The US Air Force has decommissioned its final KC-10 Extender refueling and transport aircraft after more than four decades of service.
The event at Travis AFB in California celebrated the plane’s primary role in aerial replenishment and logistics for equipment and personnel on overseas deployments.
Alongside tactical missions, the KC-10 provided support for humanitarian and emergency response efforts.
Among the Extender fleet’s most notable operations were Desert Shield/Storm in Iraq, the 1999 NATO Operation Allied Force aerial campaign against Yugoslavia, NORAD’s Operation Noble Eagle to secure US and Canadian airspace, Enduring Freedom to counter Al-Qaeda militants in Afghanistan, and Iraqi Freedom after the Gulf War.
The platforms were also used in the recent Operation Allies Refuge, the US government’s “largest” non-combatant evacuation involving about 40 percent of the fleet to withdraw approximately 3,000 individuals from Afghanistan during the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul.
KC-10s in the US
The US Air Force KC-10’s initial deployments took place out of the Strategic Command at Barksdale AFB. Most of the aircraft were then flown under the Air Mobility Command at Travis Air Force Base in California and New Jersey’s McGuire AFB.
Since 1981, the Pentagon has acquired more than 50 Extenders for the active force.
The air force noted that the final KC-10’s destination will be Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona, where it will be managed by the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group for preservation, storage, parts reclamation, disposal, and aircraft regeneration purposes.
“What I want to do is say thank you to all of you, to every one of you, for everything you have given that [KC-10] machine,” former US Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman Ret. Gen. Paul Selva remarked.
“Whether you are a maintainer, an operator, or a member of the support team that makes it possible for us to fly the airplane, you have made the reputation that is the KC-10…this is not the end of an era, it’s just another chapter of a long story.”
Extender Fleet Replacement
The US is now processing integration of the KC-46A Pegasus, which will replace the KC-10. As of the final Extender’s deactivation, the air force has received 88 of the new platforms from Boeing, with the latest contract being signed in August 2023.
“The KC-10’s legacy is not just about the collection of impressive statistics, but more importantly, it’s about the people, community and the Airmen who made the aircraft what it is,” 60th Air Mobility Wing Commander Col. Jay Johnson stated.
“As the KC-10 takes its last flight, its legacy doesn’t end. With that last touchdown, those lessons will be passed on through friendship, through the knowledge you all have passed down through generations.”
