ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam - Thirty-two Airmen from the 374th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (AMXS) and 374th Maintenance Squadron work tirelessly around the clock to ensure Yokota Air Base’s C-130J Super Hercules and C-12J Huron are always mission ready and fully capable to complete their mission in Cope North 2018 (CN18), at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Feb. 14 to Mar 2.
Over the course of the exercise, these Airmen guarantee the 36th Airlift Squadron (AS) and 459th AS aircrews can effectively train alongside their Koku Jieitai (Japan Air Self-Defense Force) and Royal Australian Air Force partners as they perform humanitarian assistance/disaster relief training missions.
“They make sure the aircraft is fueled, configured correctly, and properly inspected before flights are accomplished,” said 1st Lt. Marcelli Magday, 374 AMXS unit officer in charge. “We configure the aircraft to support different missions, whether it be for aeromedical evacuation, air drops, or cargo and personnel transportation.”
As part of the 374th Maintenance Group, they provide highly trained maintenance personnel, equipment and organizational support to inspect, service and repair C-130J aircraft during the exercise.
“Aircraft generation and sustainment are key to the execution of Cope North, and that's what our maintainers are doing every day,” said Magday. “Our Yokota maintainers work hard to make sure that the aircraft are fully mission capable, so that our pilots can execute their mission effectively and safely.”
In these large scale exercises, it’s imperative that the technicians work together and combine all their knowledge and experience so they can swiftly and safely provide a fully mission-capable aircraft to the aircrew.
Although there were unexpected setbacks during the exercise, the Yokota maintainers inspected and fixed any potential discrepancies on the aircraft, including a tail rudder malfunction identified by the aircrew during a training sortie.
“We were able to identify that the rudder trim tab actuator was burnt out and causing the issue on the aircraft,” said Magday. “We did this by verifying the wiring to the actuator was good and supplying the part with power. Since the wiring was good, this meant that the part itself was bad. We removed and replaced the actuator, then ran through an operational check. The actuator passed and the aircraft was good to go for its next flying mission.”
Over the last year, Yokota has transitioned from the C-130H to the J-model. As Yokota continues to build up the C-130J fleet (11 aircraft out of 14 total) it will begin to have more of a presence in multi-lateral exercises around the Indo-Pacific region, increasing the importance of maintainers in these exercises.
“We cannot participate in exercises like CN18 without adequate maintenance support,” said Maj. Jesse Klaetsch, 36 AS C-130J instructor pilot. “If they weren’t here for a real-world scenario, our planes won’t get off the ground and people wouldn’t get the food, supplies and medical attention they need. They are the unsung heroes of tactical airlift operations.”