Refueling mission takes spouses along Published July 9, 2012 By Lt. Col. James Bishop 439th AW Public Affairs WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass. -- Twenty-eight military spouses got a glimpse of what their husbands and wives do on a mission during the 439th Airlift Wing's Spouse Orientation Flight May 24. The two-hour flight took spouses in a giant rectangle across Western Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire, and included multiple hook-ups with a KC-135 Stratotanker from the Air National Guard's 101st Air Refueling Wing from Bangor, Maine. Only four of the 28 spouses had been in a military aircraft before. They climbed aboard the largest plane in the U.S. military inventory: the C-5, with its 323,000-pound fuel capacity and 222-foot wingspan. The 337th Airlift Squadron crew of three pilots, four loadmasters, and one flight engineer cycled the spouses to the flight deck to see miles of clouds, the New England landscape, and the business end of a KC-135. More than 20,000 feet high, and hurtling along at 250 knots, the C-5 met the KC-135 amid clear blue skies. Pilots and spouses alike experienced mild turbulence as the two jets joined for the refueling - about 20 feet apart. The flight is limited by regulation to spouses who are in direct support of the flying mission. Mid-flight, a group of seven women watched as "Maine-87" - the Maine Air National Guard tanker, grew larger in the windscreen. "Seeing the tanker that close was unbelievable," said Heather Marchegiani, wife of hydraulic specialist SrA. Steven Marchegiani, 439th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. During the flight, numerous spouses gave a one-word assessment after returning from the flight deck: "Awesome."