Team MacDill spouses take to the skies

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Tori Schultz
  • 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Twenty-six military spouses took to the skies in a KC-135 Stratotanker for a familiarization flight at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, April 6, 2016.

The flight afforded spouses throughout the wing an opportunity to see firsthand how Airman enable the wing's mission by giving them a front row seat for a C-17 Globemaster III refueling mission.

Military spouses may be a military members' biggest supporter day in and day out. Whether their Airmen are working in garrison or deployed, spouses maintain the home front so Airmen can complete the Air Force mission.

"The spouse flight that we put together for the 6th Air Mobility Wing (AMW) was an opportunity for us to show spouses from the entire wing what their Airmen do for the base and how we execute the flying portion of our mission," said Senior Master Sgt. Henry Hewitt, superintendent of the 6th Operations Group. "To show them how important their Airmen are...and to say thank you for what they do to support all of our Airmen here every day."

The day started at 7:30 a.m. with a check-in and pre-flight brief on safety, weather, intelligence, and a welcome from Col. Daniel Tulley, commander of the 6th AMW.

After boarding two KC-135 Stratotankers, the spouses had the opportunity to ask the crew questions and walk throughout the aircraft before take-off. Each spouse had the chance to see an aerial refuel up close while in the KC-135's boom pod.

"To get in the aircraft, interact with the crew and ask questions was a lot of fun," said Holly Tulley, wife of Col. Tulley. "The best part was getting back in the boom area with the C-17 getting ready to lock in and be refueled. Seeing those two large aircraft so close together was amazing."

The 6th AMW plans on having future spouse familiarization flights to provide spouses with the chance to personally experience the wing's mission, which allows them to see how their daily hard work and support of Airmen impacts the daily mission.