Stratotanker Scramble • KC-135s Hit The Runway In Minutes

USAF KC-135 Stratotankers scramble during Exercise Global Thunder 2018 at MacDill Air Force Base, FL. Filmed in November 2017.
Film Credits: A1C Heather Fejerang, SrA Courtney Chapa
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[@cscinc]

I was a Boomer on the KC-135 in the late 70s. We sat on alert usually one week a month with 4 KC-135s and 4 B-52s ready to go to war at a moment's notice. The practice alerts were no big deal but that horn going off at 3 in the morning because they lost track of a Russian sub really got the blood pumping.

[@chuckhenderson1619]

Wow, the difference a few decades makes… Always nice to see one of the most under-appreciated aircraft in the U.S. Air Force’s inventory. I didn’t know tankers, or any aircraft for that matter, were sitting Alert. Not surprised, I guess. Thank you to the crews and (most especially) the countless non-aircrew who make it all possible! I sat SAC Alert back in the 80’s & 90’s (Kc-135A Navigator) and can tell you a practice alert back then was a loud, smoke and adrenaline-filled event. It was a serious affair and God help you if you screwed anything up. A great airplane that still delivers today and an honor to fly in it and serve.

[@stuartdavis798]

Didn't it seem like they started engines immediately without having time to verify the message? I was also a tanker nav in roughly the same time frame.

[@jasonthomas9364]

I wish it worked that way at the airport with United

[@RH-ke3od]

Gotta love the disco belts..bombs could be fallin..but dont forget your belts

[@Lynn.knepper1280]

What?

[@maxmckeen4376]

I wish there where more 707’s around

[@barriedouglas7272]

That's very impressive.

[@PabloOliverMusic]

i love this channel!!

[@misterak4603]

4:27 *when i open chrome tab on my PC*

[@johnstehno270]

I remember alert pads being really close to the active runway and little time spent taxiing. Hit the EWO switch going up the ladder and get engines started and block out. The reflective belt thing during daylight hours never made sense .

[@ChrisZoomER]

I love the sound

[@eww2175]

For Alert Force For Alert Force, Klaxon! Klaxon! Klaxon!

[@markweaver4424]

Ahhhh the memories.

[@JeffBrazier836]

I get the feeling this was edited. Let's do this with an actual timer going. I'm guessing it would be closer to 20 minutes.

[@juliaedington203]

This is my favorite air plane

[@markweaver4424]

Mine too being that I was a Boom Operator on them for 17 of my 21 years in the Air Force. Completely circled the globe in the Tankers over those years. The KC-135 and B-52 tie as the best planes in the Air Force, and both are still flying strong.

[@stuartdavis798]

@@markweaver4424 NKAWOTG

[@danielmorse6597]

Go boys go!

[@daydreamerrx3]

okay but what about checklists and so on? If something isnt intact or right with the equip, will that simply go unnoticed?

[@Ronin4614]

These would be “alert aircraft” and as such they stand pre-checked, armed( per mission requirements), equipped, and fueled. They stand ready to taxi and launch with the bulk of pre flight checklist items already completed. As such, all needed is a reason, order, and a crew to start, taxi and launch.

[@waltpullen2941]

You have to understand they are preflighted every morning, if ANYTHING is wrong a maintenance crew gets top priority work orders on it!

[@williambowdoin364]

Looks like Macdill AFB

[@allgood6760]

Cool 👍

[@thiluannguyen6199]

CHÚC MỪNG THIÊN NIÊN KỶ MỚI nhé.

[@phprofYT]

No sirens. I'm a bit off.

[@OBSDeathProof]

N.K.A.W.T.G

[@byf4ith]

N!!!!!!

[@taefun8476]

好看👍

[@hawaiiboysz]

I remember doing this BS at MacDill and the whoever crew member sat there waiting for traffic to cross the road to get onto the ramp. I kept yelling at him go go wtf are you fucking doing? One of the first briefs I got at Offutt was if you get hit by the alert vehicle it’s your own fault. Alert vehicles shouldn’t wait for traffic and if I remember right they didn’t even have a beacon or signs of alert vehicle routes posted on the damn base. MacDill was such a joke.

[@JBPrickster]

They no longer have minutes.

[@jasonlieu5379]

The KC-135 loos just like a 707 with updated engines

[@derekhime1187]

It is a 707 with upgraded engines

[@byf4ith]

R Model

[@markweaver4424]

The actual aircraft designation is a 717

[@user-mb3bi8mb4s]

Yes 707 origin. But 8 cm wider body.

[@briandugan4974]

Faily impressive but one question why were the vehicles driving so slowly?

[@byf4ith]

Sky cops

[@markweaver4424]

@Brian - that is a good question because when I was on alert under SAC, (Strategic Air Command), we always raced to see who got to their plane first and out of the chocks first if it was a mover. We had blue Dodge pickups and when the Klaxon sounded, we blew the cobwebs out of the engines. Boom Operator for life - Dreamweaver, retired 1995

[@briandugan4974]

@@markweaver4424 Thank you Mark. It wasn’t so much a scramble as a gentle stroll in the park. I was comparing it to the RAF V bomber scrambles where everything was done at a fast pace. I worked in ATC at Heathrow and saw faster "scrambles" with passenger jets so they didn’t miss their takeoff slot 😉

[@thiluannguyen6199]

Chúc đỗ học vượt nhé.

[@ericg102]

wow!!! Safety belts!!!!

[@vernonjohnsonjr1241]

No time for safety belts

[@markmitzlaff5187]

Not sure why you would need to mobilize that many but great vid.

[@dberaupilot]

To make sure there are enough tankers airborne to refuel bombers during a nuclear missile attack would be my guess

[@JoseGomez-Jr]

Depending on the alert status we can refuel our US acft. to include USN and USMC . The tankers were designed by Boeing to refuel and crash "safely" . I was always afraid for alert duty

[@hawaiiboysz]

You don’t realize how many it can take to make one lol

[@okowoo9719]

YES!!

[@eugenecann7365]

Get sum!

[@josephdupont]

This is BS why are they so far from the take off point????