Civic leaders learn what it takes to keep MacDill's tankers flying Published June 10, 2010 By Nick Stubbs 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Keeping 50-year-old aircraft flying is no easy task, and honorary commanders for the 6th Air Mobility and 927th Air Refueling wings found out just what the job is all about last week, when they toured the 6th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and got to roll up their sleeves. It was a hands-on demo of the job, said Senior Master Sgt. Phillip Greer, a maintenance supervisor with the squadron. Tour members got to turn wrenches and get up close and personal with the aircraft and experience to job of maintainers. "It was to get people familiar with what we do in the area of maintenance, and to see what it takes to keep these old planes flying," Sergeant Greer said. It's a 24-hour-a-day operation, he notes, with a "lot of attention to detail." "The planes are old, so we spend a lot of time inspecting, looking for problems and taking care of them before they become big problems." The 6th AMXS includes members of the 927th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, for a total of 317 personnel. Their job is to inspect, launch and recover the 16 KC-135 tratotankers based at MacDill. Some of the aircraft are nearly as old as the Air Force itself.