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Flight engineer hits 10,000-hour mark

McGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, N.J. (USTCNS) --- A McGuire flight engineer has surpassed the 10,000-mishap-free-flying-hours milestone somewhere over Tennessee, halfway into a nearly six-hour refueling mission.

Senior Master Sgt. Jere Garvin, a flight engineer with the 2nd Air Refueling Squadron reached this milestone June 26 and is the only active-duty flight engineer to do so.

"He's attained these 10,000 hours mishap-free flying without being found causal in any mishap resulting in more than $200,000 in damage, loss of life or permanent disability," said Capt. Mike Moore, the 305th Air Mobility Wing's chief of KC-10 flight safety.

"This is a huge deal in the aviation career field," said Col. Joseph Roeder, 2nd ARS commander. "Personally, I am honored to be the commander of the squadron Jere was assigned to when he passed the 10,000 hour milestone."

"Even going over 7,500 hours is quite a feat," said Moore. "The nearest person to Garvin here has about 8,800 hours."

Garvin accumulated his hours while flying C-130 Hercules, C-141 Starlifter, E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System and KC-10 Extender aircraft during his 24-year flying career and 28 years of service.

"I have more sorties than some crewmembers have flying hours," said Garvin, who's flown about 2,400 sorties. "I came in when all the Vietnam era flyers were there to pass on their experience to all the new people. That's when I knew I wanted to be a flyer."

Garvin entered the Air Force as a maintainer for B-52 Stratofortress and KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft, then made his decision to cross over and became a flight engineer.

He spent a few years at McChord Air Force Base, Wash., did a tour at Norton AFB, Calif., then moved to Charleston AFB, S.C.

"I spent 10 years at Charleston - that's where I ran the gamut and achieved most of my hours," said Garvin. "While there, I surpassed my 7,500-hour milestone."

His time at Charleston was spent instructing and evaluating others, but he saw that his time in the C-141s was rapidly coming to an end. The Air Force was downsizing the C-141s and building support for the C-17s, and Garvin knew he'd have to be moving on.

"A lot of my peers were going to KC-10s, but being as adventurous as I was, I went to NATO AWACS in Geinlirkrichen, Germany," said Garvin. "That was during the time when the United Nations gave NATO a mission to deny flight over Bosnia. I flew more than 1,500 hours then, with 65 hours of that combat support time."

Garvin was the senior advisor to the U.S. troops there, but still had to fly the line, he said. "After coming back from overseas, the guys kept saying, 'hey man, you've got a lot of flying time.'" That's when he realized the 10,000-hour milestone was a realistic possibility.

Garvin finished his stint with NATO and came to McGuire and transitioned into the KC-10s - what he refers to as an airlifter with the added role as a tanker.

Here he's part of the Air Mobility Command's global mission refueling virtually every weapon system and extending the reach of America. He's part of a team that's unique in its capability to provide inter-service and allied support through compatible refueling systems, said Garvin.

"I feel really good to be a part of this squadron," he said. "Here we are, in a unit that started in 1912, still carrying the pride of the Air Force with a real diverse mission role as we go into the new millennium."

Garvin went on to explain that he couldn't have achieved this honor alone.

"One of us isn't as good as all of us. I've shared this with everyone I've flown with. Without them, I wouldn't have obtained this milestone in my career."

"Jere is truly an outstanding aviator and senior NCO. This milestone is directly attributed to his service-before-self attitude," said Roeder.

It takes a lot of deployments and operational missions to get over 10,000 flying hours, which is the equivalent of one year, one month and 22 days. (FROM AIR MOBILITY COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS).

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