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That constant presence provides a wide range of capabilities, he said. “About a quarter of my squadron has been deployed performing combat missions for nearly three decades.” “The KC-10 Extender is 37 years old and we’ve been deployed continually since Desert Storm for 27 years,” he said. One area the colonel said he’s proud of is the unit’s combat record. “I’m very proud of the accomplishments of our booms,” Longmire said. In 2017, 6th ARS boom operators supported testing of the KC-46A Pegasus, special operations forces, the first deployment of the F-35 Lightning II and much more. The first award given out in his honor was presented in 1980 and the 6th ARS first received the award in 1989. He was fatally injured during a KC-135 Stratotanker mishap at Castle AFB, California, in September 1979. He held positions at the command and base levels as an instructor, evaluator and program manager. Albert Evans was well known and recognized in Strategic Air Command due to his skill and expertise as a boom operator. Albert Evans award is meaningful because it’s tied specifically to the boom operator 1A career field and it’s a memorial award for a guy that embodied everything the boom operators are about,” said Lt. The 6th ARS received the honor for the sixth time, more than any unit in the Air Force. The award is given to the most outstanding air refueling section in the Air Force each year. The section was responsible for offloading 50 million pounds of fuel to more than 4,000 receiver aircraft and supporting missions around the globe.Īt the 39th Annual Boom Operator’s Symposium at Altus AFB, Oklahoma, the section received the 2017 Senior Master Sgt. Nearly three dozen Airmen of the 6th Air Refueling Squadron’s in-flight refueling section at Travis Air Force Base, California, had quite a year in 2017.