APRIL | MAY 2024
Exclusive News From Boeing
With robust defensive countermeasures and a tactical situational awareness system , KC-46 can detect , avoid , defeat and survive threats using multiple layers of protection , enabling it to operate safely in contested environments . ( Boeing Photo ; KC-46 and C-17 )
Tanker Transcendence
The KC-46A Multi-mission Tanker is built with pride by the program team .
Jennifer Ferrero
Jennifer Ferrero , APR , DTM Ferrero Agency | 509-294-0437
Sean Martin has made a career with aerial refueling . As a U . S . Air Force veteran who served for nearly 25 years , Martin has over 8,000 hours of flight time and 500 hours of combat and combat support missions , serving as an aerial refueling operator ( ARO ) and Chief Master Sergeant with the service .
Many people would have called that a career , but not Martin . Following that storied time with the Air Force , Martin joined Boeing , first as a flight test ARO with the company ’ s KC- 46 Program and now , 15 years later , as the program ’ s senior manager of business development .
In a sense , he has followed his passion from his first contact with the USAF as a 17-year-old in the New York Metropolitan area . Martin recalls , “ I had an excellent recruiter who said ( refueling ) was the best job if you want to fly for the Air Force .”
The KC-46A ’ s primary role is to refuel other aircraft mid-air , transferring up to 1,200 gallons of fuel per minute , allowing the U . S . military to operate more effectively and making missions more efficient . “ The KC-46 can also serve as a medivac mission in a hurricane or a typhoon . It is protected from chemical and biological environments and has defensive capabilities for different weapons ,” said Martin .
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