U.S. Air Forces Central > Units > 379th Air Expeditionary Wing

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

Official websites use .mil

A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.

Secure .mil websites use HTTPS

A lock () or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

U.S. Air Forces Central

AUAB Airmen innovate, remove KC-135 vertical stabilizer

379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

Video by Tech. Sgt. Devin Boyer

Sept. 28, 2023 | 0:43

U.S. Air Force Airmen assigned to the 379th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, 379th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, and 379th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron successfully removed and reattached the vertical stabilizer from a KC-135 Stratotanker to conduct maintenance on the rudder at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, Sept. 15-24, 2023.

The 379th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron repurposed mattresses to construct a safe platform for the vertical stabilizer to rest on, allowing maintainers to restore the aircraft to operational status. This was the first time in nine years that a KC-135's vertical stabilizer was removed at Al Udeid Air Base. More