I’ve seen the mating dance from both ends (incredibly beautiful but weird view out the back tail window of a KC-135, you’re watching the world flying down and away from you) as a SAC Flight Doc, refueling BUFFs, 141s, C5s, F15s, F16s, and took a couple rides in C5s to watch from the cockpit of the receiving end, definitely a lot scarier from the receiving end. But the KC-135 refueling is sort of the opposite of the KC-130.
In blunt parlance, for the 135, the tanker is Male*, plugging the nozzle into the Female receptacle in the receiver aircraft. Basically the receiver pilot jockeys into a “window” where the 135 boom operator “flies” (yes, the boom has airfoiled surfaces) the nozzle to the receptacle and pushes it in. I can imagine it being a bit hair raising for especially for the fighter where the receptacle is in the roof of the aircraft just behind the cockpit, as the nozzle is passing just a few feet above his or her canopy. Receiver pilot may be a General, but the boom is as likely as not to be a three striper. Advantage to the 135 is a BIG, NOZZLE, can top off fighters quickly. 6500 lbs of fuel a minute. BUFFs carry a lot, so they take longer
But the KC-130 in this analogy is Female. It employs a probe and drogue system. Basically it reels out a hose with a “basket” RECEPTACLE at the end. The Fighter (or Helicopter) RECEIVER extends a Male probe, and the pilot of the RECEIVER literally has to fly the probe into the basket. Advantage to the 130 is it can refuel two aircraft at once, but the refueling rate is much around 4K lbs per minute. But they can refuel two aircraft at once.
Either way, the receiver is always BEHIND the Tanker. So it will be an interesting story to explain how the 130 broke two propellers.
Not criticizing anybody, meconium happens, and all these guys and gals (Airman, Marines, Soldier, and Sailors are heroes in my book. Okay, I admit I used to make fun of the Marines, until I actually WORKED with them, mainly patching them up at Balad Hospital in Iraq during Fallujah campaign, THEN I was quite impressed.)
*KC-135s can also carry a hose and basket for refueling missions where the receivers like helicopters are equipped with probes.