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JB MDL trains next generation KC-10 pilots

  • Published
  • By Airman Tara A. Williamson
  • Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  The 305th Operations Group Formal Training Unit here is one of only two locations qualification pilots who have never flown the KC-10 Extender come to receive initial training.

New pilots must know the ins and outs of an aircraft through training before they can be trusted to fly missions or deploy downrange.

"We have 19 simulator missions and a simulator check ride, along with a significant amount of various training procedures before we go on to the fly the actual aircraft itself at FTU," said 1st Lt. Justin Hitchens, FTU KC-10 pilot trainee, following an FTU refueling mission June 27, 2013.

New KC-10 pilots must go through a 10-week flight safety course consisting of both classroom and hands-on training before they are able to test their wings, as it were, before flying with instructors like Shepard.

"Pilots in training use tabletop exercises and flight training devices, or simulators to prepare themselves for the real thing," said Capt. James Shepard, 305th OSS KC-10 instructor aircraft commander. "Simulators can either have hydraulic lifts with motion for a realistic effect, or the motionless simulators, which are more for learning the switches and how to operate the aircraft."

The unit is designed to teach new pilots, boom operators and flight engineers to become effective crewmembers in a multi-crew aircraft. The FTU also trains all KC-10 personnel who are upgrading from co-pilot to aircraft commander, aircraft commanders to instructor pilots, and upgrades boom operators and flight engineers to instructor rolls.

About eight to 12 training flights are conducted per week, said Shepard, originally from Greenville, S.C., said.

"It's the coolest job in the world," said Shepard, who flies two missions per week. "I'm having a blast."

Extensive mission planning for all crewmembers is done on the ground before each flight and involves several hours of crew briefings to ensure the crew is aware of the mission they will be conducting that day.

At the jet, crew members run through immense checklists and procedures with their trainers.

"Then the fun starts," Hitchens said, "we get airborne."

Multiple KC-10s will often work on formation departures and recoveries. Training flights will also shift to a local area airfield and perform 'touch-and-go' training. This is specifically for the pilot trainees to practice landings and takeoffs in a dynamic setting with an instructor sitting in the other seat.

"I wanted to fly the KC-10 because it is so versatile," said Hitchens, a Fredericksburg, Va., native. "Some of its missions require it to be a tanker while others require the KC-10 to take on fuel as a receiver. Its capabilities also allow it to be used for a variety of cargo transport which makes its missions so dynamic. It's a plane with a great mission, which in turn makes it a fun aircraft to fly."