Photo By Spc. Jason Dangel | Soldiers from Company B, 404th Aviation Support Battalion, Combat Aviation Brigade,...... read more read more
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CAMP TAJI, Iraq—When it comes to aviation operations, the 4th Infantry Division's Combat Aviation Brigade, in many ways, compares to football team. The pilots are the quarterbacks; the crew chiefs are the running backs and wide receivers, and the unit's fleet of combat aircraft is the defense.
Similar to the offensive line, however, maintainers, mechanics and avionic specialists operate behind the scenes and out of the limelight to ensure the CAB's aircraft are ready to roll 24/7; a job that in many ways sets the foundation for successful combat operations and victory.
Staffed with a myriad of specialized professionals, Soldiers of Company B, 404th Aviation Support Battalion, CAB, 4th Inf. Div., Multi-National Division — Baghdad, consider themselves the unsung heroes behind the brigade's successful combat tour in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
They don't expect rewards, accolades or praise, but they do expect to be left alone so they can focus on their fundamental responsibilities; and that is to keep the birds in the air.
Maintainers, from the company of more than 300 Soldiers, keep the helicopters flying by performing time oriented phase maintenance; a scheduled maintenance and inspection process based on a helicopters flight hours, or time in the air.
The "Mad Dawgs," as the company is called, is the largest company in the brigade. To help the unit perform their massive amount of maintenance work, the Soldiers are also supported by more than 100 civilian contractors who have former Army maintainers in their ranks.
Once an aircraft is scheduled for phase maintenance it is brought in to the company's service bay, it is stripped down, critical parts are inspected for wear and tear and worn or broken parts are replaced or repaired, said Staff Sgt. Norman Clifton, a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter technical inspector from Waco, Texas.
"When an aircraft comes in, our technical inspectors conduct a 100 percent inspection on the entire bird in order to annotate any deficiencies," Clifton remarked. "At that time we either have to fix all the deficiencies or make sure we carefully record all document numbers to cover what we couldn't get parts for so we can place an order."
Each type of "phase" is tailored for a specific aircraft, and every aircraft is different. Clifton's section, for example, performs maintenance on both the UH-60 Blackhawk and HH-60 air ambulance every 360 and 720 flight hours.
The AH-64D Apache attack helicopter as well as the CH-47F Chinook cargo helicopter also frequent the service bays during their respective phase maintenance intervals. At 500 hours the Apache's are due for maintenance, and for the Chinooks, every 200 hours.
Clifton and his crew have conducted approximately 15 intervals of phase maintenance while deployed to Iraq thus far, and expect to complete at least twenty before redeploying to Fort Hood, Texas this summer. More than 52 UH-60 phases have been completed when civilian numbers are included.
There are two different levels of maintenance conducted during a UH-60 phase. The first level is called a Preventative Maintenance Inspection one, and the second a PMI two.
A PMI one is conducted every 360 hours and must be completed and returned to the submitting unit in 14 days. A PMI two must be completed every 720 hours, with a completion and return time of 17 days, Clifton explained.
All phase times completed by the company are considerably fast. On average a Blackhawk phase is completed in 12.2 days; the Apache 13.5 days; and the Chinook 16 days. Approximately 130 intervals of phase maintenance have been completed on brigade aircraft.
"The PMI one is more of a general level of maintenance. Essentially we will look over the bird, touch feel, and we take all the cover panels off the bird so we can get into areas that aren't usually looked at."
A PMI two, however, is much more in depth. During this process the entire aircraft, excluding only the transmission and a few other components, is broken down into six different sections. Three Soldiers are assigned to each section and are responsible for the maintenance required therein, he said.
Each section encompasses a different part of the bird. The cockpit section is comprised of components located on the inside and the outside of the cockpit; the cabin, transition and tail cone sections primarily deal with components located inside and outside the main body of the aircraft; the tail rotor pylon section consists of the helicopter's horizontal stabilator, tail rotor and blades, tail gear box and intermediate gear box; and the main rotor pylon section includes the main transmission, main rotor head and main rotor blades.
"During their section inspections they look for cracks, corrosion, leaks, wear and tear, or anything else that isn't working properly," Clifton remarked. "After the inspections are complete, we will replace all broken or bad components with new ones. Everything that we can possibly find gets fixed."
"After the entire aircraft is reassembled, and before it is powered up, the TIs conduct another 100 percent inspection along with help from our civilian experts," said Clifton. "Before any maintenance test flights take place, the unit will also inspect the aircraft to ensure everything meets specifications. It's a real lengthy process," he added.
Before a test flight can be completed, two other procedures, called a "rear rotor rig" and a "track and balance," must also be completed. During a rear rotor rig and a track and balance the maintenance crew ensures the aircrafts blades are spinning in the correct pattern, said Clifton.
Once the maintenance flights are conducted, the aircraft is then sent back into action to help support coalition forces all across the greater Baghdad area of operations.
"Unlike the majority of the guys who actually fly, we handle all of the big maintenance issues. We are the experts when it comes down to in-depth maintenance and aircraft repair," said Spc. Tyler Schuler, a Blackhawk helicopter mechanic from Sioux Falls, N.D.
"A lot of the time, and especially when we first go into country, the work is nonstop. It can be stressful, but it's part of our mission, and we know it's important," he said.
"We keep the birds flying. For an aviation brigade, that is probably one of the most important responsibilities that a Soldier can have."
| Date Taken: | 04.12.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 04.28.2009 13:05 |
| Story ID: | 32969 |
| Location: | TAJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 2,342 |
| Downloads: | 527 |
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