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Silver Carpet Ride

  • Published
  • By Airman First Class Anthony J. Hyatt
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. --  "Hello honey. How was work? What did you do today?" 

This may be the usual conversation starter when a husband or wife returns home from work, and the most common response may be, "Busy. . . I did the same thing I do every day." 

So what does the "same thing I do every day" mean?

For spouses of members assigned to the 325th Operations Support Squadron, an up-close look at their spouse's daily responsibilities was offered Thursday and Friday as the 325th OSS hosted their "Silver Carpet Day."

The intent of the Spouses' day program is to favorably influence the attitude of a member's spouse toward the Air Force by providing a firsthand look at the member's mission.

"The whole idea is to show appreciation for the spouses, and to familiarize them with the duties and operations their husbands and wives support daily," said Capt. Mathew Lowrey, 325th OSS assistant scheduler.

To kick start Friday's tour, 18 spouses got the chance to board a KC-135 Stratotanker and take off to watch a refueling mission. The Stratotanker's principle mission is air refueling.

Before takeoff, all passengers received a safety briefing from Master Sgt. Rowdy Smith and Staff Sgt. Steve Stanton, KC-135 boom operators from the 77th Air Refueling Squadron, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.

"It was awesome to see my husband fly in and get refueled from the boom operator," said Donna Benjamin, wife of Lt. Col. Warren Benjamin, the 325th OSS commander. "I waved to him, and he made an 'I love you' hand gesture!"

The KC-135 holds about 40,000 gallons of fuel and flies at altitudes above 27,000 feet.

"Everyone should be able to experience this," said Rose Anderson, wife of Senior Master Sgt. Delbert Anderson, 325th OSS wing life support.

It's amazing how close the planes get when being refueled," said Leeann Johnson, wife of Tech. Sgt. Ryan Johnson, 325th OSS wing life support.

It's not every day you go on a tour and receive a free plane ride and see a fighter aircraft "hit" a tanker during a refueling mission.

Many spouses took photographs to document their experience.

"I have my new screensaver for my cell phone," said Thomas Warren, husband of Tech. Sgt. Jane Warren, referring to a picture of an F-15 taken through the windows of a KC-135 mid-flight. "There should be more tours like this throughout the year."

After landing, the spouses enjoyed barbecue for lunch and continued the tour. Spouses also toured life support facilities, F-15 simulators, the control tower, and received briefs from intelligence and weather professionals.

The goal is for spouses to better understand what their husband or wife does every day. By getting a glimpse of the things they do on a day-to-day basis, they know what it really means to "do the same thing" every day.