LANGLEY AFB, VA. –
For the thousands of hours a jet will spend in the air, tens of thousands of hours are spent on the ground keeping it up to flight standards. This work is made even harder when the assets to fix, manage and maintain those jets are spread out over the entire United States.
This summer the 1st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron sent people and parts to five different bases due to runway construction, yet they have produced some of the most impressive numbers any maintenance team could hope for.
Moving parts, people
The 71st Fighter Squadron, the largest fighter squadron in the Air Force, moved 120 tons of equipment and 450 people down to Savannah, Ga. With more than 40 jets to care for away from home, adjustments had to be made.
“We’ve generated at least three supply runs a week between here and Langley,” said Capt. Brady Poe, 71st AMU officer in charge. “We’ve also had guys meet up half way to swap parts to save time and money.”
Captain Poe said that smart, steady maintenance allowed the 71st FS to achieve a 96-percent mission capability rate. They also accomplished 28 upgrade rides thus far – more than double what the pilots would usually see back home.
“We generated 659 sorties in the first month we were here,” he said. “A lot of hard maintenance work made that happen.”
Many miles
With more than 900 pilots, maintainers and support personnel hopping between Elmendorf, Hill and Tyndall AFBs, Travis Field and Oceana Naval Air Station, Langley Airmen will have traveled more than 2.7 million miles this summer.
Even with all that moving around, maintenance teams like the 27th AMU were able to produce 97-percent mission effectiveness rates during the F-22’s first-ever, overseas deployment and during the Raptor’s first-ever full-length operational exercise.
“We have experienced phenomenal results in a matter of days where a selfless, focused and extremely effective team has emerged,” said Senior Master Sgt. Mark Wilder, 94th AMU noncommissioned officer in charge. “The deployed team, representing seven squadrons and spanning 20 functional specialties, immediately bonded into a cohesive and incredibly focused, effective force even though they were thousands of miles from home.”
Though they were more than 3,000 miles away from home, the 27th team sent up 103 sorties during exercise Northern Edge and 236 during the entire deployment; the numbers tallied during the exercise engagements impressed leaders up and down the chain of command.
“In my 24 years, I’ve not seen a more coherent team of operators, maintenance, contractors and support personnel,” said Colonel West.
“The (success) to date didn’t happen because of ‘a’ supply line or ‘a’ maintenance shift or ‘an’ operator. It happened because of a professional team focused on the mission-set to prove the strengths and weaknesses of this deployed airframe.”
Training on the road
This summer the 1st Fighter Wing squadrons were able to knock down several birds with just a few stones; pre-coordination enabled Langley Airmen to get valuable training at their deployed locations.
“At Hill, we dropped 40 JDAMs, and we just shot a live AIM-120,” said Chief Master Sgt. James Barnes, 27th AMU NCOIC. “The guys and gals are doing just great.”
The team that first traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah, then flew down to Panama City, Fla., managed to produce 301 sorties so far.
“It is all a challenge,” he said, “especially when we have to mail parts back and forth for the stuff that is on limited supply but, we are making it happen. We have a teleconference every day just like we would have a regular meeting back home so we can talk through issues.”
By making small adjustments to their regular operations, the teams saw results far beyond the weapons range.
“Our LO troops restored 10 jets just this weekend,” said Chief Barnes. “That is awesome.”
Though deployments and working away from home are not new concepts for our hard-working Airmen, the way the 1st FW maintenance team has performed during this summer of travel has impressed leaders up and down the chain of command.
From the crew chiefs to the weapons loaders to the low-observable technicians, each member of the Langley team has displayed their valuable work ethic.