Air Force sister and Navy brother reconnect during aerial refueling mission

Two military siblings had a memorable family reunion at 25,000 feet when an Air Force tanker pilot refueled his brother’s Navy EA-18G Growler attack aircraft.

During a mission earlier this year, Capt. Elizabeth “Sully” Brakefield, who flies KC-46A Pegasus tankers for the 344th Air Refueling Squadron at McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas, refueled a Navy EA formation- 18G Growler – one of which included his brother, Navy Lieutenant Lawson Brakefield.

Lawson Brakefield is a flight officer assigned to the Vikings of Electronic Attack Squadron 129 at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington. The Growlers are a hybrid attack aircraft, based on the Navy’s high-performance FA-18 Super Hornet fighter, but equipped with electronic warfare systems designed to jam and disrupt radars and communications.

The two siblings had concocted their plan to meet months earlier, Lawson Brakefield told the Navy in a statement, with each coordinating their own units’ flights.

Air Force tankers are not typically installed to refuel Navy fighters. When refueling other Air Force aircraft, the service’s tankers use their extended boom to reach a fuel port that all Air Force aircraft have. The system can deliver nearly 1,200 gallons of gasoline per minute.

Navy aircraft are designed to work with much smaller tankers that land and take off from aircraft carriers and therefore do not have large refueling ramps. Instead, Navy tankers drag a fuel hose behind the aircraft, capped with a badminton, or drug, style basket. Navy pilots maneuver their probe into the sea anchor to begin refueling. The system delivers approximately 300 gallons per minute.

Yet the Air Force’s KC-46s and other tankers can refuel Navy planes with a short hose and a dope on the end of their probe.

On the morning of the mission, an impending storm darkened the sky and threatened to delay the Air Force tanker’s takeoff.

“That morning was pretty stressful because we didn’t know if our plane was going to work,” said Elizabeth Brakefield. “Then the weather became problematic, so we didn’t know if we would be able to take off in time.”

Rain ended up delaying the plane’s takeoff for about 15 minutes, but once the weather cleared, they continued on their way. Fueling a Growler, or any other aircraft, can be a tricky task and often tanker probes miss the port or entry point where the fuel is transferred.

At first, Elizabeth Brakefield didn’t recognize her brother’s voice on the radio, because most people have the same muffled, indistinct voice. Then he asked her about an injury that happened a month earlier and she knew it was Lawson.

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“I thought about everything that led up to this moment,” Lawson Brakefield said. “Flying side by side felt surreal and filled me with immense pride. It’s a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life. »

The Brakefield siblings grew up in Dothan, Alabama, and followed in the footsteps of their father, a former soldier, to join the military.

“Our father always instilled the principle of service before self,” Elizabeth Brakefield said. “He always encouraged us to join. »

Elizabeth Brakefield told the Navy that her inspiration also came from her brother who joined after attending the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. She went to her induction day in 2016 and her brother did the same for her four years later at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Elizabeth Brakefield completed pilot training in 2022 and moved to McConnell where she has been flying the KC-46 Pegasus for the past year and a half.

“I was kind of following in his footsteps,” Elizabeth Brakefield said.

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