Narrative:

I had just taken over sector 43. There was a re-fueler (aircraft X) with a couple of flights. The flights had been difficult to deal with all day. (Cowboy control works the mountain home range complex and they are not FAA certified controllers; so we have to do a transfer of flight for each aircraft/flight entering or exiting the airspace.) many were flights of 4 but when 2 of them were done re-fueling; they had been requesting to go back into the airspace then. There were no flight plans in the system for them; and they had been difficult all day going in and out the airspace without clearances.the aircraft X was in the block 270b290 along with a couple flights. Aircraft Y was northwest bound at FL280. The previous controller had descended him from FL300 because the re-fueler had some aircraft that weren't rvsm capable. Aircraft Y was unable FL320. The previous controller and I had talked about this during the briefing and in the next couple minutes. We had thought aircraft X would remain west of aircraft Y; but it soon became apparent that it wasn't going to work. I turned aircraft X to a heading of 300; then turned aircraft Y 20 right; even though I knew that was going to make it difficult to keep him clear of the airspace. I maintained 5 miles; I believe; but probably not the required 6. Also; by the time I could turn aircraft Y back to the left; I think they probably got within the protected airspace of the mountain home range complex. I didn't notice the closest point.somewhere during this mess; there was a flight of 2 that called me wanting clearance into the range. They were supposed to be with aircraft X but took it upon themselves to break off and fly over just south of the range; oh; and climb to FL300 also. None of that with a clearance. There was a lot of conversation off the line about what was happening; what was supposed to be happening; and trying to figure out which flight plans we needed to put in or update.I should have been more proactive separating the aircraft X and keeping him out of the way. He had filed for fl200b220 and that would have worked much better; although the coordination would still be a pain. They need to either re-fuel in the airspace; or activate sadle airspace and the corridor that goes between the range and sadle; eliminating 90% of the coordination.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Salt Lake Center Controllers reported problems associated with a refueling operation and air traffic close proximity to a Restricted Airspace.

Narrative: I had just taken over sector 43. There was a re-fueler (Aircraft X) with a couple of flights. The flights had been difficult to deal with all day. (Cowboy Control works the Mountain Home Range Complex and they are not FAA certified Controllers; so we have to do a transfer of flight for each aircraft/flight entering or exiting the airspace.) Many were flights of 4 but when 2 of them were done re-fueling; they had been requesting to go back into the airspace then. There were no flight plans in the system for them; and they had been difficult all day going in and out the airspace without clearances.The Aircraft X was in the block 270B290 along with a couple flights. Aircraft Y was northwest bound at FL280. The previous controller had descended him from FL300 because the re-fueler had some aircraft that weren't RVSM capable. Aircraft Y was unable FL320. The previous controller and I had talked about this during the briefing and in the next couple minutes. We had thought Aircraft X would remain west of Aircraft Y; but it soon became apparent that it wasn't going to work. I turned Aircraft X to a heading of 300; then turned Aircraft Y 20 right; even though I knew that was going to make it difficult to keep him clear of the airspace. I maintained 5 miles; I believe; but probably not the required 6. Also; by the time I could turn Aircraft Y back to the left; I think they probably got within the protected airspace of the Mountain Home Range Complex. I didn't notice the closest point.Somewhere during this mess; there was a flight of 2 that called me wanting clearance into the range. They were supposed to be with Aircraft X but took it upon themselves to break off and fly over just south of the range; oh; and climb to FL300 also. None of that with a clearance. There was a lot of conversation off the line about what was happening; what was supposed to be happening; and trying to figure out which flight plans we needed to put in or update.I should have been more proactive separating the Aircraft X and keeping him out of the way. He had filed for FL200B220 and that would have worked much better; although the coordination would still be a pain. They need to either re-fuel in the airspace; or activate SADLE airspace and the corridor that goes between the range and SADLE; eliminating 90% of the coordination.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.