Basing criteria released for new tanker Published March 6, 2012 By Staff Reports Wright Times Staff SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- A formal training unit (FTU), a first main operating base (MOB 1) led by active duty and a second main operating base (MOB 2) led by an Air National Guard unit will be among the first wings to receive the new KC-46A tanker. If everything goes according to plan, the Air Force will identify the first two bases to house the new tanker by the end of the year. Seymour Johnson Air Force Base officials know this, and just yesterday received information that put the eastern North Carolina-based wing in the running as one of the 10 operating bases to ultimately receive the KC-46A. So 916th Air Refueling Wing Commander Col. Laen August -- the man who will serve as the Reserve wing's top officer while Col. Randall Ogden is deployed to the Middle East -- took some time in March to talk about just why the Goldsboro installation is worthy of receiving some of the very first KC-46As. "We feel like we are exceptionally well-postured to be a future base location for the (aircraft)," he said. His logic is fairly simple. In "USAF Force Structure Changes: Sustaining Readiness and Modernizing the Total Force," a report published the first week of February by top Air Force brass, officials said they intended to "establish Active or Classic Associations at all continental U.S. KC-46 locations." And a Reserve Association already exists in Goldsboro -- a fact that "raises our profile right off the bat," August said. Seymour Johnson's proximity to Camp Lejuene and Fort Bragg is also "a plus." "We've got ready access to a variety of Navy receiver aircraft, Marine Corps receiver aircraft, and we're positioned very close to over 18 refueling tracts here in the United States, to make it very cost-effective for us to conduct the kind of air refueling training that we need and our receivers need," August said. But the base's location offers more than access to the other installations. "We're also very near the eastern seaboard, so we're postured well for deployment," the colonel said. "But we're far enough away from the coast where we don't have to worry about salt water corrosion problems." Then factor in the 916th's track record -- being the first KC-135 unit called upon to refuel aircraft over Libya during Operation Odyssey Dawn and the first to refuel the F-35 and F-22. "We've got a great reputation from an operational standpoint," August said. · According to a February report, development of the KC-46 "remains on track for initial deliveries" in fiscal year 2016. The strategic basing criteria released on May 14 announced that an active-duty led classic association, an Air National Guard led active association and a training location would be the first three bases to receive the new tanker. According to the KC-46A Fleet Basing Strategy the Air Force Reserve has two wings that will get the new tanker. So the colonel will continue to state Seymour Johnson's case. He will talk about his airmen and how gracefully they perform their duties to ensure the wing's aging fleet of KC-135s is always ready when the nation calls. "I'm constantly amazed that I'm flying an airplane that in most cases is as old, if not older, than I am," August said. "Not only do they look great, they fly incredibly well. I can tell you, the maintenance we have out here on these airplanes is unrivaled." He will unwrap just how successful the association between active duty and Reserve personnel has been -- a partnership he characterizes as a "winning combination." And his hope is that the Air Force will agree that something special is happening at Seymour Johnson -- that they will reward the base, and the communities that house it, with a new airframe to celebrate. "We want to highlight ourselves," August said. "Because in many ways, we are one of the best kept secrets in North Carolina -- and in the Air Force." Editor's note: Ken Fine, editor of the Wright Times, was a major contributor to this article.