An Honor to Fly

  • Published
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  Reserve Airmen assigned to the 18th Air Refueling Squadron, the flying unit of the 931st Air Refueling Group, gave some of McConnell's honorary commanders a close-up view of the base's mission in August.

The commanders were passengers on a KC-135 Stratotanker to watch an aerial refueling mission assigned to the 931st ARG during its monthly unit training assembly. Through the tanker's rear windows, they watched another KC-135 hook up to and receive fuel via their KC-135's boom. The Air Force's KC-135s capable of receiving fuel while in flight are only found at McConnell AFB.

All but one of the honorary commanders were assigned to units within the 22nd Air Refueling Wing, the 931st's active-duty host unit at McConnell. Jody Baker, principal of Meadowlark at Prairie Creek Elementary School in Derby, Kan., and honorary commander of the 931st Operations Support Flight, was the only non-22nd participant.

The honorary commander program is designed to foster better relationships between Air Force units and the local community by inviting civic leaders to participate directly in Air Force activities. Because many civic leaders have busy schedules during the work week, the weekend training assemblies of Air Force Reserve units like the 931st ARG often provide more convenient times for inviting honorary commanders to fly.

The McConnell honorary commander program has become another example of total-force teamwork here. Dave Wenz, Special Olympics Board member and honorary commander of the 931st Civil Engineer Squadron, watched an aerial refueling mission in late July while flying with a KC-135 crew from the 22nd ARW.