Refueling Jets

I live in the area of Austin Straubel International Airport near Green Bay, WI. As of lately, I've been seeing alot of activity from refueling jets coming and going. About two weeks ago, I saw at least one, if not two flying around circling, and today getting home from work I counted three (make that four, another just landed as I am typing this) landing, and I'm unsure if any landed prior to me getting home.

I may be wrong about the type of jets these are, but I see the little V-wing at the tail that I've seen on tv as the stabilizer for the fuel line. The jets are all the same, with four very large engines slung under the wings, and there are flat grey with no markings that I can see.

Does anybody know of anything in the area that might be going on? Training maybe?

A fifth one just landed.

EDIT:
Sixth just landed
[edit on 27-4-2009 by Mekanic]

EDIT:
Looked it up, they are definatly KC-135s KC-135

[edit on 27-4-2009 by Mekanic]

Not a million miles away

the General Mitchell Air National Guard Station, home to the 128th Air Refueling Wing (128 ARW), an Air Mobility Command (AMC)-gained unit of the Wisconsin Air National Guard flying the KC-135R Stratotanker

From Wikipedia

General Mitchell International Airport

Sounds like they are using some new gotten money to get their flying hours. I worked at an airport as a lineman in GA and a couple of times a year we would get 17-20 blackhawks come and go all day.

Those were long days.

You know, I was just thinking about this.

The Air Force One flyover is supposedly being reported as an photo op stemming from a training exercise. Could it be that the training exercise in question was a refueling operation?

Comer on people... The Airforce fly's a crap load of training missions every single day, from hundreds of different bases around the globe. This is what we do, we train. 365 days a year we train for something and somewhere in the world. As a person who lived and worked on and near Airforce bases, unless you are the commander or crew of these Aircraft you will never know what they do up there... you can speculate all day. Every mission is practice for the next one.

The KC-135's were the first Aircraft I worked on so I have fond memories of them, also very frustrating memories too. They are one of the oldest still running fleets of aircraft in the Airforce. So much fun and scary to be inside a huge flying gas station.

So anyways...just about any day of the week you can look up and see a US Miitary Aircraft flying around doing some kind of training.

reply to post by SubliminalHacker


And I understand that. But this is Green Bay. At most, we'll see four fighters buzz Lambeau Field for a football game. It's very rare that we see aircraft here for training exercises, especially not six, and especially not when the base of operations is less than two hours drive time away.

They train wherever the airspace isnt over "saturated" so that day they picked that airfield, it makes it easy when you have new pilots and very little air traffic to distract them.

Not sure if this helps the OP but I also live directly in the path of where the Airtankers land out of Rickenbacher and I watch them landing in groups of 3,4,5,6 sometimes the numbers vary almost always 3 though and its on a everyday basis.

I often wonder what the heck they are doing up there everyday, especially when they come in a minute or two apart in large groups. With everything thats going on in the world though I figure they probably have a lot of aircraft to refuel up there

its not uncommon to train in a location out of the norm...it gives us more experience with different settings. Most of my career was traveling to other locations. I doubt it wasn't anything more than training missions, but still keep an eye on it. It might be a new Mena, Arkansas... (IRAN/Contra Affair) as KC-135's can hold cargo too... see I can conspire too

Military presence

The airport also hosts the General Mitchell Air National Guard Station, home to the 128th Air Refueling Wing (128 ARW), an Air Mobility Command (AMC)-gained unit of the Wisconsin Air National Guard flying the KC-135R Stratotanker. The wing performs both Federal and State missions and consists of approximately 1000 Air National Guard personnel, both full-time Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) and Air Reserve Technicians (ART), as well as traditional part-time guardsmen, available for world-wide deployment in support of Air Mobility Command and combatant commander tasking. The wing also maintains a KC-135 flight simulator, providing training profciency for its own crews as well as other KC-135 flight crews in other air refueling wings and air mobility wings in the Regular U.S. Air Force, the Air Force Reserve Command and the Air National Guard.

Prior to 2007, the military installation was known as General Mitchell Air Reserve Station and was also home to the 440th Airlift Wing (440 AW), an Air Mobility Command (AMC)-gained unit of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) flying the C-130H Hercules. While based at General Mitchell ARS, the 440 AW numbered in excess of 1500 full-time AGR, ART and part-time traditional reservists. Pursuant to BRAC 2005 action, the 440 AW relocated to Pope AFB, North Carolina in 2007 and the former AFRC facilities were turned over to the Air National Guard, resulting in the installation's renaming.

reply to post by Stillresearchn911


Inflight refueling is not just 'stick the hose in the tank'!

It requires initial, and re-current training. Practice, especially under difficult environments, such as turbulence.

AND, as someone already pointed out, in the air branches of the Armed Services, ANY excuse to fly is very welcomed.

(Sorry to the AD people....this is my impression as a "FLAP" who eventually was hired and flew for a major passenger airline...to work with many pilots I respected who tried to convey their experiences in the military. I flew with rotor-wing Army to AirForce fighter pilots...everyone had a story!!!)

edit= Oh, and Navy and Marine aviators, as well....forgot to mention....oops.

[edit on 4/29/0909 by weedwhacker]

Hey Milwaukean here, The tankers here in town have been flying more missions lately, but they do that every summer it seems. Probably just doing training now that the weather isn't too horrible anymore.

This last Tuesday, I counted at least a half dozen cargo planes, C-130s and such, flying in. So yesterday I asked a buddy of mine, his brother is in the Army, and from time to time I can get limited info out of him. Anyway, he told me that they are picking up local reservists and transporting them to the east coast for deployment to the Middle East. So far, that's the best info I can get.

I never claimed that this was some conspiracy, I just find it odd that there's been such a large number of military craft coming through here when we don't normally see it.

All military units go on deployments, the Navy for example it's 6 months on a ship or an overseas base depending on the squadron. In time of war the deployment will generally be to the area at war for obvious support.

Before a squadron, ship etc., can go on deployment it has to qualify in certain areas, take-off and landings, re-fueling, touch and go's and night traps etc., (for carrier ops), minimum flight hours, and the ground crews also have to train.

They call this training 'work ups'. It can take months of training to prepare for a deployment. The Navy goes to sea a bunch of times, for a week here and there, a couple of months etc, to let air and ships crews qualify.

So training is pretty much continual, just because the unit is not deployed it is still very busy, often more so then when actually deployed. So seeing military training is not a sign something is 'going on', because training goes on regardless and units usually don't go on deployment until it's scheduled to as there are enough 'units' already deployed, or about to deploy, to cover it. If not they call in the reserves.