Budget Places Tanker Units Under Pressure

The high demand for Air Force tankers in battle does not mean air refueling units will be exempt from increasing budget pressures, Gen. Raymond Johns, Air Mobility Command boss, told members of the Maine Air National Guard’s 101st Refueling Wing in Bangor. “The demand isn’t decreasing, but the dollars are,” said Johns. In fact, 21 Bangor airmen have already stood down and more than 400 airmen in total from the wing and Air Guard and Air Force Reserve Command tanker units in New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania have received notice that they may lose their man-day funding due to an overall reduction in man-days by about 20 percent in Fiscal 2011. These tanker units make up the Northeast Tanker Task Force that supports the transatlantic air bridge. (Bangor report by Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke)