351st EARS relocates to NAVSTA Rota

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Christine Halan
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
NAVAL STATION ROTA, Spain --  Airmen from the 100th Air Refueling Wing, RAF Mildenhall, England, recently relocated from Istres-Le Tube, France, to Naval Station Rota, Spain, in support of Operation Juniper Micron.

The 100th ARW has been providing air refueling capabilities for French forces combat operations in Mali and North Africa since 2013, even during the big move to Spain, which occurred due to flightline construction happening in Istres.

“Despite the accelerated timeline of the move, the fantastic Airmen assigned to the 351st Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron pulled together and executed a flawless transition,” said Lt. Col. Scott Whinnery, 351st EARS commander. “The greatest part about being the deployed commander is getting to know all of the amazing Airmen assigned to the unit. Every day, these Airmen work extremely hard to provide combat support to our French allies and it’s truly an honor to work with each and every one of them.”

With the time spent at Rota so far, the team has flown more than 9 sorties and offloaded approximately 217,000 pounds of fuel to French aircraft.

“Missions in support of OJM from Mildenhall are long and require extra crew members on board to maintain regulatory compliance,” said Capt. Bobby Stanford, 351st EARS assistance flight commander and pilot. “This creates an increased demand on the crew force and limits our capabilities to support other missions from home station. Also, fatigue and safety become large factors when operating on these extremely long missions day in and day out.

“Operating out of Naval Station Rota prevents our crew members from having such long duty days, reduces the crew demands on home station and allows us to better support our French allies,” remarked Stanford.

This support and relationship with French forces began in 2013, and the 100th ARW will continue as the 351st EARS continues to operate out of Rota.