Photo By Tech. Sgt. Lynette Rolen | U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Zachary Mabe, an aerospace propulsion journeyman with the...... read more read more
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Maintaining Hurlburt’s entire C-130 fleet seems like quite the daunting task, but it’s one which the Airmen at the centralized repair facility (CRF) tackle each day.
Air Commandos in this facility repair C-130 engines and prepare them to go back on the aircraft.
“Whether it’s high time the engines have reached their service life, they’ve been damaged beyond repair and they can’t be repaired by the flightline, those engines then get sent to us,” said Staff Sgt. Lucas Rowley, an aerospace propulsion journeyman with the 1st Special Operations Maintenance Squadron. “We tear them down and inspect every single component of the motor and rebuild it.”
Air Commandos in the CRF ensure each engine sent into the shop goes back as a fully operational spare. The 1st Special Operations Wing is home to the MC-130H Combat Talon II and the AC-130J Ghostrider gunship, Air Force Special Operations Command’s most lethal gunship.
“When a motor is being rebuilt, we have an extensive checklist to go through,” said Rowley. “The checklist spans the course of several weeks. Each day is different. One day you could be working on tear down, where you’re taking components off and the next step is usually inspecting those components and then reinstalling serviceable components.”
Even though each day is different, the Airmen make sure the work gets done.
“We’ll come in early or stay late, either way, we’ll get it done,” said Airman 1st Class Amber Noles, an aerospace propulsion apprentice with the 1st SOMXS.
Amidst Coronavirus Disease 2019, Air Commandos are keeping up with the workload at half the manning. The facility went to two shifts, each coming in alternating weeks, to protect everyone.
“We’re acting as we are if we would have been fully manned,” said Noles. “We’re getting everything out as it should be.”
The facility has been so successful with repairs, some Airmen from different sections of the CRF are helping others. The facility also services turbines, reduction gear boxes (the transmission of the engine), outer skins of engines “Quick Engine Change Kits”, engine stands and propellers.
“Our propeller section has been so productive that they’ve got more spare propellers than they need during this time,” said Noles. “People have been moving from those sections over to crews where we’re working on the engines.”
In addition to the propellers section of the CRF being productive, the facility also maintains war ready engines (WREs). These are fully operational C-130 engines the facility has ready to go at a moment’s notice.
“We maintain more than 10 WREs across the Air Force,” said Rowley. “Usually if we drop below a certain number, they’ll start increasing our workload to get back up to it, but we’ve maintained that number above our WRE steadily and regularly.”
Both Rowley and Noles said their inspiration for going to work each day and fixing engines is their love of working with their hands.
“Before I joined the military, I was always in love with doing anything with my hands,” said Noles. “Working with engines was something I loved. So when I came here, every day was like an adventure, so I enjoy it, no matter what I do.”
| Date Taken: | 06.26.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 06.26.2020 18:23 |
| Story ID: | 372956 |
| Location: | HURLBURT FIELD, FL, US |
| Web Views: | 209 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, CRF keeps Hurlburt’s C-130s mission ready, by TSgt Lynette Rolen, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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