Air Force veteran reunited with old friend after 60 years

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Video by Senior Master Sgt. Vincent De Groot

Air Force veteran reunited with old friend after 60 years

185th Air Refueling Wing, Iowa Air National Guard

March 30, 2023 | 2:50

Lead: Air Force Veteran and Omaha Neb. resident recently got a chance to tour an Air Force jet that he once crewed over 60 years ago and is still in service. Reporter Vincent De Groot has the story from Sioux City, Iowa.

“Its been 60 years since I crawled up that ladder”

As 82-year-old Richard Devine climbed into the cockpit of a U.S. Air Force KC-135, the memories of his days in the Air Force during the 1950’ and 60’s started flowing back.

“Bunk Bunk here, Bunk Bunk here and then right here you could put anywhere from ten to twelve passenger type seats.

The retired Omaha Nebraska resident said he found recent photos on the internet of tail number 58-0057, the same KC-135 he helped maintain during the 1950’s. Its still flying, and it is just up the road in Sioux City, Iowa.

“And I said hey, I used to work on that airplane,”

After accepting an invitation to visit the Iowa Air Guard unit, Devine was met by Master Sgt. Jamie Bethune. The pair toured the updated KC-135 and shared related experiences and some of the history of the air refueling aircraft.

“Do you still have that problem? No not so much, maybe in the wintertime if we toe it or if they taxi it hard enough, you know a tight enough turn it will leak. No, knock on wood no issues, man we used to fight that all the time.”

When Devine entered the Air Force in 1958 and arrived at Loring Air Force Base in Maine the following spring, he became part of the first generation of crew chiefs to maintain the Air Force’s newest jet powered tanker aircraft.

In back of aircraft the former Airmen was eager to crawl into the boom pod where air refueling work is performed when the aircraft is in flight.

“I’m not as agile as I used to be,”

The mission at Loring Air Force Base during Devines time had KC-135 and B-52 aircraft flying continuous airborne alert along large parts of the Arctic region near the border of the Soviet Union as part of Operation Chrome Dome.

“We worked every day as though we were at war.” “The bombers were airborne for 24 hours the tankers supported the bombers and had to be refueled at once usually twice while they were in orbit over the north circle.”

Air Force KC-135s have been re-engined, re-skinned and mostly re-made into a different aircraft compared to the original “A” model of Devine’s time.

Regular maintenance and constant care through the years have kept the KC-135 in continuous service, ready for the same air refueling mission it was created to perform over 60 years ago.

“That’s a lot quieter than what I’m used to,”….

Reporting in Sioux City, Iowa I’m Vince De Groot

Lower Thirds:

00:00:00 - 00:00:10 Sioux City, Iowa

00:00:45 - 00:00:50 Richard Devine
Air Force Veteran

00:02:35 - 00:02:40 Vince De Groot reporting