Trip to Travis Air Force Base educational

The e-mail arrived at my inbox on Feb. 6 at 11: 49 a.m.:

"Gentlemen, there is the potential for a fly-away event to another AFB from July 21-23 that I would like you to mark on your calendars. I can't give you any specifics yet, but I wanted you two specifically to save the dates. More to follow."

Scott King, GS-09, Chief, Community & Media Relations, 92nd ARW Public Affairs

The message was addressed to Larry Godden, general manager of Moses Lake Million Air, and me, because we are honorary commanders of units at Fairchild Air Force Base.

At 12:22 p.m. I sent the following message to Scott:

"Count me in; this event is on my calendar."

An hour or so later Larry sent the following to Scott:

"Thanks Scott, it's on my calendar and I hope I'll be able to attend, it would just depend on what's going on at Grant County Airport during that time."

During the following months, Scott would send additional messages to the two of us, plus other honorary commanders in the Spokane and surrounding area. The destination was revealed as Travis Air Force Base.

The purpose for this trip is "to present and educate Spokane and other civic leaders and elected officials to broader Air Mobility Command mission, which includes air refueling, airlift and medical readiness. This will increase public understanding and provide them with a larger Air Force perspective."

When the time arrived, Larry couldn't make the trip due to the busy nature of Grant County Airport, which required his attention.

At 7 a.m. on July 21, over 20 civilians and military personnel gathered at the Fairchild AFB headquarters building. We boarded a bus and began the pre-flight procedure.

Military flights are similar to civilian flights, with baggage screened and passengers required to pass through a metal detector. The bus finally arrived and we were shuttled to the waiting KC-135. Fairchild Commander Col. McDaniel was at the controls as we took off for the two-hour flight.

The flight was smooth and uneventful, but much different from a civilian flight. Passengers use uncomfortable bench seats located along the sides of the airplane on most KC-135 flights. This flight, however, has padded and comfortable seats, much like a civilian airline, except the passengers faced the tail of the plane. Another difference is the lack of windows. There might be four windows along the entire passenger/cargo area of the plane. After all, not many windows are needed in a cargo/refueling airplane.

My feet had never touched Travis Air Force Base. I wasn't even sure where it was located, although I knew it was in California. Research discovered it is located in Solano County near the cities of Fairfield, Suisun City and Vacaville. It is midway between Sacramento, the state capital, and San Francisco.

We were greeted by Col. Pauly, the Command Vice of Travis, along with public affairs personnel and Travis honorary commanders at a welcome luncheon. Next we were treated to tour of a C-17 and a C-5.

Both of these aircraft are huge. We see the C-17 quiet often as they train at the Grant County Airport, but I have not been up close to one or the C-5. After crawling in and around the C-17, we walked a few hundred yards to the C-5. This is nothing but a flying tube.

I walked up the 37-foot ladder to the cockpit and admired the electronics, plus the ample crew quarters. After descending the ladder, a crew member escorted me to a second 37-foot ladder. At the top of this one were 72-commercial-airline-type seats. The entire airplane was impressive, simply impressive.

After checking into our rooms, we passed through the city of Fairfield, home of the Jelly Belly factory, and transported to the Il Fiorello Olive Oil Company. The grove of olive trees were 5-years old, but smallish in my eyes. Still the owner said each produced around 40-pounds of olives each year.

Wildlife was scarce, but finally a pair of turkey vultures was spotted, with one making a pass over my position near the grove of olive trees. I bought a bottle of their special olive oil and a bottle of their vinegar for my wife, Garnet.

I will be home when readers see these words, but I am writing them at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 22. In a few minutes my group will begin a second day of touring Travis AFB.

Next week: The rest of the tour.