Photo By Tech. Sgt. James Hodgman | Senior Airman Michael Velazquez, 340th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Unit...... read more read more
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AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar - Maintainers keep the KC-135 at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, mission ready.
The 340th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Unit at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, maintains the largest KC-135 Stratotanker fleet in the world, more than 40 aircraft valued at more than $2 billion.
The unit is responsible for ensuring each aircraft is mission ready and must quickly fix any mechanical problems the planes may have. The unit has more than 350 mechanics assigned serving in a variety of specialties from hydraulics to guidance systems.
Senior Airman Christopher Herrera, 340 EAMU Guidance and Control Avionics specialist from Pensacola, Florida, is one of those mechanics and said he enjoys working on the KC-135.
“Every time I fix a jet there is a sense of accomplishment,” Herrera said. “It’s a great feeling because my job makes an impact around the world. Other aircraft rely on our refuel capabilities to accomplish their mission.”
In 2015, the KC-135 refueled hundreds of aircraft from 19 nations including Jordan, Australia and France, offloading more than 700 million pounds of fuel. The airframe is in high demand across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility often refueling more than 90 aircraft a day.
These results are possible, in large part, because of the airmen of the 340 EAMU who often work up to 12-hour shifts repairing aircraft.
“Working 12-hour days in the heat can be grueling and physically taxing,” said Senior Airman Michael Charlton, 340 EAMU KC-135 crew chief from Vancouver, Washington. “It’s worth it though because we are working on the KC-135 which impacts so many other airframes, our sister services and coalition partners.”
“Without KC-135 maintainers these aircraft wouldn’t be flying,” said Capt. Kelly Womble, 340 EAMU officer-in-charge from Cookeville, Tennessee. “It takes a lot of attention and care to keep a 60-year old aircraft running, especially with the operations tempo and environmental conditions our maintainers have to endure.”
The captain said her airmen give aircrews the capability to provide the fuel needed to many different types of airpower across the region.
“From bombers and fighters to ISR and other refuelers, across sister services and our coalition partners-we keep the mission going,” Womble said.
KC-135 maintainers perform a variety of maintenance work to keep the plane flying. Herrara shared some of his most challenging moments working on the aircraft.
“The most challenging job I had was troubleshooting a satellite triangulation switching malfunction which would not allow the aircraft to display accurate GPS data to the pilot,” Herrera said. “This was caused by a bad grounding wire for a terminal lug; it caused the jet to sense a channel malfunction and wouldn’t switch to the backup system. After 72-hours of troubleshooting we finally fixed it.”
Herrera also fixed an issue with a KC-135’s autopilot feature.
“I remember one aircraft had an autopilot failure,” Herrera said. “I fixed it, which allowed the aircraft to take-off on time. I felt a great sense of accomplishment knowing the jet would refuel fighters over Iraq and support our ground forces.”
Master Sgt. Benjamin McCullough, 340 EAMU air tasking order production superintendent from Ripon, California, said he’s proud of his team.
“They make the mission happen day-in and day-out,” McCullough said. “Any time something breaks we have guys out there fixing whatever may be wrong. It can get very hot on the flight line and our airmen are out there for four or five hours, sometimes longer, working on aircraft trying to get them ready for their next flight.”
“Our rates for losing sorties based on maintenance not being accomplished are also incredibly low and that’s due to their diligence and hard work,” McCullough said. “I’m very proud of them.”
| Date Taken: | 01.02.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 01.15.2016 06:18 |
| Story ID: | 186373 |
| Location: | AL UDEID AIR BASE, QA |
| Hometown: | COOKEVILLE, TN, US |
| Hometown: | PENSACOLA, FL, US |
| Hometown: | RIPON, CA, US |
| Hometown: | VANCOUVER, WA, US |
| Web Views: | 88 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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