SIOUX CITY, Iowa (Iowa Media Wire) – On Tuesday morning, the 185th Air Refueling Wing opened its doors to some people in the community to see what a typical training day looks like.
“We had six A-10 aircraft out of the Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri,” tech sergeant Tyler Schiefen said. “They needed some extra fuel for their training because as small aircraft they can’t haul as much fuel, so we were able to get our training done, as well as help them complete more of their training.”
The three-hour mission was a success on all fronts.
“Today was a great day getting to fly,” Shiefen said. “Just getting to fly down to Missouri just for a couple of hours and doing refueling, I find that super fun. It’s a good way for the day to go by fast too.”
“I hope everyone enjoyed the flight,” staff sergeant Meleah Johnson said. “It’s kind of cool that you got to see a taste of my world.”
From the foreign object damage walk at 8 a.m. to the actual takeoff at noon, the 185th Air Refueling Wing showed that it takes more than the people on the plane to run a successful mission.
“It takes a whole group here at the 185th,” Schiefen said. “It’s not just the flyers that are doing the mission. The maintenance people as well as the back office shops that you don’t see, they’re doing a lot of stuff to make sure we maintain our currency, and make sure we can go fly as well.”
Tuesday’s training proved the importance of the men and women in the 185th Air Refueling Wing.
“In order to get airplanes and cargo and people moved all around the world, without air refueling it would be impossible,” commander Sonya Morrison said.