Photo By Staff Sgt. Madelyn McCullough | Tech. Sgt. Dave Wilde (left), 446th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron hydraulics...... read more read more
NAVAL STATION ROTA, Spain - When teams are assembled in order to accomplish a project or goal, their success can be measured by the chemistry within.
In the Air Force, it’s no different. Airmen across the globe collectively achieve its mission by sustaining an integrative, flexible, rapidly mobile force.
Reservists with the 446th Airlift Wing’s maintenance and aircraft maintenance squadrons, out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, demonstrated this ability providing maintenance support for the 725th Air Mobility Squadron here Feb. 14-28, 2016.
In order to meet annual training requirements, the Rainier Wing’s Citizen Airmen assisted the 725th AMS Airmen in their distinctive role of performing en-route maintenance operations for aircraft, which travel to forward operating locations.
Upon their arrival, the Reserve maintainers tore off their warmups, and geared up for the game.
“We’re providing real global support functioning away from home station,” said Senior Master Sgt. Joe Warren, 446th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron team. “This allows us to showcase our skills in a deployed environment, share what we know outside of McChord, and learn from our host [unit]. It also gives us the ability to focus on production.”
Reserve maintainers don’t always get the option to train on the flightline during drill weekends. Some may have to fulfill their commitments at a base field training detachment [where aircraft maintenance students learn about a specific airframe in a university-type of environment], or on a computer. Annual tours, including this give Reserve Airmen the chance to apply their skills.
“We get here and do our job, instead of training to do our job,” said Tech Sgt. Lebaron Smith, 446th AMXS Instrument Flight Control Systems technician. “We get more experience and get people trained to do things by the book, fast, and safe. When the time comes down to it and we need to be [mobilized], we need those skills.”
Real-world environments also allow Airmen to learn from each other. This is especially the case in maintenance and aircraft maintenance, because of the background variances between the Reserve and regular Air Force units. The 446th AMXS mission is exclusive to the C-17 Globemaster III airframe. However, performing at the en-route base demands general knowledge of multiple aircraft.
“They’re a huge help,” said Senior Master Sgt. Cameron Leslie, 725th Aircraft Maintenance Unit production superintendent. “We’re learning a lot from them, because they [solely specialize on C-17s]. They’re providing a lot of experience, and teaching us a lot of specific career field aspects. On the flip side, we get a chance to give them some experience outside their specialty.”
The 446th and 725th also exhibited effective teamwork within the Aerospace Ground Equipment function. With the 725th having a lower number of Airmen certified at higher skill levels, they reaped the benefits of having qualified Reservists strengthen them.
“They bring pure magic,” said Staff Sgt. Tate Stark, 725th AMS, AGE journeyman. “Whenever they come out here, they have the technical expertise to get our equipment back on the flightline where we’ve been struggling to make ends meet.”
The opportunity to share this expertise excites Master Sgt. Ziegler, 446th MXS, AGE NCO in charge, because at home he isn’t spared with much time from his desk.
“Being NCOIC, I don’t get my hands on equipment much anymore, but my hands were dirty up to my elbows this morning,” he said. “It gives me time back on the equipment, gets me out of the menial office duties, and gets me back into what I really like to do – get dirty.”
This also enabled the McChord Reservists to teach and learn from each other, in addition to the active-duty crews.
“I like that we get to meet new people, not just at the base, but from our unit that we don’t normally interact with,” said Sgt. Francis Aguon, 446th AMXS crew chief. “I get to help other career fields here, where back home I’m with crew chiefs. I’m building better relationships with the people in my unit. They have more in depth knowledge, and I can pick their brains for it.”
The two week tour operated without major issues, and the teams combined with ease.
“The greatest challenge we had was the time change from McChord to local,” Warren said. “My goals were to ensure we integrated with the 725th seamlessly to support the local mission, come away with some new ideas, and ensure everyone gets experience to work at an en-route location. It was a great success.”
During their time at Rota, the McChord crew supported more than 50 inbound and outbound aircraft, which carried nearly 1.4 million pounds of cargo, and more than 300 passengers.
“We represented the unit professionally and were able to showcase our skill set in supporting the local mission,” Warren said. “We were well received by the 725th and look forward to working with them in the future in a similar capacity.”
The 725th team had mutual feelings, Leslie said.
“We’re all one team,” he said. “We do everything together. This is a chance to highlight and show the Air Force that when necessary, as active duty, Guard, or Reserve, we can integrate – and we can do it immediately.”
| Date Taken: | 03.06.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 03.06.2016 18:18 |
| Story ID: | 191290 |
| Location: | NAVAL STATION ROTA, ES |
| Web Views: | 58 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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