{"id":32251438,"date":"2026-11-11T10:24:49","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T09:24:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/keen-sword-27-us-army-soldiers-refuel-f-22-raptors-japan\/"},"modified":"2026-11-11T10:25:59","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T09:25:59","slug":"keen-sword-27-us-army-soldiers-refuel-f-22-raptors-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/keen-sword-27-us-army-soldiers-refuel-f-22-raptors-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"Keen Sword 27: US Army Soldiers Refuel F-22 Raptors in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\n\n<style>\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid 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During exercise Keen Sword 27, petroleum specialists from the US Army&rsquo;s 593rd Corps Sustainment Command pumped fuel into US Air Force fighters at the Fukuoka Prefecture base on Japan&rsquo;s southern island of Kyushu, a job well outside an Army fueller&rsquo;s usual brief.<\/p>\n\n<p>The Army calls it a &ldquo;historic first&rdquo;. Its account, published on 9 November and picked up by Defence Industry Europe a day later, describes a modest piece of ramp work with a big idea behind it: if fighters are going to scatter across the Pacific in a war, whoever has the fuel and a truck nearby may have to fill them up.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:18px 22px;margin:26px 0 30px;font-size:15px;line-height:1.7\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:600;color:#0d1117;font-size:17px\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:20px\"><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Exercise:<\/strong> Keen Sword 27, a biennial Japan-US field training exercise that ended on 29 October 2026 after 11 days of training<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Where:<\/strong> Tsuiki Air Base, Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Fuellers:<\/strong> Soldiers of the US Army&rsquo;s 593rd Corps Sustainment Command, headquartered at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Aircraft:<\/strong> US Air Force F-22 Raptors of the 525th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, deployed from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Equipment:<\/strong> Army M978 fuel tankers, according to Army photo captions<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>When:<\/strong> Army photos of the refuelling are dated 20 to 22 October 2026<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>The claim:<\/strong> The Army calls it a &ldquo;historic first&rdquo;; it does not spell out a wider definition<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Green Trucks on a Grey Flight Line<\/h2>\n\n<p>According to the Army story by Staff Sgt. Jameson Harris, the soldiers worked alongside Air Force maintainers, positioning their vehicles near the jets, coordinating refuelling procedures and delivering fuel for scheduled flight operations. Army photos show the hardware: M978 tankers, D1 nozzles and the static reel that bonds truck to aircraft so a stray spark cannot find its way into the fuel.<\/p>\n\n<p>Each day began with fuel quality surveillance before a drop was distributed. During transfers, the soldiers watched differential pressures, flow rates and static electricity, and limited-visibility operations meant working the equipment by feel rather than by sight.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/keen-sword-27-army-airman-f-22-fuel-nozzle-tsuiki.jpg\" alt=\"US Army fueller and US Air Force Airman handling a fuel nozzle beside an Army tanker at Tsuiki Air Base\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Spc. Tristian Stokes of the 593rd Corps Sustainment Command works with an Airman on F-22 fuel operations at Tsuiki, 20 October 2026. Photo: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.army.mil\/article\/296658\/fueling_air_dominance_593rd_csc_supports_f_22_operations_during_keen_sword_27\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jameson Harris<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>None of it was improvised. Before deploying, the fuellers trained at McChord Airfield in Washington so they could refuel fixed-wing fighters while meeting the Air Force&rsquo;s safety and operational requirements. Chief Warrant Officer 3 Johnny Frambo, the command&rsquo;s senior petroleum systems technician, put it plainly: &ldquo;Refueling fighter jets isn&rsquo;t something they get to do every day, but they took the training and experience they already had and applied it to a completely different environment.&rdquo;<\/p>\n\n<p>The Air Force side seems to have been pleased. &ldquo;They are consummate professionals,&rdquo; said Master Sgt. Robert Momsen, production superintendent with the 525th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Unit. &ldquo;Bringing the 593rd fuelers and our maintainers together has been seamless.&rdquo;<\/p>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A &ldquo;Historic First&rdquo;, in the Army&rsquo;s Words<\/h2>\n\n<p>The headline phrase comes from Col. Erin Miller, who commands the 593rd Corps Sustainment Command.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;This historic first belongs to the Soldiers on the ground. The fuelers and logisticians of the 593rd Corps Sustainment Command embraced a new challenge, mastered it, and delivered.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Col. Erin Miller<\/strong> &mdash; Commander, 593rd Corps Sustainment Command, US Army<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Read in context, the first is Army soldiers refuelling F-22s with Army equipment. The Army does not say whether it means first ever, first in the Pacific or first for the command, and Afterburner found no earlier public report of Army fuellers servicing Raptors. Until someone produces one, treat the label as the Army&rsquo;s own claim, not a settled record.<\/p>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Why Fuel Is the Pacific Problem<\/h2>\n\n<p>The point is bigger than one ramp in Kyushu. Under <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/agile-combat-employment-ace-explained-dispersed-air-bases\/\">Agile Combat Employment<\/a>, the US Air Force plans to spread its jets across many smaller airfields instead of parking them on a handful of large bases that make easy missile targets. Every extra airfield, though, needs fuel and people qualified to put it into an aircraft, and the Air Force&rsquo;s own fuels specialists cannot be everywhere at once.<\/p>\n\n<p>The Army already runs fuel distribution units of its own. If its fuellers can be trained to Air Force standards, as the 593rd was at McChord, the pool of people who can turn a fighter around at a dispersed site gets larger, and the joint force gets more places a jet can land, top up and launch again.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/keen-sword-27-f-22-raptor-takeoff-tsuiki.jpg\" alt=\"US Air Force F-22 Raptor taking off from Tsuiki Air Base during Keen Sword 27\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">An F-22 Raptor takes off from Tsuiki Air Base during Keen Sword 27, 21 October 2026. Photo: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.army.mil\/article\/296658\/fueling_air_dominance_593rd_csc_supports_f_22_operations_during_keen_sword_27\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jameson Harris<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/hot-pit-refuelling-integrated-combat-turn-explained\/\">Hot-pit refuelling<\/a>, in which a fighter takes on fuel with an engine still running, is the other staple of fast turns at dispersed bases. The Army&rsquo;s account does not say the Tsuiki work went that far; it describes scheduled refuelling in support of flight operations, which is the sensible place to start.<\/p>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Keen Sword 27 in Context<\/h2>\n\n<p>Keen Sword is a biennial, joint and bilateral field training exercise between US forces and the Japan Self-Defense Forces. This edition involved about 45,000 Japanese personnel, with Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the Philippines also taking part, according to Defence Industry Europe, and it wrapped up on 29 October after 11 days of training.<\/p>\n\n<p>The Raptors at Tsuiki belonged to the 525th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska. Air &amp; Space Forces Magazine reports that the squadron is part of a rotation of fighters through Kadena on Okinawa, which is waiting for permanently assigned F-15EX Eagle II jets.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9mkW2FlJCxA\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n<p>For now, the Army fuellers have gone home with a story most soldiers in their trade cannot tell. Whether it becomes routine will show up in the next Pacific exercise, and in whose trucks are parked next to the jets.<\/p>\n\n<p><em>Sources: US Army (army.mil), DVIDS, Defence Industry Europe, Air &amp; Space Forces Magazine, 19FortyFive.<\/em><\/p>\n\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\n\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\n\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mf-photo-credits\" data-no-translation style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;font-style:italic;margin:6px 0 18px\">Header photo: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.army.mil\/article\/296658\/fueling_air_dominance_593rd_csc_supports_f_22_operations_during_keen_sword_27\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jameson Harris<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\n\n\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>Who refuelled the F-22 Raptors during Keen Sword 27?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Soldiers of the US Army's 593rd Corps Sustainment Command, headquartered at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington, refuelled US Air Force F-22 Raptors of the 525th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron during Keen Sword 27. They worked alongside Air Force maintainers and used Army equipment, including M978 fuel tankers.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Where did the US Army refuel F-22s during Keen Sword 27?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The refuelling took place at Tsuiki Air Base in Fukuoka Prefecture on the Japanese island of Kyushu. US Army photos of the operation are dated 20 to 22 October 2026, during the Keen Sword 27 exercise, which ended on 29 October 2026.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why did the US Army call the Keen Sword 27 F-22 refuelling a historic first?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Col. Erin Miller, commander of the 593rd Corps Sustainment Command, called it a historic first because Army soldiers refuelled F-22 aircraft using Army equipment. The Army did not define the claim more precisely, for example whether it means first ever or first in the Pacific.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How did the Army fuellers prepare to refuel F-22 Raptors?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Before deploying to Japan, soldiers of the 593rd Corps Sustainment Command trained at McChord Airfield in Washington to refuel fixed-wing fighters while meeting US Air Force safety and operational requirements. In Japan, they checked fuel quality each day and monitored pressures, flow rates and static electricity during transfers.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why does Army refuelling of F-22s matter for Agile Combat Employment?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Agile Combat Employment spreads aircraft across many smaller airfields so they are harder to target. Each site needs fuel and qualified people to deliver it. Army fuellers trained to Air Force standards would enlarge the pool of personnel able to refuel fighters at dispersed locations across the Pacific.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What is Keen Sword 27?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Keen Sword 27 is the 2026 edition of the biennial joint and bilateral field training exercise between US forces and the Japan Self-Defense Forces. It involved about 45,000 Japanese personnel, with seven other nations taking part, and ended on 29 October 2026 after 11 days of training.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Who refuelled the F-22 Raptors during Keen Sword 27?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Soldiers of the US Army's 593rd Corps Sustainment Command, headquartered at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington, refuelled US Air Force F-22 Raptors of the 525th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron during Keen Sword 27. 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The Army did not define the claim more precisely, for example whether it means first ever or first in the Pacific.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How did the Army fuellers prepare to refuel F-22 Raptors?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Before deploying to Japan, soldiers of the 593rd Corps Sustainment Command trained at McChord Airfield in Washington to refuel fixed-wing fighters while meeting US Air Force safety and operational requirements. In Japan, they checked fuel quality each day and monitored pressures, flow rates and static electricity during transfers.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why does Army refuelling of F-22s matter for Agile Combat Employment?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Agile Combat Employment spreads aircraft across many smaller airfields so they are harder to target. Each site needs fuel and qualified people to deliver it. 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It involved about 45,000 Japanese personnel, with seven other nations taking part, and ended on 29 October 2026 after 11 days of training.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/agile-combat-employment-ace-explained-dispersed-air-bases\/\">Agile Combat Employment Explained: Why Air Forces Scatter Their Jets<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/hot-pit-refuelling-integrated-combat-turn-explained\/\">Hot Pit Refuelling: Rearming a Fighter With the Engine Running<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/freedom-flag-exercise-south-korea-us-air-drills-kunsan-2026\/\">Freedom Flag Exercise: South Korea and US Launch Air Drills at Kunsan<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/f-22-raptor-commands-yfq-44a-fury-cca-in-flight-first-time-2026\/\">F-22 Commands a YFQ-44A Fury Drone in Flight for the First Time<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n\n\n<!--mfcred1-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During Keen Sword 27, US Army fuellers from the 593rd Corps Sustainment Command refuelled US Air Force F-22 Raptors at Tsuiki Air Base in Japan, a job the Army calls a historic first.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":32251328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[664,670],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32251438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military-aviation","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Keen Sword 27: US Army Soldiers Refuel F-22s | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"During Keen Sword 27, US Army fuellers refuelled USAF F-22 Raptors at Tsuiki Air Base, Japan. 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