Tanker launch
Airman 1st Class Jason Somrak, 379th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 340th Aircraft Maintenance Unit, communicates a positive response to flap and stabilizer checks on a KC-135 Stratotanker from the 22nd Air Refueling Wing, McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., as part of pre-flight procedures Sept.9, 2008. The pre-flight checklist is accomplished before the KC-135 taxies off to start its mission from an undisclosed air base in Southwest Asia. The KC-135 provides aerial refueling support to Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and allied nation aircraft engaged in Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom and Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa. Airman Somrak, a native of Colfax, La., is deployed from McConnell AFB, Kan. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Michael Boquette/Released)