WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- The 89th Airlift Squadron conducted both classroom and flightline specialized fueling operations training for the C-17 Globemaster III during the August unit training assembly Aug. 3, 2024.
The aircrew members were instructed and evaluated on checklists for pre-, hot-, wet-wing- and post-refueling, as well as bulk fuel delivery systems.
Typically conducted by fuels specialists, SFO is used when aircrew members transfer fuel from an aircraft to another expeditionary fuel bladder, fuel truck or fighter aircraft.
The process also includes the transfer of fuel from a non-aircraft source into an aircraft having one or more engines running. These types of fueling or defueling are used in emergency and combat situations.
After covering procedures, hazards and checklists in the classroom, pilots and loadmasters travelled out to the flightline where a C-17 was parked in a specific and approved fueling location.
There the Airmen were cycled through wet-wing and hot-fueling procedures, which included rigorously following checklists.
“Normally, when we do a defuel, all the engines are turned off,” said Tech. Sgt. David Fink, 89th AS loadmaster. “[SFO training] is a process designed to make this as quick as possible. We can do that by keeping half of the engines on and pumping gas out.”
Fink added that this allows the aircrew and whoever needs the fuel to get in and out of somewhere fast.
Master Sgt. Kelly Earehart, an 89th AS loadmaster and the loadmaster evaluator, said the training is an annual requirement for aircrew members.
“It’s not particularly cosmic training; it’s just fueling,” Earehart said. “But it is something, especially with future conflicts arising, that will start to become more prevalent.”
Earehart gave the example that if fighter jets were in an isolated location, like an island, the C-17 with its ability to carry 28,000 gallons of fuel, would allow the aircrew to land, refuel the fighters without completely shutting down engines, and still have fuel enough to return to their destination.
He said that through wet-wing operations, aircrews reduce reliance on standard fuel storage distribution points, enabling other aircraft to disperse and operate from more locations.
The training is an annual requirement with the goal to ensure the aircrews are trained, certified and confident to safely execute SFO procedures in any operation, Earehart added.