First Lieutenant Brandon Merano, U.S. Air Force – Fueling U.S. Air Operations over Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq
For those torn between wanting to serve in the military and pursuing a civilian career, America’s National Guard and Reserve forces offer the perfect solution. Both are critical to our nation’s defense, and both allow soldiers to be citizens invested in their communities. No one knows that better than First Lieutenant Brandon Merano, U.S. Air Force. As Brandon looked to his future, his family’s legacy compelled him to serve in the military. He also felt drawn to a career in broadcast journalism where he could positively impact the people in his community. He solved his dilemma by joining the Illinois Air National Guard at age seventeen and then executing a well-orchestrated plan to make both dreams a reality.
Brandon was born in 1992 in Kincaid, Illinois—a small town of about 1,000 people located in central Illinois. Both his parents were correctional officers at Illinois prisons, and they ran a tight ship at home for Brandon and his younger sister. Unfortunately, Brandon’s parents divorced when he was eleven, so Brandon and his sister lived with their mother after the divorce. Brandon stayed with his mother until his sophomore year of high school, when he went to live with his father about twenty miles away in Hillsboro.
After he began living with his father, Brandon attended Hillsboro High School. Although he excelled academically, he particularly loved sports and played basketball, baseball, and golf, and ran track. When he wasn’t playing sports, he worked. He started his first job doing construction at age fifteen. During his junior and senior years, he worked for Sierra International shipping aftermarket boat and lawn mower parts across the United States. As if all that wasn’t enough, he cut grass and maintained city property for the City of Hillsboro.
Two lessons emerged from Brandon’s high school years. First, his classwork taught him he had a knack for storytelling, planting the seed for a career in the media. Second, he realized he needed to join the military. His grandfather on his father’s side influenced him in this regard, having served in the Air Force after the Korean War. He also had a great-grandfather who served in the Army during World War II. Listening to stories about his grandfather’s and great-grandfather’s service motivated him to follow in their footsteps.
Where Brandon felt called, though, was the Illinois Air National Guard (ANG), because it allowed him to simultaneously pursue a civilian career and serve his country in the military. It also left open the possibility that he might someday become a pilot—something he aspired to do after watching the 1986 box-office smash Top Gun about daring Navy fighter pilots. Brandon’s father supported his plan, which was essential because Brandon was only seventeen and needed one of his parents’ permission to enlist. He was also certain his mother would object if he asked her to sign on his behalf.
One reason Brandon knew his mother would object was because she wanted him to go to college. He wanted to go, too, so he formulated a plan to join the ANG in such a way as to make sure college remained in the picture. His plan included taking the high school courses he needed to allow him to graduate early in December 2009. Although that meant he would miss his senior season on the basketball team, the prom, and his class’s graduation ceremony, it also meant he could complete his initial Air Force training and still start college in the fall. In addition, his service in the Illinois ANG would give him extra money for college.
On September 9, 2009, Brandon put his plan into motion by visiting an Illinois ANG recruiter at nearby Scott Air Force Base (AFB). The recruiter offered him two career paths that paid enlistment bonuses. The first was security forces, which did not appeal to Brandon because he did not want to become an Air Force policeman. The second was services, which Brandon understood to mean he would become an Air Force cook. That sounded okay, so he selected the services career field and earned his bonus. He enlisted for four years.
Brandon graduated from Hillsboro High School in December 2009 according to his plan. Three months later, on March 10, 2010, he reported to Air Force basic military training at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas. As soon as he got off the bus from the airport with the other new recruits, the sergeants started getting in their faces and yelling at them to get in line. Brandon quickly learned to “shut up and listen, not to volunteer for anything, and to blend in so as not to attract any unwanted attention from the sergeants.”
The strategy worked and Brandon sailed through basic military training. The fact that he was an excellent athlete and one of the fastest runners in the training cadre helped because he easily completed all the physical requirements. Still, the training pushed him to the point of exhaustion, so he learned how to catch a nap in between activities and zone out while marching. The real lasting value of the training, though, proved to be the life skills he learned, like how to prioritize and complete tasks and how to keep track of his responsibilities using checklists. Not only would these skills benefit him throughout his military career, but they also proved essential at college and at the media jobs he worked in later in life. From Brandon’s perspective, the training transformed him from a seventeen-year-old boy into an adult.
When basic military training graduation came in May 2010, Brandon ranked third out of the 792 new airmen, distinguishing himself as an honor graduate. Moreover, he earned the privilege of wearing the chevrons of an airman first class, made possible by the advanced placement courses he had taken and excelled at during high school.
Basic military training did not spell the end of Brandon’s training, but the beginning. After graduation, he moved to another section of Lackland AFB for the Services Specialist Course, where he learned the fundamentals of his new career field. Although his focus was food preparation, the services career field covered much more than that, including running physical fitness facilities, conducting mortuary affairs, and managing lodging operations. The course introduced him to each of these areas, including basic food service training. Given that Brandon’s pre-Air Force cooking skills were limited to making mac and cheese from a box and spreading peanut butter and jelly on a piece of bread, he had a lot to learn. That he did, passing his final food preparation exam by cooking eggs to order four different ways.
After completing his training at Lackland AFB, Brandon returned to Illinois to work at the Scott AFB dining facility for two months of on-the-job training. There he did such things as work at the omelet bar, cook chicken breasts, and make chili—major steps up from peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He finished his training in time to begin the fall semester at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, where he majored in broadcast journalism.
All the time Brandon attended college, he had to drill at Scott AFB one weekend each month and two to four weeks each year with his Illinois ANG unit, the 126th Force Support Squadron. The mission of the squadron was to support the operational readiness of the men and women assigned to the commands reporting to the 126th Air Refueling Wing, which included the 108th Air Refueling Squadron. This squadron operated eight large KC-135 airborne tanker aircraft, each capable of carrying over 30,000 gallons of jet fuel aloft and refueling U.S. military aircraft while airborne anywhere in the world.
Brandon’s job at the 126th Force Support Squadron initially involved food preparation, which made sense given his training. Once his superiors saw how hard he worked, they transitioned him to readiness, where he tracked all the training and classes members of his unit completed. He then ensured their training records accurately reflected their efforts in a timely manner. Brandon’s work ethic so impressed his superiors, he was selected as the 126th Air Refueling Wing’s 2011 Airman of the Year.
Because the 126th Force Support Squadron had to be ready to support Wing units even when deployed, some of Brandon’s drill periods involved fly-away missions to places like Tyndall AFB in Florida, where they set up tent camps and field kitchens. Brandon traveled to the training destinations on one of the 108th Air Refueling Squadron’s KC-135s and then worked with the other members of his unit to set up the camps. Other typical missions involved Brandon’s unit deploying to air bases for two weeks to backfill active-duty airmen so they could take leave.
During one such deployment in early 2013 to Anderson AFB in Guam, Brandon’s commanding officer (CO) asked if he was planning to reenlist once his obligated service ended in September. Brandon said that although he enjoyed the Air Force, he could not see himself reenlisting and serving as a cook for the next six years, especially since he was getting ready to graduate from Southern Illinois University with his bachelor’s degree. His CO then asked him if there was something he would like to do instead that would incentivize him to reenlist. Brandon replied he would like to be a pilot. The CO admitted that would be a bridge too far, but he could introduce Brandon to the chief of the boom operators at the 108th Air Refueling Squadron to see about transitioning him from food services to KC-135 aircrewman.
Being a boom operator sounded exciting to Brandon. As a boom operator, he would be the person on a KC-135 that had to control or “fly” the boom extending from the rear of the aircraft until it locked with the refueling receptacle of the airplane needing fuel. Brandon met with the boom operator chief at a squadron pig roast on Guam and said he would love to make the transition from cook. The chief congratulated him on the spot and then set out to make it happen.
The civilian side of Brandon’s life also continued to move forward. His broadcast journalism career began in 2012 with WSIL TV in Carterville, Illinois, where he began as an associate producer and photographer. Once he graduated from Southern Illinois University with honors in May 2013, he promoted to reporter. This dovetailed with his military career, as he continued drilling one weekend each month and two weeks each year through the summer of 2013, when it came time to attend the schools necessary to become a boom operator. Fortunately, everyone at WSIL supported Brandon’s Illinois ANG commitment, giving him the time he needed away from the station to learn his new boom operator job.
The first training Brandon attended was the Aircrew Fundamentals Course at Lackland AFB. He spent three weeks there learning basic aircrewman duties and responsibilities. After completing that course, he went to Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) School at Fairchild AFB near Spokane, Washington, where he learned how to conduct himself if captured by enemy forces. This proved to be the most challenging training Brandon ever attended. The captivity scenarios were so real, he had to continually remind himself it was only training.
After SERE School, Brandon reported to Altus AFB in Oklahoma for training specific to KC-135 crewmembers. There he learned about the KC-135 aircraft and its systems, as well as about all the aircrew positions onboard and their duties and responsibilities. These positions included crew chief, flight engineer, and boom operator. Once everyone attending the school learned the basics applicable to all the positions, the students split into groups to learn their specific job responsibilities. Brandon trained with the students seeking qualification as boom operators.
Boom operator training started in the classroom. Once Brandon and the other students mastered the instructional material, they practiced controlling the boom and refueling other planes on simulators. Then it came time for the real thing under the guidance of an instructor. For Brandon’s first in-flight refueling, he had to lie on his belly in the boom pod at the rear of his KC-135. He planted his chin on a chin rest so he could steady himself while watching the boom through a plexiglass window on the floor of the pod in front of him. He then used one hand to “fly” the boom, which had wings on it so it could be maneuvered into position. His other hand controlled the boom’s length.
As Brandon lay there scared to death he would cause an accident, a giant C-17 cargo plane approached the boom from below. Brandon could not believe how close the C-17 was to his KC-135 tanker. Miraculously, he maneuvered the boom into position and locked it in place on the C-17’s fuel receptacle. This was Brandon’s first successful in-flight refueling as a boom operator. He never looked back.
After Brandon earned his initial boom operator qualifications at Altus AFB, he reported to his new unit, the 108th Air Refueling Squadron at Scott AFB, for three additional months of on-the-job training. Once he completed that training, he was ready to do refueling missions on his own. He was also able to resume his reporter responsibilities at WSIL, carefully balancing his military and civilian careers.
Brandon loved his job as a boom operator. He flew with his squadron on refueling missions in the United States and overseas whenever he could. He also participated in medical evacuations conducted by the squadron’s aircraft, transporting injured servicemembers from Europe and the Middle East to hospitals in the United States. He even participated in humanitarian missions flown by squadron aircraft providing aid to places like Haiti and Puerto Rico. These opportunities broadened Brandon’s military experience every time he took off.
In 2015, Brandon deployed for three-and-a-half months with his squadron to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. There they flew missions as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, refueling planes attacking ISIS in Syria and Iraq. They also flew Operation Freedom’s Sentinel missions over Afghanistan, and at times were forward deployed there, supporting U.S. forces engaging al-Qaeda and ISIS remnants and the Taliban. On one such mission, Brandon’s plane headed to Afghanistan through an approved flight corridor over Pakistan. Along the way, a suspected Iranian individual broadcast over the emergency circuit that if the plane continued its present course, it would be shot down. Brandon’s pilot ignored the warning and completed the mission.
On another mission involving Syria, Brandon’s plane spotted a Russian fighter about two miles away. Believing the plane intended to harass them, Brandon’s pilot reported the Russian jet via radio, and two U.S. F-16s arrived to assist. The Russian plane left without incident.
Brandon returned from his Al Udeid combat deployment in August 2015. After taking time off to re-acclimate to his peacetime life, he resumed his ANG duties with the 108th Air Refueling Squadron and his journalist responsibilities with WSIL. He even promoted to evening news anchor and continued to do well, attracting the attention of KSDK TV in St. Louis. After six years with WSIL, Brandon made the move to St. Louis as a KSDK news reporter and anchor in 2018.
Brandon’s journalism responsibilities increased in St. Louis—he even won a regional Emmy Award—as did his military responsibilities with the Illinois ANG. In fact, now that he was an experienced staff sergeant with wartime boom operator experience, he was called upon to fly more than just during the standard drill periods. This culminated in October 2019, when he again deployed with the 108th Air Refueling Squadron, this time to Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan. The deployment proved more stressful than the previous one because the airfield periodically came under rocket attack. In addition, when the aircrew drove on the airfield, they had to travel along a fence adjacent to goat farms and other civilian areas outside the air base perimeter, earning the route the nickname “sniper alley.”
Brandon’s KC-135 refueled aircraft supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel in Afghanistan. On one such mission, the pilot of Brandon’s plane maneuvered to assist a damaged A-10 Thunderbolt having engine issues. Brandon connected the boom to the damaged aircraft and the KC-135 towed it back to Kandahar Air Base. The A-10 then detached from the boom and landed safely.
Brandon and his squadron returned to Scott AFB in November 2019 after more than a month in Afghanistan. During the deployment, Brandon flew twenty combat air refueling missions, refueling eighty-five coalition aircraft. His efforts directly supported thirty-eight strikes against ten enemy troop positions and twenty-one area terrain denial targets. In recognition of his superior performance during the deployment, Brandon was awarded the Air Medal with “C” device indicating he earned it under combat conditions.
Not all Brandon’s KC-135 missions involved the stress and danger of a combat zone. Occasionally, he deployed with a tanker to Europe to refuel aircraft participating in NATO exercises. During one such deployment to Geilenkirchen Air Base in Germany, Brandon had the opportunity to travel across Europe for seventeen days. He and a buddy visited fourteen countries. They toured up and down Italy and even skied in the Swiss Alps at Davos. They also visited impactful places like Omaha Beach and Auschwitz. For Brandon and his buddy, it was the trip of a lifetime.
In 2020, Brandon shifted media markets again and took a job as a reporter for WBBM TV in Chicago. He also decided to leave his boom operator career, which was taking its toll on him physically, and accept a commission as an officer. This meant attending Officer Training School at Maxwell AFB in Alabama. At age thirty, he was the “old man” of the class, with the other officer candidates fresh out of college looking to him for guidance given his ten years of service and two wartime deployments. Brandon graduated from the class as a second lieutenant and then proceeded to Force Support/Services training at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Mississippi. There he learned to manage the food, fitness, mortuary, and lodging facilities he had been introduced to as an enlisted airman.
After completing the two-month course at Keesler AFB, Brandon returned to the 126th Force Support Squadron at Scott AFB in 2021. This time, instead of cooking eggs at the dining facility’s omelet bar as he had done when he first reported there in 2010, he managed the twenty-five enlisted airman working at the dining facility. He was responsible for every aspect of the facility’s operations, from budgeting and food quality to evaluating all the airmen working for him.
Although Brandon loved the ANG and promoted to first lieutenant, he decided it was nearing time to leave the military and concentrate on his broadcast journalism career. Several factors drove his decision. Most of all, he missed the excitement and camaraderie of flying with his KC-135 squadronmates. He also had to address an injury caused by his job as a boom operator and some diagnosed PTSD and mental health issues stemming from his deployments to Afghanistan. Accordingly, he decided to take a medical discharge under honorable conditions and leave the Illinois ANG.
In anticipation of his departure, Brandon took a nightly news anchor position with WCIA TV in Champaign, Illinois, in January 2023. He continued to drill at Scott AFB until he ended his service in September 2023. Although he no longer wears the uniform, he still supports veterans through his work at WCIA, highlighting their service and sacrifice and helping local organizations better serve the veteran community.
Voices to Veterans is proud to salute First Lieutenant Brandon Merano, U.S. Air Force, for his thirteen years of distinguished service in the Illinois Air National Guard. During his service, he flew missions around the globe as a boom operator on KC-135 tankers, refueling U.S. and allied aircraft participating in the full range of military operations. Twice he deployed to Afghanistan, flying combat air refueling missions that directly affected operations on the ground. Now a civilian, he continues to serve veterans in his community by amplifying their voices through his position as a news anchor. We thank Brandon for all he has done and wish him fair winds and following seas.
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