Fuel tanker mechanical issue delays trip home from Hawaii for Fresno airmen
About 120 personnel with the Fresno Air National Guard Base 144th Fighter Wing will have to wait a little longer to get back to Fresno after a mechanical issue with a fuel tanker delayed their trip.
The personnel, including airmen, were expected to return Saturday from a Hawaii training exercise, said Staff Sgt. George Solis with the public affairs department at the 144th Fighter Wing. The trip back to the mainland is now expected for Sunday or Monday.
The tanker provides the fighter jets with fuel during the long trip across the Pacific Ocean. Eight F-15 Eagles are returning to Fresno from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
The exercise in Hawaii, called Sentry Aloha, is organized among the U.S. Air Force, Air National Guard and other Department of Defense services. The training helps U.S. warfighters gain defense skills for overseas and homeland missions.
More than 800 military personnel from Hawaii, California, Mississippi, Arizona and Utah took part in the training. The conditions in Hawaii provided the military with a better training experience, which includes unlimited airspace for air-to-air combat training.
Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado: 559-441-6304, @cres_guez
This story was originally published April 8, 2017 at 11:25 AM with the headline "Fuel tanker mechanical issue delays trip home from Hawaii for Fresno airmen."