SOUTHWEST ASIA –
There are two things Senior Airman Joshua Chrisman loves: the KC-10 Extender and chicken nuggets.
When the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing boom operator talks to anyone who isn't aircrew, he regales them with trivia and factoids about his beloved Extender:
"The front landing gear is, like, 20 feet behind the flight deck, so while taxiing, it sometimes looks like we're going to go off the runway."
"All but one of the doors on the aircraft open inward, so while flying, the pressure pushes outward into the frame, making it one of the safest aircraft flying today."
"The boom operator's window is the largest single-pane window of any aircraft in the world."
And when they've completed a mission, he sees it as his duty to prepare "victory nuggets" for the crew.
"Who doesn't love chicken nuggets?" Chrisman shrugged.
Both Chrisman's parents were active-duty Airmen; his mom was an intelligence analyst, his dad worked in communications. One of his favorite memories as a child was seeing the KC-135 Stratotankers at Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash.
"I knew I wanted to be in the Air Force and I absolutely wanted to be aircrew," Chrisman said. "I really enjoy traveling around and being a boom operator, I stay pretty busy."
Chrisman is deployed from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. As an in-flight refueling apprentice, or boom operator, his job is to connect the KC-10 to any Air Force, Navy, Marine or coalition aircraft that needs refueling. By refueling jets in the air, it means they don't have to return to base, keeping them airborne to provide anything from cargo delivery to close air support for troops on the ground.
"My job helps other people do their jobs," Chrisman explained. "People on the ground depend on fighters and cargo planes. It's our tankers that get them there."
When he's not flying, Chrisman spends much of his off time studying for promotion.
"He's intelligent, funny and hardworking," said Capt. Derrick McClain, assistant director of operations for the 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, also deployed from JB MDL. "He's a future chief master sergeant, there's no doubt. He's got the initiative and the drive you don't see in every Airman. He and his crew are the backbone of our squadron."
Chrisman returns home to New Jersey this summer. His plan is to work on his sports car and travel. In the meantime, he stays busy, flying a mission "every other day or so." But he wouldn't have it any other way.
"The KC-10 is an amazing aircraft and there aren't many planes that can do all the things it can -- it carries cargo, troops and refuels other planes, so it's versatile," Chrisman said. "My favorite part of the job is knowing we're making a difference. We'll refuel a fighter soon after it takes off and it's armed to the teeth; later we'll refuel the same plane on its way back to base but all its weapons have been used. That fighter helped folks on the ground and we helped keep them in the fight. That's what keeps me going."