OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. -- With all preflight checks complete and the engines running, the crew of an RC-135S COBRA BALL sat on the tarmac at Yokota Air Force Base, Japan waiting for the most vital piece of this crazy puzzle to fall into place to successfully execute their mission, a linguist. Senior Airman Mark Sana, 390 Intelligence Squadron, linguist was 1,300 miles away at Kadena Air Force Base, Japan. If he didn’t make it, the entire mission would have to be scrubbed.
What started out as a routine relay, where the crew’s mission was to reposition the aircraft from Elmendorf, Alaska to Kadena Air Base, Japan, turned into a high priority mission. They were now tasked with moving the aircraft and executing a mission, which would require them to refuel somewhere.
“What makes this story so bizarre or even challenging is we did not have the entire crew that we needed to execute this mission,” said Capt. Rishi Sharma, 45th Reconnaissance Squadron assistant flight commander. “The challenge then arose how are we going to make this happen with a bunch of moving pieces, did we have tanker support, meaning would we have the gas to enable us to do this? If not, what’s plan-B, do we need to stop somewhere to get more gas?”
With no in-flight refueling tankers available, the COBRA BALL would have to be rerouted to Yokota for additional fuel before following on to a data collection mission of intercontinental ballistic missile launches.
With the refueling challenge solved, the mission planners now needed to work on getting Sana, the linguist, on board. Since there was no time to stop for fuel and fly an additional two and a half hours to Kadena to get him on board to meet the time on target, they were going to have to think of some creative travel plans.
“The people coordinating this entire mission, those are the true folks that did all the leg work for this,” Sharma said. “While the pilots and the crew were resting up getting ready for the actual flight and mission, all the real work is being done behind the scenes.”
Another challenge the mission planners faced was Yokota is 17 hours ahead of Elmendorf, Alaska. All crew members are required to be on crew rest before every mission to ensure they can operate safely in the air. They had to call ahead to Sana’s squadron so they could wake him up to tell him to go to sleep at a later time and would need to take a commercial flight to Tokyo, then a two-hour taxi ride to join the flight.
Once the crew landed at Yokota and were fueled, they discovered they had a communications issue which could have sidelined the mission. They reached out to a Yokota-based maintenance crew who quickly fixed an expired crypto key.
They had the fuel they needed; the maintenance issue was repaired; they only needed Sana to arrive in time for takeoff to meet the mission’s timeline.
“Once we got word that he was in route and very close by, we started our engines,” Sharma said. “The plan was as soon as we see him running toward the jet, we’ll bring him up the crew entry chute and start to taxi as soon as possible.”
Once Sana arrived, maintenance personnel whisked him to the jet. Normally, there would be stairs at the jet for the backend crew to use, since everything was already buttoned up with engines running, he needed to ascend the crew entry chute leading to the cockpit. Once safely aboard and strapped in, the crew expeditiously taxied and took off.
“Everyone onboard clapped when he got on the plane because we were so happy he was able to get there and that we were able to fly the mission we were sent there to fly,” said Capt. Abigail Digiorgi, 45th Reconnaissance Squadron, navigator. “I think I speak for everyone in saying he was a hero to us for showing up after a long flight, then working and flying long hours to get the mission done.”
As Sharma flew the aircraft in the area of interest, the crew in the back end monitored for potential ICBM activity and soon had an indication that something was about to happen.
“As I looked outside my right window, I happen to see multiple projectiles being launched,” Sharma said. “We initiated the collect sequence, and we were able to get the; what they call ‘the largest collect in COBRA BALL history.’”
The crew was able to stay airborne and complete the objective. After the collect, they returned to base, maximizing a 24-hour duty day and landed safely at Kadena under night instrumental meteorological conditions.
The detachment director of operations suffered from appendicitis during the flight and went into surgery directly after the mission was completed. This goes to show the dedication and teamwork that led to a successful mission.
The CRAZY 23 team was comprised of Airmen from the 45th and 343rd Reconnaissance Squadrons, 338th Combat Training Squadron, and the 97th Intelligence Squadron.
“If you write out all of the things that needed to happen, in order for this mission to be successful, it sounds crazy,” said Sharma. “That’s why we were dubbed CRAZY 23 as our call sign for that day.”
The crew of CRAZY 23 was awarded with the Maj. Bill Palm Trophy at the annual Tales of the 55th event March 27, 2025, at the Beardmore Events Center in Bellevue, Nebraska for their efforts during the challenging yet fruitful mission. The Trophy is awarded within the 55th Wing to recognize superior airmanship and tenacity displayed during Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) operations.