Farewell to the Last KC-10 Tanker of the Air Force, following the Gucci method at Travis Air Base
Vintage Aircraft's Culinary Delights and Unforgettable Missions
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Let's face it, military aircraft aren't typically known for fine dining. So, when Master Sgt. Van Stewart Jr. awoke mid-flight on a 19-hour mission to the Middle East aboard a KC-10 refueling tanker, he was caught off guard by the aroma of roasted pork shoulder wafting through the cabin. "It was delicious," Stewart recalled, "They must've pre-roasted it, then brought it aboard and warmed it up."
Stewart's anecdote was one of many shared during a farewell gathering on September 25 and 26 at Travis Air Force Base, as KC-10 Extender air and ground crew members, both past and present, bid adieu to the final clanker of the Air Force's 60 KC-10s. The jet, with tail number 79-1948, departed Travis at roughly 10:15 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on September 26, taking off under the callsign "Gucci 10," an affectionate nickname that has become synonymous with the famous jet.
The wheels-up signaled the end of thousands of takeoffs and landings that the KC-10 had undertaken since its inaugural flight in 1980, a journey that spanned a remarkable 44 years. It was quickly joined by two F-15Cs from the California Air National Guard's 144th Fighter Wing, reminiscent of the crew's glory days.
A Groovy Giant among Giants
The KC-10, also known as "Big Sexy," was an extraordinary bird that could haul nearly twice as much gas as its older sibling, the KC-135, and almost as much cargo as the C-17, a dedicated transport jet. Retired Chief Master Sgt. Robert Lasseigne, who had joined the team testing the jet in 1980 in Yuma, Ariz., knew he was witnessing a marvel when he first saw the aircraft. By comparison, the KC-10 was "literally an airliner" - the jet was constructed from the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and boasted an 88% systems commonality with commercial DC-10s, as confirmed by the Air Force.
"The KC-10 was just great from a maintenance perspective," Lasseigne told Air & Space Forces Magazine. "It was a good airplane, smooth rider, reliable, and it was very good at executing its mission."
Lasseigne shared tales of carrying all the spare parts, maintainers, and extra pilots for an F-15 squadron aboard three KC-10s while refueling the fighters from Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, on their way to a deployment overseas. "When you do stuff like that, then you know what the total fight really is," he said.
Tanker Extraordinaire
The KC-10's extraordinary fuel capacity served it well during the longest fighter combat mission in history. On April 14, 1986, 24 F-111 strike fighters and five EF-111 electronic warfare variants took off from Royal Air Force Lakenheath, U.K., bound for targets in Libya in response to a terrorist attack on a Berlin discotheque that was blamed on Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi.
The French and Spanish governments refused to permit U.S. aircraft to fly over their countries, so the fighters had to circumvent much of the continent, resulting in a 6,400-mile, 13-hour trip, significantly greater than the standard F-111 sortie of about two hours. Code-named "Operation El Dorado Canyon," the mission relied heavily on nearly 30 KC-10 and KC-135 tankers refueling the fighters and each other multiple times en route and back, often in radio silence.
Senior Master Sgt. Kevin Danel was among the tanker crews who took part in the mission, which took off later that night. His crew's first task was to function as backup in case a tanker malfunctioned before the mission launched. Thankfully, the fleet performed flawlessly, so their next job was to take off around midnight and refuel the tankers on their way back from the Mediterranean Sea.
"One of the KC-10s just barely had enough fuel to reach the rendezvous point because it had given so much to the F-111s en route," Danel explained. The mission highlighted the KC-10's "tremendous capability," he said, "It could carry so much more fuel, so it could do what it did."
Lt. Col. Andrew Baer, commander of the 9th Air Refueling Squadron at Travis, marveled at the amount of fuel the KC-10 could transport. "When we pull up to an exercise or to an event, and the controller asks, 'how much fuel do you have to give?' and you reply '300,000 [pounds],' the radio stops," he said. "People go, 'what?' It is just amazingly capable."
This capability saved lives during the war in Afghanistan, with Baer frequently filling up fighter aircraft that were running low on fuel so they could continue providing close air support. "Even if that fighter started heading home because it had to, we had the engines and speed to catch up, attach the boom, refuel it so it could turn around and come back," Baer shared. "I've had almost 4,000 hours in this plane, and it has never once let me down."
Fighter pilots expressed similar sentiments about the KC-10. "There are few better sights I've seen from the cockpit than the silhouette of the KC-10 on the horizon with its boom extended, and the relief I felt knowing I would soon get the fuel I needed to complete the mission," said Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and an F-16 pilot, in a video statement played at the September 26 ceremony.
But perhaps the most profound accolade came from Air Mobility Command's new head, Gen. John D. Lamontagne. "There are tankers, and then there are KC-10s," he proclaimed, elevating one hand to eye level and raising the other hand above his head as high as he could.
Gucci Gourmet
While the KC-10's performance left no room for debate, its creature comforts were a matter of contention. The cockpit offered amenities such as a coffee-maker, a refrigerator, and an oven, superior to those found on other aircraft, like the KC-135. "Everyone else was green with envy of what we had, because here we were enjoying an airliner," remarked Danel, who found the KC-10 to be a major upgrade to his previous aircraft, the C-141 Starlifter.
The fact that commercial airliners operated DC-10s fostered a more amicable air crew culture, particularly in reserve units, according to another flight engineer, retired Master Sgt. Michael Engelbrecht, better known by his nickname, "Commander Scumby." On other aircraft, commissioned pilots might not socialize as much with the enlisted flight engineers, but on the KC-10, those flight engineers could be future first officers or captains on the DC-10 in the airlines.
"A lot of these guys in the reserves were all airline pilots," Engelbrecht said. "They knew that one day you could be sitting next to them if you got all your ratings. And then I became really good friends with a lot of the pilots."
Additionally, the 9th Air Refueling Squadron adopted the nickname “Gucci” during this era. Accounts vary as to the origin of the term, but as Danel shared, it began with an Airman who brought a Gucci carpet back from Hawaii to the squadron's break area at March Air Force Base, California. The squadron was subsequently dubbed the "Gucci boys," and the callsign "Gucci" was used during airlift missions. Others claim the name originated when a group of squadron members embarked on a mission without any luggage and subsequently purchased Gucci luggage to carry around.
Either way, "Gucci" is now an ingrained part of the squadron's identity: "That's like our motto: 'Everything's Gucci,'" Stewart said. "Whether it's taking care of your Airmen or executing the mission, we just do it the Gucci way."
A Fond Farewell
The shared identity between KC-10 crews of yesteryear and the present-day was on full display at the farewell ceremony, where ground crews labored to create nose art depicting a knight riding a dragon on the final KC-10. This iconography echoed the tail number 79-1948's original appearance when it was initially delivered to Strategic Air Command.
"The nickname given to the airplane by the maintainers and the crews was Excalibur," said the lieutenant colonel who led the jet's final flight. "Back in the SAC days, KC-10s sported a blue and white paint scheme. But reinstalling the knight and dragon nose art made perfect sense, as it appeared twice on the same tail number, once in its original blue and white paint scheme and subsequently after it had been repainted in a gray and white 'Shamu' paint scheme," he explained.
The US Air Force recognized the uniqueness of the historical moment, approving the return of the knight and dragon within minutes of seeing the aircraft's history and the rare repetition of the design. "We're really proud that we got the nose art right where it was, in the right scale, the right colors. It's the real thing," said the lieutenant colonel.
However, as much as the KC-10 was beloved, the refueling mission continues, as the 9th Air Refueling Squadron and other KC-10 units transition to the brand-new KC-46 Pegasus, a technological marvel. "Old Big Sexy is going away," Stewart said, "but rest assured that the 9th Air Refueling Squadron and the other tanker squadrons, they're still going to be bringing fuel to the fight in an upgraded capacity."
- The KC-10 Extender, nicknamed "Big Sexy," was a marvel in the aerospace industry, capable of transporting almost twice as much fuel as its older sibling, the KC-135, and almost as much cargo as the C-17.
- During the longest fighter combat mission in history, the KC-10's tremendous fuel capacity was crucial, as it refueled F-111 strike fighters for a 6,400-mile journey, often in radio silence.
- The KC-10's cockpit was equipped with amenities like a coffee-maker, refrigerator, and oven, making it a comfortable workspace for pilots and crew members.
- The Air Force's military financing facilitated the transition of KC-10 crews from government service to commercial aviation, particularly since commercial airliners operated DC-10s, the aircraft on which the KC-10 was based.
- As the KC-10 era comes to an end, the US Air Force is transitioning to the KC-46 Pegasus, a brand-new aircraft that promises an upgraded capacity for refueling missions.
- The KC-10 was not only a significant asset in warfare but also played a role in transportation and the broader aviation industry, connecting different sectors financially and technologically.
