Photo By Staff Sgt. Eunique Stevens | Warrant Officer Akeel pulls out a refueling hose preparing to refuel a Cessna 208B...... read more read more
By Senior Airman Randi Flaugh
506th Air Expeditionary Group
KIRKUK REGIONAL AIR BASE, Iraq - Getting an aircraft off the ground anywhere in the world takes time, patience and the correct maintenance measures to ensure the aircraft is safe to fly. The 3rd Maintenance Squadron of the Iraqi air force is being trained to perform first-line maintenance on their own aircrafts while enhancing their ability to build their air force.
The 521st Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron's job is to ensure the Iraqi air force maintainers are trained and certified to run their own operations. Their mission is to lay the foundational maintenance capabilities as well as provide pilot mission, intel, air traffic control and life support training for the Iraqi air force through their motto, "train, advise and assist."
In 2005, when the 521st AEAS mission began, the Iraqi air force was already flying the CH-2000s on their own but lacked the first-line maintenance capability an organization needs when flying aircraft. Since then they have acquired three intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance Caravan- 208Bs and will soon obtain three more armed Caravans.
"When I got here [the Iraqi maintainers] were having trouble with performing preventative maintenance on both the support equipment they have and the aircraft," said Senior Master Sgt. Dominick Tallarida, 521st AEAS superintendent of maintenance.
Sgt. Tallarida explained the Iraqi maintainer's old way of doing business was very costly.
"They would run something until it wouldn't run anymore," he said. "Then push it off to the side, get a new piece and press on."
The advisors are teaching the Iraqi's that it's more cost efficient to do your preventative maintenance up front thus ensuring equipment is utilized longer but keeping in mind they are not building the U.S. Air Force but advising them on how to build the Iraqi air force.
"We take experiences from our Air Force, things we find a success, and we advise the Iraqi's on the way we would do it and then we see which direction they go," said Capt. Emery Breznai, 521st AEAS director of maintenance.
Preventative maintenance was not the only speed bump when Capt. Breznai and his team arrived in June.
"[The Iraqis] have come a long way in their general housekeeping and taking pride in their areas," said Capt. Breznai who is deployed from Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.
The advisors are constantly performing self-help projects and the maintainers are following suit with painting and installing air conditioning units within their facility.
"I think [the maintainers] are starting to understand we're not going to be here forever and they need to start taking the reins and doing this stuff on their own as opposed to us providing it to them," said Capt. Breznai.
The maintainers are getting to that point on their own. Not only have they improved their consolidated tool room, but with the help of the advisors they have a dedicated routine for foreign object damage walks.
"When we got here they were doing occasional FOD walks out on the flightline and we have instilled in them that it is very important, blades are very costly if they are damaged, " said Sgt. Tallarida. "Nine times out of ten they are doing it on their own."
The advisors within the squadron are working tirelessly dedicating a year-long tour to training these maintainers but there are many obstacles along the way.
"The English language barrier is probably the biggest challenge we face as advisors," said Sgt. Tallarida.
One way the advisors get around the barrier is to meet with the English speaking officers, teach them a class and have them in turn teach the maintainers who have limited English speaking skills. The advisors are also taking their downtime to do in house language training to improve their speaking ability.
"It's not just the speaking part but also the reading that is a problem," said Capt. Breznai.
Maintainers cannot be certified on any tasks of the aircraft until they can read and understand technical data.
"Aircraft maintainers live and breathe by technical orders on the aircraft and it's no different for the Iraqi maintainers," said Capt. Breznai who calls Dearborn Heights, Mich., home.
The importance of being able to read technical data is imperative to a maintainer because misinterpretation or changes within the data could lead to the damage of an aircraft or even worse, hurting someone.
"Safety is always in the forefront of our minds. We absolutely don't want anyone to hurt themselves or lose an aircraft," said Capt. Breznai.
The majority of the maintainers haven't gone through English language training and although they can speak some English they still have a ways to go before being certified as a maintainer. This pushes the advisors to concentrate on getting the maintainers that can speak and read English certified.
"Every time there is an inspection on the aircraft there has to be a certified maintainer, typically an officer, who is overseeing the overall inspection of the aircraft. He certifies that the inspection is done," said Sgt. Tallarida who is deployed from Kirtland AFB, N.M.
The certified maintainer uses his crew who he has trained to get the overall inspection complete. But, they still face the fact that once enough of them are trained they are still going to be lacking the amount of certified maintainers they need to do the inspections on their own.
The Iraqi air force is working toward a bright future with the help of the 521st AEAS.
"We are actually flying operational missions in support of ground troops and they're all Iraqi crews flying them," said Capt. Breznai.
The squadron is moving in a positive direction; soon they will be bringing kinetic capability in the three armed caravans they will receive in the near future. Adding hellfire missiles to these aircrafts will enable them to search, target, and with the right level of authority, destroy the enemy.
"They always support us with information that we need to work with this aircraft," said 2nd Lt Ihaab, Iraqi air force maintenance supervisor. "It's a victory when we have missions come back because it makes Iraq safer."
The advisors continue to work hard building on-the-job training records, constructing training plans, and ensuring the one on one time with all the maintainers.
"A couple of them, I like to say, were born to advise, the interaction between the Iraqi's and themselves is just amazing," said Sgt.Tallarida who calls Elkland, Pa., home.
"This is a great mission, probably the most important thing I have ever done in my career up to this point and I am very proud of what we do here," said Capt. Breznai. "I am proud of my advisors and I am very pleased with the crew I have here from my senior all the way down to my technicians."
| Date Taken: | 11.29.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 12.05.2008 07:17 |
| Story ID: | 27217 |
| Location: | KIRKUK, IQ |
| Web Views: | 1,008 |
| Downloads: | 970 |
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