Aircraft 0058’s dedicated crew chief, Tech. Sgt. Travis Krause, designed the artwork, titled “Perserverance,” and explained the significance of the piece.
“The nose art is the soul of the aircraft embodied into a piece of art that instills pride into those who work on it, fly on it and everyone who sees it,” Krause said.
In July, the 507th deployed more than 120 Airmen to Hawaii to take responsibility as the lead tanker unit in the Rim of the Pacific exercise. At RIMPAC 2022, the wing provided air refueling support to more than two dozen partner nations by flying 155 flight hours and offloading 1.8 million pounds of fuel to 276 receivers to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific.
In September, the wing successfully completed a Nuclear Operational Readiness Inspection across three days.
“Within a challenging no-fail exercise scenario, the 507th Okie Airmen clearly demonstrated their ability to execute our U.S. Air Force’s top priority mission,” said Col. Michael Parks, 507th Air Refueling Wing commander. “The nation expects all components of the nuclear enterprise to comply with unwavering security, safety and reliability standards.”
Also in September, longtime Okie Col. Ken Humphrey, departed the unit and passed the torch on to his son to continue the Okie legacy, which will now span three generations.
Humphrey, former 507th Operations Group commander, flew his final flight as an Okie here September 29, 2022. He was joined by his son 2nd Lt. Kennedy Humphrey, who will join the unit as a KC-135 pilot upon his completion of undergraduate pilot training.
Humphrey served in the 507th since Feb. 6, 1993 and is the second generation of his family to be a part of the unit.
In October, the public affairs office hosted the second of two spouse flights this year. Between the October flight and another flight in April, 28 spouses experienced refueling missions and saw what our Reservists accomplish carrying out the refueling mission. Eric Metzger, spouse of the 507th Force Support Squadron’s Tamila Metzger, expressed his gratitude for being able to participate in one of the spouse flights.
“It was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Metzger. “The crew, from the pilots to the boom operators, were professional, knowledgeable, and attentive. The plane itself was spic-and-span from front to back and well-maintained. It was obvious the flight crew took great pride in their aircraft.”
In November, the Okies performed three KC-135 flyovers at college football games: Nov. 5, over University of Oklahoma, Nov. 12, over Texas Tech and on Nov. 19, over the University of South Carolina. Lt. Col. Douglas Jeffrey IV, 507th Operations Group commander, explained how flyovers give an opportunity to showcase our mission to the public.
“We volunteered for the Texas Tech Veteran’s Day flyover not only for the 50,000 fans but so the world knows we can deliver airpower on time and at a moment’s notice,” said Jeffrey.
On Dec. 16, aircraft 500058 was decommissioned and personnel gathered to bid their goodbyes, signing the aircraft and rendering a final salute to the aircraft as it taxied out to the runway on its final flight. The aircraft will sit in storage at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, more commonly called the Aircraft Boneyard.
The Okies are proud to call Tinker Air Force Base their home, which celebrated 80 years this year. The history of the wing and the diversity of mission sets proves that the 507th ARW Okies are poised and ready support a variety of mission for years to come.
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This piece is written by Lauren Kelly from the 507th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs. Want to feature your story? Reach out to us at [email protected].
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