Maintainers pickup pace to support OEF
CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. (USTCNS) --- Charleston-based maintainers have been working around the clock to meet the increased demands the war on terrorism has had on CAFB's fleet of C-17s.
The 437th Maintenance and Aircraft Generation Squadrons went into full gear after the Sept. 11 attacks and have been going strong ever since, handling unusual maintenance requirements, usually while short-staffed, ensuring the C-17s are ready to go when needed.
437 MXS Fabrication Flight
The 437 MXS Fabrication Flight has spent extra man-hours working on erosion in the main landing gear doors, caused by repeated landings on unimproved runways, according to Chief Master Sgt. Rich Woolverton, Fabrication Flight chief.
"It's very time-consuming," said Woolverton. "It really challenges us because we don't always see these type of repairs."
Woolverton said the maintainers weren't surprised at the erosion and how the landings have affected the doors, since the same type of testing had been done years earlier at China Lake, a dry lake bed in California. The difference is the magnitude of erosions due to how many times the aircraft have landed on unimproved runways before coming back to Charleston for service.
So far, said Woolverton, they have been able to repair nine doors here, which is the preferred fix. After doing some rough calculations, it was determined that the process to repair four doors requires more than 450 man-hours.
He said they have had to completely replace three doors, which is very expensive and even more time-consuming because they have to be trimmed and fitted to the aircraft.
437 MXS Maintenance Flight
The 437 MXS Maintenance Flight has also seen a difference since Sept. 11, especially in their home station check inspection and in the wheel and tire shop.
"The biggest change we've had would be our shifts," said Chief Master Sgt. Elton Kelley, Maintenance Flight chief. "We went to a 12-hour shift and activated reservists." He said this has given them the ability to have continuous 24-7 coverage.
This coverage has helped because maintainers are doing more tasks, such as engine filter changes required on all aircraft that have been in austere locations, changing more tires and changing the doors that Fab flight is fixing, said 2nd Lt. Jerry Copeland, Maintenance Flight officer in charge.
They're also working to help other sections with the increased workload and have volunteered to take a few deployment slots from AGS.
"There's been great coordination between units since Sept. 11," Copeland said.
"Our standard time before (to complete an HSC) was three days for a normal HSC, and when you had a refurbishment we would add an extra day," said Kelley. "Now we just do it as quickly as possible." He said that having continuous coverage has prevented shift change delays and enabled them to complete the process in almost half the time as before.
"The sense of urgency has been super," said Kelley. "When an aircraft comes in here it is like ants swarming a hill. Everyone rushes to get to work."
Wheel and Tire Shop
The wheel and tire shop has seen an increase in the number of tires it has had to rebuild compared to last year at this time. According to maintenance flight statistics, since Sept. 11, the shop has built up 1,022 C-17 main and nose landing gear wheel/tire assemblies, a 200 percent increase over the same period the preceding year.
"Each tire takes four to five hours a piece," said Senior Master Sgt. Don Hagen, HSC superintendent. "There is no deployed location to fix C-17 tires, so they are all getting shipped back here. They are working really hard and the support to home station and our deployed aircraft has been outstanding."
Lt. Col. Herb Phillips, 437 MXS commander, said "The men and women of the maintenance squadron have definitely risen to the challenges associated with the high ops tempo of Operation Enduring Freedom. Their mission focus and support to the flightline has been outstanding across the board. I couldn't be prouder of their accomplishments."
437th Aircraft Generation Squadron
The AGS has also been keeping busy with some unusual repairs to the C-17.
"We've had three aircraft land at Charleston Air Force Base which we have had to replace every single antenna on the bottom of the aircraft," said Capt. Randy Ackerman, Shark Sortie Generation Flight commander. "It costs roughly $37,000 and takes 11 man-hours to replace all the antennas on just one aircraft. This doesn't include the amount of time it takes to let the sealant cure, that could take up to one to two days."
AGS has deployed a large portion of their squadron, but are getting needed help from activated reservists, said Ackerman. He explained that they have finished their deployment phase of the war, and are now in the sustainment mode.
"At the onset of the war our main focus was moving our people and equipment to the deployed locations," said Ackerman. "Since then our focus has shifted to a two-fold mindset; not only getting the aircraft ready to head back overseas, but also making them available for local training missions."
"I could not be more proud of these maintainers, both active duty and reservists-what they've done as a team had been absolutely incredible," said Maj. Gerald Frederick, 437th Aircraft Generation Squadron commander. "From Sept. 11 on, they've beaten every challenge that's been thrown at them-from incredible ops tempo supporting both our C-17s and McChord's to a series of 8 hour advance notice deployments. And they've done it safely without a single gripe. These folks are easily the finest group of maintainers I've ever been privileged enough to serve with."
(FROM AIR MOBILITY COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS)
The 437th Maintenance and Aircraft Generation Squadrons went into full gear after the Sept. 11 attacks and have been going strong ever since, handling unusual maintenance requirements, usually while short-staffed, ensuring the C-17s are ready to go when needed.
437 MXS Fabrication Flight
The 437 MXS Fabrication Flight has spent extra man-hours working on erosion in the main landing gear doors, caused by repeated landings on unimproved runways, according to Chief Master Sgt. Rich Woolverton, Fabrication Flight chief.
"It's very time-consuming," said Woolverton. "It really challenges us because we don't always see these type of repairs."
Woolverton said the maintainers weren't surprised at the erosion and how the landings have affected the doors, since the same type of testing had been done years earlier at China Lake, a dry lake bed in California. The difference is the magnitude of erosions due to how many times the aircraft have landed on unimproved runways before coming back to Charleston for service.
So far, said Woolverton, they have been able to repair nine doors here, which is the preferred fix. After doing some rough calculations, it was determined that the process to repair four doors requires more than 450 man-hours.
He said they have had to completely replace three doors, which is very expensive and even more time-consuming because they have to be trimmed and fitted to the aircraft.
437 MXS Maintenance Flight
The 437 MXS Maintenance Flight has also seen a difference since Sept. 11, especially in their home station check inspection and in the wheel and tire shop.
"The biggest change we've had would be our shifts," said Chief Master Sgt. Elton Kelley, Maintenance Flight chief. "We went to a 12-hour shift and activated reservists." He said this has given them the ability to have continuous 24-7 coverage.
This coverage has helped because maintainers are doing more tasks, such as engine filter changes required on all aircraft that have been in austere locations, changing more tires and changing the doors that Fab flight is fixing, said 2nd Lt. Jerry Copeland, Maintenance Flight officer in charge.
They're also working to help other sections with the increased workload and have volunteered to take a few deployment slots from AGS.
"There's been great coordination between units since Sept. 11," Copeland said.
"Our standard time before (to complete an HSC) was three days for a normal HSC, and when you had a refurbishment we would add an extra day," said Kelley. "Now we just do it as quickly as possible." He said that having continuous coverage has prevented shift change delays and enabled them to complete the process in almost half the time as before.
"The sense of urgency has been super," said Kelley. "When an aircraft comes in here it is like ants swarming a hill. Everyone rushes to get to work."
Wheel and Tire Shop
The wheel and tire shop has seen an increase in the number of tires it has had to rebuild compared to last year at this time. According to maintenance flight statistics, since Sept. 11, the shop has built up 1,022 C-17 main and nose landing gear wheel/tire assemblies, a 200 percent increase over the same period the preceding year.
"Each tire takes four to five hours a piece," said Senior Master Sgt. Don Hagen, HSC superintendent. "There is no deployed location to fix C-17 tires, so they are all getting shipped back here. They are working really hard and the support to home station and our deployed aircraft has been outstanding."
Lt. Col. Herb Phillips, 437 MXS commander, said "The men and women of the maintenance squadron have definitely risen to the challenges associated with the high ops tempo of Operation Enduring Freedom. Their mission focus and support to the flightline has been outstanding across the board. I couldn't be prouder of their accomplishments."
437th Aircraft Generation Squadron
The AGS has also been keeping busy with some unusual repairs to the C-17.
"We've had three aircraft land at Charleston Air Force Base which we have had to replace every single antenna on the bottom of the aircraft," said Capt. Randy Ackerman, Shark Sortie Generation Flight commander. "It costs roughly $37,000 and takes 11 man-hours to replace all the antennas on just one aircraft. This doesn't include the amount of time it takes to let the sealant cure, that could take up to one to two days."
AGS has deployed a large portion of their squadron, but are getting needed help from activated reservists, said Ackerman. He explained that they have finished their deployment phase of the war, and are now in the sustainment mode.
"At the onset of the war our main focus was moving our people and equipment to the deployed locations," said Ackerman. "Since then our focus has shifted to a two-fold mindset; not only getting the aircraft ready to head back overseas, but also making them available for local training missions."
"I could not be more proud of these maintainers, both active duty and reservists-what they've done as a team had been absolutely incredible," said Maj. Gerald Frederick, 437th Aircraft Generation Squadron commander. "From Sept. 11 on, they've beaten every challenge that's been thrown at them-from incredible ops tempo supporting both our C-17s and McChord's to a series of 8 hour advance notice deployments. And they've done it safely without a single gripe. These folks are easily the finest group of maintainers I've ever been privileged enough to serve with."
(FROM AIR MOBILITY COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS)
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