Photo By Sgt. 1st Class James McGuire | Army Sgt. Phil Buettner, a crew chief at C Company, 5th Battalion, 159th Aviation...... read more read more
If you like turning wrenches, making engines purr or keep aircraft running well in the sky, the Wyoming National Guard might be a good place for you.
Both Army and Air National Guard units have aviation mechanics that work on fixed wing and rotary airframes, as well as wheeled vehicle mechanics.
Most come into the career field with some experience, but that is not always the case.
Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Read is making retirement plans now, but during his 35-year military career, he has had two military occupational specialties. He took a break in service after a few years serving as a field wireman. He rejoined the Guard in 1986 with a desire to try something new.
“I hadn’t worked on cars before, but I wanted to learn instead of having someone else do it,” Read said while working on a HUMVEE. “I think in the 80s, they were desperate to get people in. I came in on a ‘try one.’ I didn’t go to school. I just had on the job training, and when my year was almost up, they gave me the MOS.
Read has been a full time technician at the Field Maintenance #4 Shop in Cheyenne since 2007, and is still learning, as well as teaching others. He’s met his goal of learning how to work on his own vehicles, but is sensible about it.
“Sometimes it’s easier to take it somewhere to get a job done,” Read said.
Conversely, Wyoming Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Danny Elliott has been fascinated with engines and aircraft for a long time.
“When I was little, I used to collect those airplane cards. They had pictures and all the specifications on them,” Elliott reminisced. “I grew up on farms and was always working with my hands and working on tractors and stuff. My dad had a four-wheeler shop too, and I used to work in there.”
Now, he is into his second year as an aerospace propulsion technician working on C-130s with the 153rd Airlift Wing, in Cheyenne. He spent 10 years prior to that as a Hawkeye mechanic for the Navy.
“Because you had limited numbers of people that could go on the ship, you had to be able to cover quite a few specialties,” he said of differences between his current and former jobs.
The Army Guard’s UH-60 Blackhawk repairers start out with a 16-week initial training school following basic training. Like their brethren on the Air side, who follow basic with a 14-week school, they receive a very broad education on aircraft maintenance. Elliott and Army Guard Aircraft Maintenance Supervisor Chief Warrant Officer 2 Paul Buettner agree most of the important training begins when new enlistees come back to home station.
Buettner said the crew chiefs, aboard all Blackhawk flights, are “flying mechanics.” He said the “preferred path” for a new aircraft mechanic to become qualified as a crew chief is two years.
“Most get there in about six months,” he added. “Once they have demonstrated an ability to inspect, troubleshoot, and repair a helicopter then they can advance to being a crew chief.”
Crew chiefs, most of whom are full-time employees, have overall responsibility for maintenance of the helicopter in addition to crew duties. They are responsible for operating the rescue hoist during medical evacuation and search and rescue missions; conducting hook-up and monitoring of sling loads and water bucket missions; providing airspace surveillance during the flight; conducting passenger safety briefs, and are responsible for the safe entry and exit of passengers, among other duties.
If you are a gearhead, or know of one, that would enjoy tinkering on military vehicles and aircraft, go see a recruiter. Maybe they can give you a jump start.
| Date Taken: | 04.07.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 04.07.2016 12:24 |
| Story ID: | 194684 |
| Location: | CHEYENNE, WY, US |
| Web Views: | 24 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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