Where Are They Now – Mary Claire Bolo
When she is working, Mary Claire Bolo is out in space, some 25,000 feet in the air, flat on her belly, and burrowed in a tanker’s crawlspace that might cause immediate agita for a claustrophobe, if it were not for a small window that offers a sweeping view of the sky. And maybe even then it still might, for although the window is wide, that void in space is featureless. There is little in the skyscape, no visual markers east or west, south or north, to show Bolo exactly where she is above the earth. But geography and the troposphere are not Bolo’s chief concerns during a mission. Being focused and accurate and calm under pressure are her stocks in trade and what she must be when she operates the boom of a hulking KC-135 tanker to position it above a receiver (a B-52, a raptor or other fighter jet), so that the receiver is refueled and can continue its mission.
Bolo acts as the eyes of the pilot, as the two aircraft close in on each other in midair. She issues distance calls — a hundred feet, then fifty, then ten — until the tanker is precisely within the length of a boom, a 48-foot maneuverable and retractable pipe with a nozzle, that will offload fuel from the tanker to the receiver. For the next five or so minutes of refueling, in which roughly 1,200 gallons of gas/minute are transferred, the two aircraft must maintain a 50-feet distance or less between them during the latching to avoid puncturing. It is no easy feat, as the aircraft’s crew must also account for and mitigate turbulence and disruption and other conditions that might arise, all while traveling well over 310 knots (356 miles per hour).
Welcome to a day in the life of a KC-135 in-flight air refueler (AR).
The work is skill-intensive and nerve-wracking, for there is no margin for error. But Bolo, who has been an AR, also known as a boom operator, for the Hawai’i Air National Guard’s 203rd Refueling Squadron for nine years, considers it her first love.
“Mishaps could definitely happen,” Bolo says, a 2005 graduate of Lānaʻi High & Elementary School. She played volleyball for Trinidad State College, then graduated from the University of Hawaiʻi-Hilo, with a bachelor’s degree in communications in 2009. “An AR must be constantly communicating with the receiver’s pilot, be situationally aware, and able to multi-task and problem-solve on the spot. I’m listening to air traffic control and monitoring altitude levels. An AR needs to know the systems of the aircraft, which you learn in AR school.” The intensive 10-month program immersed Bolo in the world of aerial refueling.
“It’s a highly sought-out job. Only 2% of people in the Air Force do in-flight air refueling. In Hawaiʻi, only 20 people do it,” Bolo says. “I had no idea this would be my path. The military was my absolute last resort. But I was in shape from having played volleyball in college, and so when I moved to Oʻahu after graduating from Hilo, and my sister, Angela, who was already in the Hawai‘i Air National Guard said it was one of the best hidden secrets and I should check it out, I did.”
Bolo could not have foreseen that the decision would lead her to AR and then to her second aviation love: flying. Getting a pilot’s license is expensive, Bolo says, but she saw the time and the study as an investment, a means to financial security. She signed up for flight school and obtained a private pilot’s license in 2018.
She was recently offered a position as a pilot for ABX Air, a carrier operating from the East Coast. It will be an opportunity for Bolo to fly Boeing 767s.
“My primary goal is to retire with financial stability. I want to ensure that my future self and my family have the security and flexibility to explore personal interests, hobbies and passions without financial constraints,” Bolo says.
And while her goal of financial security keeps her motivated, what keeps her grounded are lessons she learned from having grown up in a tight-knit community as Lānaʻi’s: “Treat people the way you want to be treated. No ulterior motives, be genuine. Go for your goals, but always be considerate and caring.”
“Where are they now?” features alumni from Lānaʻi High & Elementary School, shedding light on their journeys post-graduation.
