LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
The 1st Maintenance Group and 192nd Maintenance Group form a Total Force Team that is becoming accustomed to setting new standards of excellence.
In April 2011, the group was the first to successfully generate 18 F-22 Raptors in an Operational Readiness Inspection, securing an overall "Excellent" rating.
Ahead of Hurricane Irene, they safely evacuated all 28 F-22s assigned to Langley with less than 24 hours notice like it was no big deal. Deploying that many F-22s at once was a Raptor Nation record, and achieving a 100 percent HURREVAC is almost unheard of. It was an even more impressive triumph considering the fact that none of the jets had flown in three months!
In November they clinched the highest fully in-compliance rate of all 15 maintenance groups in Air Combat Command during the Unit Compliance Inspection.
Now they have outdone themselves again -- achieving the wing's highest F-22 mission capable rate since the jets began arriving at Langley in 2005.
December's 81.5 percent MC rate meant that, on average, over 80 percent of the fighter wing's jets were combat-ready at any given time. The command standard for F-22 MC is 74 percent -- and since April, the group is averaging over 75 percent. Compare that to a 51 percent average over the previous two years, and December's achievement is that much more impressive!
"We know this is the new standard," says Major Jesse Herrera, the 1st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron's Operations Officer. "We've taken several steps to maintain peak readiness."
For example, the recent four-month F-22 stand down gave the maintainers time to analyze their training programs, and develop a long term plan to improve health of their fleet. The groups also began assigning more new airmen to night shifts. According to Tech. Sgt. Jason Kraemer, 94th Aircraft Maintenance Unit section chief, 95 percent of the shift is spent purely on maintenance and repair tasks, versus a focus on launching and recovering aircraft during most day shifts.
New maintainers now arrive at Langley with the explicit task of getting hands-on maintenance experience. So when they are thrown into the fast-paced day shift operation, they are more effectively equipped to meet the challenge.
The groups also instituted innovative changes to shift schedules, starting with an additional "fourth shift" to provide for consistent and predictable coverage of weekend maintenance on the flight line.
In the Low Observables section, the section responsible for the stealth coating on the F-22, the groups instituted a so-called "Panama" shift which includes 12 hour shifts, with maintainers working 3 days on, 2 days off, 2 days on, 3 days off, and then the cycle repeats. This inventive shift schedule boosted the shop's capacity by 50 percent while providing a stable and fully-trained workforce around the clock.
"We are incredibly proud of the achievements of our people," concluded Colonel Bob Grey, 192d Maintenance Group commander. "We know that they'll continue to be effective, safe and timely -- and continue to amaze us by raising the bar for the F-22 and the Air Force."