Fairchild Kc-135s Bound For Bahrain

Fri., Nov. 21, 1997

From Staff And Wire Reports

Fairchild Air Force Base has deployed four KC-135 aerial refueling tankers and 28 crew members to the island nation of Bahrain, officials said Thursday.

The Fairchild group will be part of the 347th Air Expeditionary Wing and will refuel 30 fighter planes and two B-1 bombers flying missions in the Persian Gulf, said base spokeswoman Lt. Amy Hulten.

The deployment is intended to supplement existing forces in the Middle East and is capable of air combat within the next 48 hours, Hulten said.

Fairchild deployed five KC-135’s and 35 crew members to Kadena Air Force Base on the Japanese island of Okinawa on Tuesday.

Those tankers will refuel B-52 bombers headed to the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. The bombers are from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

Fairchild already has 12 aircraft and nearly 200 crew members at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. They are enforcing a no-fly zone in Iraq.

, DataTimes

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