KC-135s have been doing drogue and probe tanking for a long time. They used to use a short hose and a really hard basket. The receiver had to bend the short hose to open two knuckle joints. In the late 90’s a wing mounted long hose/reel pod was introduced. Much easier to keep the fuel flowing, but depending on the aircraft you sometimes end up flying in the wingtip vortex.
That short hose would be attached to the boom.