Office of Kansas Adjutant General

TOPEKA–Members of Topeka’s 190th Air Refueling Wing (ARW) recently returned home from a four-month deployment supporting contingency operations against ISIS.

Throughout the deployment, aircrews provided critical aerial refueling with the wing’s KC-135R Stratotankers, an in-flight refueling aircraft. The personnel were based at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.

Forbes Field Air National Guard Base is the home of the Kansas Air National Guard’s 190th ARW and nearly 1,000 full-time and part-time military members.

Throughout the deployment – which started in February and ended in June – the wing flew more than 500 combat sorties and provided coalition aircraft with more than 3.5 million gallons of fuel, enough to fill approximately 230,000 cars. Aircrews logged more than 3600 flight hours in that time as well, eclipsing more flight hours in the four months than the unit normally flies in a year.

“The United States is providing 95 percent of the aerial refueling missions supporting Operation Inherent Resolve and has formed the logistical backbone of the entire operation,” said 190th ARW Commander Col. Jarrod Frantz in a news release. “The men and women of the 190th Air Refueling Wing have proven time and time again that we do it better than anyone else and I’m extremely proud of them.”

Many of the wing members deployed are traditional Guardsmen, who hold full-time jobs outside their military commitment.

“For the wing to be successful and for our Airman to focus on their mission, we ask a lot of the companies who employ our members. We have such tremendous support from the business community and the community at-large; I could not be any more grateful for their support,” Frantz said.

Beyond the Middle East, the 190th ARW supports both worldwide operations and homeland security. Never busier, the demand for Air National Guard KC-135Rs continues to set records with the 190th on pace to set a new flying hour record this year above 7,000 hours. The final number is likely to exceed the 6,107 hours achieved in 2011 while supporting contingency operations in three theaters.

Many of the same Airmen will deploy again within the year to support flying operations in the Pacific and Southwest Asia theatres. The forecast for this record pace of operations will likely continue for the next several years, underscoring the challenge to manage an operational force while maintaining the integrity of a historically reserve force.

The 190th provides global reach for the United States Air Force through the in-flight refueling of fighters, bombers and other aircraft using its 12 KC-135 Stratotankers. It is one of the largest employers in Topeka and Shawnee County with an annual payroll of more than $32 million.