Photo By Staff Sgt. Kellen Stuart | A Soldier looks through a digital micrometer to ensure a part of the CH-47 Chinook...... read more read more
If you are outside and look overhead, there is a chance you may see some type of aircraft in the sky. That aircraft in the sky is made possible by being properly maintained on the ground. Throughout the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade there are Soldiers who troubleshoot, maintain and repair CH-47 Chinook, UH-60 Black Hawk and AH-64 Apache helicopters. Those soldiers are responsible for maintaining a fraction of the U.S. Army air fleet.
“The importance of the mechanic and the importance of maintenance cannot be overlooked,” said Capt. Benjamin Salvito, a UH-60 pilot and commander of D Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment. “If the aircraft are not maintained, they can’t fly.”
If those aircraft are not able to fly, the flight companies can’t do their mission and in turn 3rd CAB is unable to support the ground force commander in a deployed environment, he explained.
“That’s the whole point of aviation,” Salvito said. “It’s in the aviation song, it’s cheesy but it says ‘we meet the needs of ground command’ and that’s our job—to deliver troops to the battlefield to kill the enemy.”
On any given day aircraft maintenance is being done.
“We do maintenance every day, that is our purpose and that is our mission,” he said. “So even if all of the parts work the way that they are supposed to, we have a regiment of maintenance activities to do as prescribed by the helicopter manufacturers.”
During the more in-depth maintenance, Soldiers are trying to figure out if a component of the aircraft is airworthy, said Staff Sgt. Jeremy Hendrix, a Chinook mechanic and technical inspector for D Co., 2nd Bn., 3rd Aviat. Reg. There are criteria listed in the technical manual that outline damage parameters, which if exceeded, marks it for being replaced.
“Without maintaining aircraft, you don’t have any,” he said. “It’s our job to make sure whenever we find damage or conduct any kind of maintenance, we do it as quickly as possible but as efficiently as possible and as properly as possible.”
For each aircraft there are civilian industry standards that must be met.
“Things break when they’re not supposed to, so we have to fix that as well,” said Salvito.
With an aircraft you need to have more technical knowledge, said Spc. Francisco Ramirez, an automobile mechanic as a civilian turned Chinook mechanic assigned to D Co., 2nd Bn., 3rd Aviat. Reg.
“Helicopters are extremely complicated machines,” said Salvito. “We are always doing maintenance in one form or fashion.”
People gain knowledge from experience, explained Ramirez. New aircraft mechanics learn from the experience in the shop. Observe and ask questions about aircraft repair from the more seasoned mechanics to gain a better understanding.
“What I tell my soldiers is ‘don’t judge your worth to the organization by proximity to the target,’” said Salvito. “Just because you’re in a hangar, turning wrenches on an aircraft doesn’t mean you’re not affecting the overall mission of the Army.”
The goal is to have all of the aircraft ready to launch so that commanders at all echelons can use them for their intended purpose, he added.
“They’re complicated machines, so they require a little tender, love and care to keep them airborne,” Salvito said.
| Date Taken: | 04.10.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 04.10.2017 16:10 |
| Story ID: | 229859 |
| Location: | HUNTER ARMY AIRFIELD, GA, US |
| Web Views: | 137 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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