exercise. Nearly 90 aircraft with roughly 2,500
supporting personnel participated in Red Flag,
and the eet of four KC-135 Stratotankers,
including 63-7999 from Mildenhall, alongside
an RAF A330 Voyager, were responsible for
delivering fuel in the air to the international
coalition during day and night operations.
While this was taking place, other
personnel and aircraft from the unit were
involved in a major initiative in Northern
Europe called a Theater Security Package
(TSP). A TSP is essentially the fast re-
enforcement of forces to counter potential
threats. In early February, the 351st
provided aerial refuelling training to four
Swedish Air Force Saab Gripens in Swedish
airspace, and 180th Fighter Wing, Ohio Air
National Guard, F-16C Fighting Falcons.
The 12 F-16s and nearly 300 airmen from
the 180th had deployed to Ämari Air Base in
Estonia as a TSP.
Another big exercise – the UK’s Joint
Warrior – was supported by the unit’s
Stratotankers in April. Joint Warrior is a tri-
service multinational exercise that involves
numerous warships, aircraft, marines and
troops. It provides a complex environment
in which UK, NATO and allied units go
through training together in tactics and skills
for use in a combined joint task force and is
Europe’s largest military exercise involving
air, sea and ground components. Mildenhall
deployed aircraft tted with the multi-point
refuelling system, and was able to serve
a variety of customers, including RAF
Euro ghter Typhoons.TANKER SYMPOSIUM
In mid-May the wing hosted the fth annual
European Tanker Symposium, which was
attended by 13 NATO member countries.
The event enables allies to share their
experiences, discuss tanker technology, and
build on integration across the force.
The week-long event included mixed
formation academics, discussions and ights
in a KC-135 and an RAF Voyager. Ultimately,
the event’s aim is to develop best practices
when ying in a multinational formation, and
the goal was once again achieved.
Speaking at the time, Lt Col Timothy
Mach, 100th Operations Group deputy
commander said: “This is one of the rst times that we’ve gotten together
as European partners to speci cally
concentrate on these tactics, techniques
and procedures on how we operate together.
Being able to y on the airplanes, we can
all get an idea of the countries that don’tnormally do formation ying together, and
we can start building those procedures.”
Following hot on the symposium’s heels
was Exercise Point Blank, a large-force
training event designed and co-hosted by the
RAF and the USAF’s 48th Fighter Winghttp://www.aviation-news.co.uk 45An RAF E-3D taking fuel over the
North Sea on May 17, 2018 as part of
the fth European Tanker Symposium.
USAF/Tech Sgt David DobrydneyA Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16 and USAF F-15C Eagle y behind a 100th ARW KC-135
during an aerial refuelling training mission over the Netherlands on March 21, 2018. USAF/Senior
Airman Luke Milano42-47_usaf_arwDC.mfDC.indd 45 07/06/2018 12:59