Telling the 25th CAB's story one Soldier at a time

Photo By Staff Sgt. Bryanna Poulin | Frank Chase Jr, aviation writer with PS Magazine recently visited the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade to talk with Soldiers for story ideas to promote safety and maintenance of aircrafts.  

UNITED STATES

06.25.2008

Story by Staff Sgt. Bryanna Poulin 

25th Combat Aviation Brigade

By Sgt. Bryanna Poulin
25th Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs

WHEELER ARMY AIRFIELD, Hawaii – From tail rotors to engine parts, there are numerous components that make up an aircraft. Each component must work in unison to allow the aircraft to fly and the aviator to complete the mission.

For the Soldiers who spend countless hours turning wrenches to ensure those components do work in unison, remaining current on technical manual (TM) updates, safety notifications and maintenance trends is a must for mission success. So the Soldiers of the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) turn to the PS Magazine, a preventive maintenance monthly publication.

During the second week of June, Soldiers from the 25th CAB had their chance to share ideas for PS Magazine with Frank Chase Jr., the Senior Aviation Writer for PS Magazine, as he visited Wheeler Army Airfield. Mr. Chase's focus was to find out what Soldiers of the CAB were doing in the field of maintenance and safety that would be useful to Soldiers across the Army.

"I visit three installations a year to get story ideas from Soldiers," said Mr. Chase. "Basically, PS Magazine writes articles on general repairs and better way[s] of doing something in the TM." The input comes from the bottom up as Soldiers feed Mr. Chase with story ideas.

PS Magazine is based out of Redstone Arsenal, Ala., and is an official publication of the United States Army, Material Command's Logistics Support Activity (LOGSA). The focus of the magazine is to provide insightful information for all Soldiers with maintenance and supply duties and the leaders providing oversight of those areas, according to Chase.

A native of Baltimore and graduate of Washington State University, Mr. Chase earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and a minor in Sociology, not before serving four years in the United States Army.

"During my time in the Army, I served as a "ground pounder" or "gun bunny," [cannon crewmember], where I worked on M109's, (self-propelled 155mm Howitzers)," the father of six stated. "Following the Army, I graduated college and got into an intern program working for Troop Support Equipment, writing and editing Army Technical Manuals."

For more than a decade Mr. Chase wrote and edited Army TMs before taking a position at PS Magazine.

"Working with Troop Support Equipment for 10 years, I applied for the job opening at PS Magazine," Chase noted. "They (PS Magazine) were seeking an Aviation Writer and with my previous TM experience, I got the job."

Chase, has never looked back as he has spent more than 10 years with PS Magazine. The job has enabled him to visit a variety of aviation installations getting input on story ideas from Soldiers.

Interestingly enough, this past visit with the 25th CAB was the first time PS Magazine had been to Hawaii, according to Chase.

"Since I have been the Aviation Writer for PS Magazine, we haven't visited Hawaii," Chase noted.

"A former Chief Warrant Officer Five stationed at Wheeler transferred to Redstone Arsenal and mentioned the aviation unit here, After some research we (PS Magazine) found out (one of) three of the major aviation units (in the Army) were here."

Concluding the week-long visit with Soldiers from 25th CAB, Chase received a variety of story ideas and boosted the morale of the Soldiers he talked to. He ultimately achieved his goal of gathering 25 to 30 ideas for future maintenance articles from Soldiers in the field. His presence also provided encouragement to the Soldiers at the 25th CAB. It demonstrated that the powers that be want to know what is happening where the rubber meets the road.

"Everyone in aviation seems to like PS Magazine," Chase concluded. "So when I talked to Soldiers and told them who I was with, they all were excited to speak to me and made my visit here exciting."

• Date Taken: 06.25.2008
• Date Posted: 07.01.2008 18:36
• Story ID: 21077
• Location: US