Fueling the Fight – The 100th Air Refueling Wing At Trident Juncture
For the fighter pilots participating in the largest NATO exercise since 2002 – Trident Juncture 2015 – aerial refueling tracks with the codenames “STAR 26”, “Texaco”, “Horse” and “IBIZA” amongst others were key to the success of their mission – because NKAWTG! Providing ‘flying gas stations’ that enable the short-legged fighters to extend combat radius and loiter time is a service as vital as ever and heavily in demand. When requesting tanker support in Europe, be it for exercises or real-world operations, quite often the first unit to answer the call is the 100th Air Refueling Wing, the ‘Bloody Hundredth’ based at RAF Mildenhall in the UK. Kevin Jackson writes.
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