Life booms for KC-10 airman

9/8/2003 - OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM (AFPN) -- At midnight, Airman 1st Class Katherine Monke looked out over Afghanistan from here KC-10 Extender. She said one of the best things about her job was just sitting up in the cockpit.

I think to myself, I wonder what my friends back home are doing? Then I look down and realize I am flying over Baghdad or Afghanistan or one of the hundreds of other places I have flown over, Monke said. I know this is something they will never get to experience, and this is something that I will never forget.

Monke, the tankers boom operator, will usually refuel between one and four planes, but she stayed incredibly busy on this 12-hour mission Sept. 5, making 18 refuelings.

Monke chose to be a boom operator after her recruiter suggested she be a flier, since she had a great desire to travel and see the world.

It is definitely a lot of fun. I am happy with my decision, she said.

Monke has been in the Air Force for almost two years, with training taking up the better part of one of those years. This is her first deployment.

Four hours into the mission, Monke was called to her post to make the first boom connection. A-10 Thunderbolt IIs and F-16 Fighting Falcons were her customers that night.

A-10s are the hardest to refuel because they fly so much slower than the KC-10. The KC-10 has to drastically slow down for them to catch up, Monke said.

Refueling an A-10 makes my job look a lot harder than it is. Really, I never have to work this hard to get someone connected, she said as the A-10 pilot backed away for his fourth attempt at a connection.

Although the situation can be frustrating, Monke remained calm as the A-10 came in closer.

She can do that. She can handle the most nerve-racking portion of her job with a lot of patience because she is damn good at her job, said flight engineer Tech. Sgt. Mike Cox.

After the A-10 received its fill, Monke received a short break. At 1:25 a.m., she prepared to refuel two F-16s.

A little more than five hours later, after distributing more than 60,000 pounds of fuel, the biggest part of Monkes job was finished. She was nearing the end of her 16-hour duty day, but still had to complete the paperwork that comes with the job.

With her paperwork completed, she was free to start studying her Career Development Course.

The best thing about her job, she said, are the people she works with.

Everyone I work with is phenomenal. They all have knowledge to share, and we learn from each other along the way, she said.

Although her time in the Air Force has been short, Monke has already accomplished one of the biggest goals she had set for herself: Working on a KC-10. Before leaving for basic training, she had seen a KC-10 at an air show and set her sights on it.

When you come in as a boom (operator) you are guaranteed to work on a KC-135, but you have to be asked to join the KC-10 team, she said. I told my dad, That is the plane I want to work on. So, being asked to work on (it) is definitely my biggest accomplishment.