Air Force Mobility is not just a job, it's a profession. I learned that simple fact while serving as a public affairs officer assigned to Air Mobility Command from 1996-1998. When we needed to answer challenging questions from the media or participate in contingency and deployment preparation, it was very easy to find a subject matter expert on the staff who had "been there, done that" as both an aircrew member and planner.

When Boeing decided to stand up UnitedStatesTanker.com, we really hoped to receive feedback from as many of those "operators" as possible. Recently we had a response to our Tanker 101 blog that I'd like to share with you. It was posted by Stu Pugh, a retired Air Force officer with 26 years of active duty service. Stu’s tanker experience includes a stint as the chief of Tanker Operations at the Tanker Airlift Control Center (TACC). I was fortunate enough to meet him at the 2009 Airlift and Tanker Association convention and symposium in Nashville, Tenn., and appreciate his opinion on KC-X.

Here's a link to Stu's posting.