The U.S. Air Force and the Utah Air National Guard celebrated 100 years of aerial refueling with a series of flyovers throughout the state of Utah on Tuesday, June 27.
Utahns across the state were treated an aerial show as a KC-135 Stratotanker with the 151st Air Refueling Wing out of Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base at Salt Lake International Airport and two F-35As from Hill Air Force Base flew from Logan to St. George and east to Strawberry Reservoir.
The pilot of the KC-135 Stratotanker, a large aircraft designed for air refueling and transporting cargo, was Maj. Mike Starley, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
According to a news release, it has been 100 years since U.S. Army Air Service aviators successfully completed the first air refueling. On June 27, 1923, 1st Lts. Virgil Hine and Frank W. Seifert, flying a DH-4B, passed gasoline through a hose to another DH-4B carrying Capt. Lowell H. Smith and 1st Lt. John P. Richter.
The year 2023 also marks the 50th anniversary of the commissioning of Utah’s 151st Air Refueling Wing.
Prior to the flyover, the Church’s Military Relations and Chaplain Services division accommodated a request from the Utah Air National Guard to get permission for photographers to document the event from the vantage point of the Church Office Building’s top floor.
Starley, the aircraft commander and KC-135 test detachment director, said the flyover was a rare opportunity to represent what the military has been doing for a century and it was “fun” to show people what they do.
“First of all, it was a lot of fun. It’s not something we get to do very often,” Starley said. “Air refueling is a critical piece of what we do as an Air Force. Every single mission that we fly includes a tanker. The mission simply won’t succeed without the tanker. It’s a good opportunity to show the people of Utah that we actually have a tanker unit.”
Without the air refueling capability, the Air Force is limited in what it can do, said Col. Brandon Taylor, commander of Utah’s 151st Air Refueling Wing, also a Latter-day Saint.
“An F-35, the most capable fighter in the world, would not be able to make it even to Hawaii without a tanker,” he said. “[The flyover] is a show of our national pride, of who we are and the capabilities that we have.”
The KC-135 normally flies at an altitude of 25,000 to 35,000 feet. It flew at 1,000 feet for Tuesday’s flyover, which required extra coordination with air traffic control.
“Our biggest concerns were other airplanes and terrain. Obviously, you don’t want to hit the mountains or another plane. We had to share the airspace with general aviation aircraft and they are not used to having an airliner-sized aircraft with fighter jets,” Starley said. “It was a lot of dodging other airplanes and just keeping our eyes peeled, ensuring that they knew where we were so that they could stay our way. It was a lot of work. For a four-hour flight, I was exhausted by the time it was over.”
Along with showing the state of Utah how air refueling works, Starley’s personal highlight was flying over his home and neighborhood. His wife captured a video of the flyover from their front porch. His parents and brothers watched from the front lawn of Utah’s State Capitol.
“You can hear my 4-year-old daughter yelling excitedly as we flew over,” Starley said. “It was definitely a career highlight for me to be able to show the people of Utah what I do, but even more so my family.”
As a Latter-day Saint serving in the military, Starley expressed gratitude for a worldwide network of members and instant friends whenever he goes.
“There are a lot of members of the Church all over the world who are serving in different capacities. I go to some strange city in a different part of the world, or I’m deployed at some location on a base, and I can always find a ward or branch,” he said.
“I’m always impressed with the members I meet all over the world. I’ve lived in Utah most of my life, but it’s cool to visit wards outside of Utah and [the Church is] the same, led by our Savior and living prophet. To walk in and feel that Spirit, no matter where I am, and to be able to have that connection in a worldwide religion, it’s pretty neat.”
