My USAF Inn diet at Ramstein, Bauernbrot, Brie, and Beer. I've had worse.

 

Ramstein Passenger Terminal

 

Retirees hoping to catch a flight out of there. Some of them after two months of travel around Europe

 

I made it to Dover AFB in Delaware along with some others. All of us ended up equally stuck there. A delightful sculpture in the friendly Dover Pax terminal USO. The hand is about life-size

 

From Dover AFB, I got a ride with two friendly travelers to McGuire AFB in New Jersey, home of a squadron of KC-10 tanker aircraft

 

Back in the 60s, when the Stratgic Air Command still existed, and I was a part of that, we did not have this aircraft yet in the 22nd Bomb Wing

 

This is the cabin of the KC-10 viewed in direction of the cockpit. It's a pretty much generic configuration, which allows them to take 9-10 pax along. They usually have two or three rows of seats installed. This is not my picture, but serves the purpose of this page.

Following our take-off, I overheard the crew talking about a refueling exercise that was to take place over the Atlantic. I just had to see it and asked if I could. After being conducted to the back, to what I considered the 'best seat in the house', I asked the boomer if I could get my camera. He told me to hurry, and I raced back to the cabin, through the long empty space of the aircraft, to grab my gear and raced back.

 

Unquestionably, the best seat in the house, looking through a large window straight out the back
Coudn't do much better. I had to hold the camera in my left hand, arm stretched out, and let it focus on its own
The boom was lowered and the search for the incoming aircraft began. The other guy, also a boomer, came because this never gets old
And then we saw it, in a periscope-like device that the boomer can use to scan the sky
It's not an easy task, and training for the aircrew is necessary. They had to do this with minimal physical assistance from the boomer
Done! Only the evaluator will know how well they did
The other KC-10 disconnected, the boom was raised, the window shuttered, and mission accomplished. We turned and headed back across the US toward Travis AFB, CA, where it would be mission accomplished for me (well, almost). I explored the space A system going East, as far as Germany. I've learned a lot: Where I can go, where I can't, and when to go. Right now, all the USAF Inns were booked solid.

From Travis AFB, CA, to Ramstein AB, Germany, to Dover AFB, Delaware, to McGuire AFB, NJ, and home to Travis AFB