Airman First Class Sterling Sutton, 6th Air Refueling Wing, Public Affairs Specialist, keeps a tour on time as Capt. Allison Fracasso, 91st Air Refueling Squadron pilot, greets guests. Some 7 percent of the Air Force’s about 11,000 pilots are women. Photo by Diane Egner
The KC-135 Stratotanker at MacDill Air Force Base has provided the core aerial refueling capability for U.S. military operations for almost 70 years. One tanker can hold 30,000 gallons of fuel. Photo by Diane Egner
Senior Airman Charles Dawe, 91st Air Refueling Squadron boom operator, explains how he extends a 28-foot-long boom up to 48 feet to transfer 600 gallons a minute to F-16s, B-2s, C-5s, etc. Photo by Diane Egner
A U.S. Marine Corps veteran driving the tour bus shares his story of service with and the importance of seamless communication and collaboration across branches of the military. Photo by Diane Egner
Athena Society of Tampa tour guests climb aboard as another KC-135 Stratotanker departs a nearby hangar. About 24 tankers are housed at MacDill. Photo by Diane Egner
The rudder identifies the 6th Air Refueling Wing as part of Team MacDill, which includes members of the U.S. Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard. Photo by Diane Egner
The KC-135 Stratotanker, capable of refueling other aircraft up to 50,000 feet in the sky, is designed to carry about 83,000 pounds of cargo and seat up to 36 passengers. Photo by Diane Egner
A pilot and a navigator control the “flying gas station’s’’ four engines and monitor fuel panels for each tank of gas onboard. The KC-135 can fly for 16-17 hours at speeds of about 500 mph. Photo by Diane Egner
Gen. T. Michael Moseley, former Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, wrote the Airman’s Creed in 2007 to build team morale and cohesion. Photo by Diane Egner
Inside a briefing room at MacDill Air Force Base, guests learn about the history and economic impact of the base. Photo by Diane Egner
Capt. Cory Maffeo, Commander Executive, 6th Air Refueling Wing, explains how the KC-135s provide refueling support for all branches of the U.S. military and Allied Forces around the world. Photo by Diane Egner
Terry Montrose, chief of community engagement at MacDill, shares details and answers questions about the base. Photo by Diane Egner
MacDill became an Air Mobility Command installation in 1996 and home to the 6th Air Refueling Wing, its 310th Airlift Squadron flying the C-37A, and its 50th Air Refueling Squadron and 91st Air Refueling Squadron flying the KC-135. Photo by Diane Egner
The economic impact of MacDill on the Tampa area is computed by adding up the annual base payroll, annual base expenditures and the estimated annual dollar value of indirect jobs created. Photo by Diane Egner
About 20 members of Athena Society of Tampa recently toured MacDill Air Force Base in South Tampa to learn more about what goes on there and how the surrounding community can be supportive.
MacDill Air Force Base invites such small groups of local business and community leaders on base tours to increase public awareness of missions, policies and programs of the 6th Air Refueling Wing and the U.S. Department of Defense, including Central Command and Special Operations Command.
The civic leader programs are meant to “educate local leaders on the similarities and differences of military and civilian operations and serve as a way to reach and inform the public on each base’s unique missions,’’ according to a MacDill Air Force Base news release.
Scroll through the above series of images taken during the recent tour to gain insights shared with members of Athena.
To learn more, visit the
MacDill Air Force Base website.
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Read more articles by Diane Egner.
Diane Egner is a community leader and award-winning journalist with more than four decades of experience reporting and writing about the Tampa Bay Area of Florida. She serves on the boards of the University of South Florida Zimmerman School of Advertising & Mass Communications Advisory Council, The Institute for Research in Art (Graphicstudio, the Contemporary Art Museum, and USF’s Public Art Program) Community Advisory Council, Sing Out and Read, and StageWorks Theatre Advisory Council. She also is a member of Leadership Florida and the Athena Society. A graduate of the University of Minnesota with a BA in journalism, she won the top statewide award for editorial writing from the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors while at The Tampa Tribune and received special recognition by the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists for creative work as Content Director at WUSF Public Media. Past accomplishments and community service include leadership positions with Tampa Tiger Bay Club, USF Women in Leadership & Philanthropy (WLP), Alpha House of Tampa Bay, Awesome Tampa Bay, Florida Kinship Center, AIA Tampa Bay, Powerstories, Arts Council of Hillsborough County, and the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce. Diane and her husband, Sandy Rief, live in Tampa.