In Flight Refueling Always Starts with a Boom
Tech. Sgt. Jake Way, a 340th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron boom operator, performs his preflight checks on a circuit breaker panel before another mission in a KC-135R Stratotanker, June 21, 2009, at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia. The KC-135R aircrews support combat operations by performing inflight refueling for combat aircraft supporting servicemembers in operations on the ground in the U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility. Sergeant Way hails from Meridian, Miss. and is deployed from the 186th Air Refueling Wing, Miss. Air National Guard, in support of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom and Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Andrew Satran/released)