The Last Ten Standing
Had Michael Buffer been the Master of Ceremonies on September 26 at Travis Air Force Base, I imagine he would have introduced the guest of honor like this.
Hailing from Long Beach, California, at age forty-five, and weighing in with an unmatched fuel payload of 356,000 pounds. Dressed in Air Mobility Command Grey, trimmed with a Travis AFB tail flash, and an armored Knight upon a dragon wielding its namesake, Excalibur. Its record includes engagements from Operation El Dorado Canyon to Operation Enduring Freedom with a perfect 12-0 record. Better known as Gucci, Big Sexy, and the Ten, standing to my right, the undisputed air refueling and cargo heavyweight champion of the world, the McDonnell Douglas KC-10A Exxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxtender!
As I walked into Hanger 46 at Travis AFB, just beyond the bleacher seating, and the several thousand in attendance, there Excalibur stood. The last KC-10, tail number 79-1948, utilizing the callsign “GUCCI 10,” was parked on the tarmac it had called home for the better of four decades. The nose art and unit markings of the 60TH AMW and 349th AMW units were refreshed for this last flight.
Tail number 79-1948 was the seventh KC-10A to roll off the McDonnell Douglas Long Beach, CA, production line and now has the distinction of being the last Ten standing.
Excalibur has a long, storied history with the 9th Air Refueling Squadron (ARS), according to US Air Force Lt. Col. Andrew Baer, 9th ARS commander and KC-10 pilot. “It was in Operation’s Urgent Fury, Enduring Freedom, Allies Refuge, Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom, New Dawn, Inherent Resolve… you name it, this jet has seen it.”
Having first flown on February 10, 1982, it was accepted to the 660th Aircraft Generation Squadron, 60th Air Mobility Wing at Travis Air Force Base on May 26, 1982. It served with the 9th Air Refueling Squadron, 60th Air Mobility Wing, Travis AFB, and the 9th Air Refueling Squadron, 22nd Air Refueling Wing, March AFB before returning to the 9th ARS, 60th AMW, Travis AFB. It also has the unique distinction of consistently being based in California.
In a fitting tribute, Team Travis celebrated the final KC-10 Extender to depart for retirement with the 309th Aerospace Maintenance And Regeneration Group (AMARG) at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, better known as the Boneyard.
The KC-10 was an aircraft of firsts. Its boom operator station was a digital, fly-by-wire station, a significant technological advancement that allowed the operator to sit rather than lie prone. The Ten’s design allowed it to refuel all US military and Allied aircraft on the same mission, a feat made possible by its advanced aerial refueling boom or a centerline hose and drogue. These unique features set the KC-10 apart and contributed to its unparalleled versatility and effectiveness.
Those in attendance, present and former crew members, maintainers, family, friends, and guests, were all allowed one last opportunity to tour the aircraft and say goodbye to Big Sexy.
While the retirement flight of “GUCCI 10” was a 9th ARS mission, fittingly, it was flown by a crew made up of all four KC-10 squadrons at Travis AFB. The 6th ARS and 9th ARS, and the 70th ARS and 79th ARS of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) were all represented.
“Even when the Extender heads over the horizon today, the KC-10’s accomplishments will never fade,” Air Force Chief of Staff General David W. Allvin said. “We can never forget that it was not the metal that made the KC-10 great – it was the people.”
As the speeches wrapped up, the crowd left the hangar and stood along the tarmac entry control point to witness the last KC-10 departure. The time had come to turn to the guest of honor. The crews pre-flighted the aircraft before the ceremony so they could walk aboard and start Excalibur’s engines, a moment that marked the beginning of an emotional farewell.
(U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Lauren Jacoby)
It was real now. The crew posed for one last photo before boarding 79-1948 for the last time. With the cabin door secured, the air stairs were pulled away. With the APU running, the crew engaged the starter motors to spool up the three GE turbofan engines.
Then came the moment when the inevitable could no longer be delayed. It was mission time, 1800 Zulu, 1000 Local. Checklists were completed, comms disconnected, chocks pulled, the fire bottle rolled away, and the brakes released as 79-1948 powered up and taxied to runway 21L.
(U.S. Air Force photo by Kenneth Abbate)
It took GUCCI 10 fifteen minutes to return to our view in what seemed like a dramatic pause. In all its glory, GUCCI 10 was pointed skyward, the engines whining as the Big Sexy climbed away from us into a sweeping left turn.
(U.S. Air Force photo by Kenneth Abbate)
However, Team Travis had one last surprise for all that had gathered. GUCCI 10 circled behind the crowd and out of view, where it was joined by two F-15C Eagles of the California Air National Guard’s 144th Fighter Wing. With the two F-15 Eagles flanking Big Sexy, the crew made one last pass over Travis AFB before they climbed westward toward the California coastline, until it was out of view. The crew followed the coastline south towards GUCCI 10’s birthplace, Long Beach, California, before charting a course to its retirement home, Davis Monthan AFB.
Hopefully, its retirement will only be a short-lived rest break in the southwest desert sun. The KC-10 is still capable of doing the job, as General Mike Minihan testified before the House Armed Services Committee in July. He told the committee that the Air Mobility Command has explored the idea of commercial refueling to supplement its tankers and is working on more analysis, including the potential use of retired KC-10 Extenders.
Let us hope so; for those who admired the KC-10, it was the perfect 10.
