa got a radio call. The C-9 had a problem and was returning to Wake; we'd have to transport the sick guy to Guam. We did so and finally arrived in Okinawa. Spent one night and flew the other tanker nonstop from Okinawa to California, via Mt Fuji and the Aleutian Islands via the great-circle route.

On my fifth qualification flight at Beale, we encountered some problems and set the Beale record for the shortest, non-fatal, landing of a KC-135. The flight is best described by the SAC Accident Bulletin, Major Aircraft Accident #73-3.

There were seven crew members on board, the Official crew consisting of Aircraft Commander, George Ward, the copilot Lt. Hartman, navigator Lt. McMillion and me as Boom Operator. In addition, there was an instructor pilot (Capt Crawford), instructor boom operator (SMSgt Campbell), and another pilot. The training mission would include an SR- 71 refueling and a navigation leg followed by touch-and-go landings. The SR-71 receiver aircraft cancelled so we were forced to cancel. We returned to the base with the maximum allowable fuel load for practice landing. On our first touchdown the nose gear collapsed. From my boom operator seat behind the pilot nothing but the runway pavement was visible out of the front window. The plane quickly came to a stop and we in the cockpit exited through the cabin door to the cargo area to see the other crew members exiting the left overwing hatch. We followed, jumping from the leading edge of the wing. Fuel from the ruptured forward body tank covered the ground, burning. Fortunately, the fuel was JP-7, a fuel used by the SR-71 with a higher flash point thus not explode.

Following the Yom Kippur War (also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War) life changed for Beale flight crews and the operational missions increased significantly. The Yom Kippur War was, incidentally, only the third time in history (2nd to-date) that the military attained a defense condition 3 (DEFCON 3), which means alert forces attained a heightened state of readiness. The other times DEFCON 3 was reached were during the Cuban Missile Crisis (Strategic Air Command went to DEFCON 2), and the World Trade Center attack on 9/11.

The SR- 71 recon missions continued frequently throughout all of 1974. Twelve tanker crews were stationed in Madrid during this turbulent period. The tour-of-duty was never known in advance. We would leave Beale on a couple of days notice for a TDY that would last two weeks to two months, or more. Recon missions were scheduled almost daily with the SR-71 departing Seymour-Johnson AFB in North Carolina during the early evening. This meant a flight across the Atlantic and a return trip for each mission. It also meant that many tanker crews were required for the multiple air refuelings that were needed. With the SR-71's mach 3+ speed, the tanker's mission time was almost as long as the SR's. More often than not, within an hour prior to takeoff, our mission was cancelled. In the wee hours of the morning we were pretty pumped up so sleep was not our choice. Instead, a CANX (cancellation) party usually ensued.

In 1976, Operation Glowing Speed demonstrated our military capability to the world by setting a world speed and altitude record. There were actually several records set. Altitude in Horizontal Flight, Speed Over a Straight Course, and Speed Over a Closed Course. Our crew participated in the latter. The plan was for the SR- 71 to set world speed and altitude records on its way to the Farnborough Air Show, where it was to be on display. Due to the distance, the SR- 71 required several air refuelings. After departing Beale AFB late in the evening, the Blackbird refueled just prior to passing the L.A. "gate" that began the record flight. For each refueling the SR was required to descend to our refueling altitude of about twenty-eight thousand feet and to slow to subsonic airspeed. Our tanker was idling on the runway hammerhead ready for emergency use. If the SR got into trouble, we could launch immediately and supply fuel until the emergency was resolved. From my vantage point on the wing of the tanker, it was quite a sight. That world record stands to this day.

As an Instructor Boom Operator I was selected to refuel one of the original B-1 bomber test aircraft based at Edwards AFB, CA. Three of the high-performance B-1 bombers were produced before being cancelled under the Carter Administration. Because it was a test aircraft only instructors were selected the idea being that we would train other boom operators at our respective bases. I believe all three eventually crashed during flight test operations.

Out of Okinawa we would always support the SR-71 Recon mission for flights over Vietnam, Korea, and occasionally Japan, and among other places I wasn't privy to. Okinawa was a lot of fun especially if you were into buying stereo equipment. The exchange rate was about 335 ¥ to the dollar so Japanese equipment cost about 40% of the price you'd pay stateside. In addition, the paycheck went a little further because it was usually tax-free. In Europe we supported many types of aircraft including EC-135 for operational missions along Norway and various fighter aircraft performing training missions. And at times we supported the SR-71 with flights out of Mildenhall Air Base, UK and Torrejon AB, Spain.

In 2006, after thirty years on the ground, I had the privilege of flying as an observer with the Pittsburgh Air National Guard. Brigadier General Boardley, my former navigator and then Wing Commander, was retiring.


Good day to get above the clouds. A former Beale plane (photo by Dan Dickey)	Engines are much bigger now (photo by Dan Dickey)

Contact! (photo by Dan Dickey)	Disconnect (photo by Dan Dickey)

Cockpit view (photo by Dan Dickey)	Former KC-135 Q-model, now with Pittsburgh ANG (photo by Dan Dickey)

Sister ship refueling KC-10 (photo by Dan Dickey)	Interior (photo by Dan Dickey)

Dan (right) with former Nav, Brigadier General Boardley (Ret.)	Sextant once used for navigation (photo by Dan Dickey)


SR-71 Over California (photo by Dan Dickey)	SR-71 Refueling (photo by Dan Dickey)


Original B-1 During Test Flight (photo by Dan Dickey)	Refueling the B-1 (photo by Dan Dickey)