Airman's pride is booming

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Kate Maurer
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  "If you ask a KC-135 Stratotanker pilot what he does, he's not going to show you a picture of the cockpit," said Senior Airman Devaughn Granger, 351st Air Refueling Squadron boom operator. "He's going to show you a picture of what I do."

Granger is a KC-135 Stratotanker boom operator who has been stationed here since 2012, and said he takes great pride in his work.

"Granger is on his game," said Staff Sgt. Eric Sonnenburg, 351st Air Refueling Squadron instructor boom operator and Granger's supervisor. "You can tell this is something he loves because he's constantly trying to learn more about it and he loves talking and teaching others about what we do - it's almost like he's trying to spread the love he has for it by teaching others in and out of the squadron everything he knows."

After spending nearly a year completing various technical training schools consisting of aircrew fundamentals and a basic boom operator course at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas; Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape training at Fairchild AFB, Wash.; and specific KC-135 training at Altus AFB, Okla., Granger arrived on station to complete four more months of qualifying training and flying.

"When you open the sighting window of the KC-135 and see that big C-17 Globemaster III not even 30 feet away from you, that's when it hits you - this is my job," said Granger who is from Rome, N.Y.

Granger said his favorite part of his job is flying. As a boom operator in flight, Granger has his own control center to help guide the boom to aircraft in need of fuel. It's the only career field in the U.S. Air Force that allows enlisted Airmen to control parts of the aircraft, even if it's only for a few minutes. During the time the boom operator is guiding the boom and speaking with the aircraft close behind, he controls the air refueling situation which includes directing the movement of both aircraft. He's responsible for making sure the aircraft is refueled as safely and quickly as possible and can return to its mission.

"One of the coolest things about being a boom operator is that you can join the military as an 18 year old and be placed with the large responsibility of refueling a multimillion dollar aircraft," Granger said. "Boom operator duties are the same for me as those of a chief [master sergeant]"

There are three types of boom operators: mission boom, instructor boom and evaluator boom. As a young Airman, Granger is a mission boom operator. To apply to instructor school, boom operators must have a minimum of 700 flying hours and be selected by squadron leadership. Granger has flown 134 sorties equaling more than 700 flying hours and says he's hoping to be selected for instructor training soon.

"Being an instructor is definitely something to aim for," he said. "And I'd probably get to fly at least twice as much."

Granger said he tailors his personal life to his boom operator life. His hobbies include basketball and working out. Either hobby can be done almost anywhere, at any time.

"I would rather fly than not fly any day," said Granger. "Sometimes it might be dark and gloomy down here but it's always beautiful up there - you can't beat that."

Granger added that he enjoys the camaraderie of the aircrew. No matter where the job takes him, the aircrew consists of good people and become like family. For him, flying has become his stress reliever.

"After a long day of work, you're most likely to hear me say 'let's go fly,'" said Granger.

The Senior Airman has refueled nearly every type of aerial refueling aircraft leaving the B-52 Stratofortress, F-22 Raptor, and F-35 Lightning II on his refueling bucket list, but the A-10 Thunderbolt II still remains his personal favorite.

He once refueled a whole squadron of Dutch F-16s during a training exercise, ending the day with 89 refueling contacts. Granger has also refueled for the secretary of defense and has served on a few presidential support missions.

As a boom operator, Granger has been to at least 10 different countries and will be deploying for the third time in the near future.

"There's no greater feeling of pride than when you can point to the news and say 'that's me,'" said Granger. "That's what I bring to the fight."