Twenty-seven years on , president Tad Papineau and his team of more than 10 employees are proud to be a key supplier for Boeing ’ s KC-46 program and play a crucial role in supporting the nation ’ s armed services .
“ To know that we had a little piece in helping the warfighter go out and complete their mission and most importantly , return home safely at the end of the day to their family and their teams , really puts a smile on our face and helps us feel good about things ,” said Papineau , who also runs a second office in Portland , Oregon .
Cousin connection
In Everett , Washington , where each tanker is built on Boeing ’ s 767 production line , brothers Chad ( KC-46 manufacturing manager ) and Wade Holliston ( heavy structures technician ) share an even closer relationship to the Air Force mission .
“ It ’ s a pretty cool connection that my brother and I work here together ,” Chad said . “ And then we ’ ve got our cousin who is anywhere in the world flying the tankers that we ’ re building .”
Their cousin , U . S . Air Force Captain Michelle McMillen , has been a tanker pilot for more than three years .
“( The KC-46A ) is better than any platform I ’ ve ever been on ,” McMillen said . “ Being a tanker pilot is so cool ! Bringing the fuel to the fight and supporting those on the ground has just been phenomenal .”
This “ cousin connection ” sparked a family reunion at Boeing ’ s Military Delivery Center in Tukwila , Washington . Chad and Wade were on hand to watch Capt . McMillen pilot the 24th Pegasus delivery to McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita , Kansas .
“ It gives me a sense of family pride ,” said Chad , who recalled the cousins gathering as kids at their grandfather ’ s cabin near Trout Lake , Washington .
“ She ’ s a pilot for the Air Force . She ’ s flying our tanker . I think it ’ s very awesome .”
Combat ready — today and tomorrow
The unmatched capabilities of the KC-46A have been on full display as the Pegasus has played an increasingly crucial role in the Air Force mobility fleet .
During a visit to Boeing ’ s Everett Modification Center , Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Renfro , Air Mobility Command ’ s KC-46A cross-functional team lead at the time , described how the Air Force has demonstrated the capabilities of the KC-46A — and where it ’ s headed in the future .
“ The KC-46 brings a lot of capabilities that were not traditionally baked into the legacy aircraft ; notably defensive systems — the ability to detect and avoid threats using either on-board measures or tactical data link options that are passed to us via other receivers and other platforms out in the field ,” Renfro said .
He provided a specific example from an exercise in 2022 , as the Air Force was proving out the KC-46A on its path to global deployment .
“ A tanker saw a pop-up threat that the fighter didn ’ t see right away ,” Renfro explained . “ Our tanker crew was able to call out , ‘ Hey , there is a threat over this quadrant . Vector over and engage .’ The fighter conducted the kill based on that pop-up notification .
“ So we actually had the tanker participating in the kill chain specifically because of that connectivity it brings to the fight ,” Renfro said .
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