Pontifex - you were on the wrong Western rangers - we used to stay at the Ramada Inn in Bellevue near Offutt (hardly 5-star but made a change from BOQs). As imprest holder I enjoyed the reaction when I paid the bill for the crew with a bundle of $100 bills - even back then they were mainly used to card payments. Also stayed in the quaint Tam O'Shanter motel in Las Vegas on a trip to Nellis. I saw an item on its demolition a few years back with people bemoaning the loss of one of the town's "heritage" buildings, dating back as it did to circa 1957!
Re tankers v VC10s - you must have heard about a certain fierce ginger flight commander navigator who had a VC10 LM chucked out of his air conditioned room at Akrotiri to make way for a couple of tanker guys after said NCO had made an unwise comment about "tankertrash" as they humped their way, hot and sweaty, to their inferior room! Furious VC10 captain took it all the way to the station commander, but got no joy!