Crew chiefs with the 126th Air Refueling Wing, Illinois Air National Guard, begin a hot refuel of a KC-135 Stratotanker, at the 33rd Powidz Airlift Base, Republic of Poland, Aug. 11, 2021. The boom operator, far right, is responsible for observing the operation during a hot refuel. This is the first ever hot refuel of a KC-135 in Eastern Europe. A hot refuel provides a faster turnaround so the KC-135 can return to the air to refuel more jets.

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Size: 2409px × 1037px
Photo credit: © Operation 2021 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: #108fs, #126arw, #480fs, #52fw, #adr21, #alwaysready, #avdet, #natostrong, #operationatlanticresolve, #readyaf, #strongertogether, #strongeurope, #wearenato