TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. — For Airmen assigned to the 552nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, readiness begins long before an aircraft leaves the flight line.
It begins in the gym, where maintainers push through strength and cardio workouts before or after shifts. It begins in a room where an Airman can sit down, collect their thoughts, and talk to someone before stress turns into something heavier. It begins with leaders recognizing that taking care of Airmen is not separate from the mission. It is the mission.
During the tenure of a previous 552nd AMXS commander, the squadron began taking a proactive approach to improving the physical and mental resilience of its maintainers through a tailored fitness program, an updated squadron gym, embedded mental health support, and a resiliency room built closer to where Airmen work.
"We saw a need to offer a more tailored fitness program that fit the needs of maintenance," said Chief Master Sgt. Darian Mays. "We have a very volatile schedule with higher ops tempos, Red Flags, large footprints for deployments, and things like that. This allowed us to tailor our needs a little bit more to what AMXS needed."
The fitness program was designed around the realities of maintenance. Airmen assigned to the squadron often work demanding schedules, including off shifts, deployments, and long hours tied directly to aircraft generation. For many, finding time to get to a base gym before or after work can be difficult.
Mays said the previous squadron commander made fitness a priority, investing in the squadron gym and helping build a program that could meet Airmen where they were.
"The commander started talking about how he had ideas for the wellness center," said Staff Sgt. Madison Rowell, 552nd AMXS unit fitness program manager and former crew chief. "He started updating so much equipment, and we started getting rid of old and broken-down equipment that was in the gym, replacing it with new, better ones. We greatly increased the number of cardio machines in there."
What began as a one-hour afternoon class from 3 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday grew into a program that also includes a morning class from 6 to 7 a.m., giving off-shift Airmen a chance to participate. The program includes warmups, cardio, strength training and recovery work, while also helping Airmen learn proper form and build confidence in a gym setting.
"We had to figure out how we were going to fill up that hour, and it was a lot of trial and error at the beginning because we hadn't ever done something like this before," Rowell said. "We quickly figured out that with the number of people we had, we kind of had to split the class in half and train half cardio and train half strength."
Rowell said the goal is not simply to help Airmen pass a fitness test. It is to help them build habits that carry beyond the program.
"Our entire goal was that, with these fitness standards changing, they would have to go through a change," Rowell said. "We wanted them to get used to working in the gym, using equipment, getting their form perfect, and knowing what to do in a gym setting."
The results have been visible. Rowell said Airmen enrolled in the fitness improvement program who have been tested have seen about an 85% pass rate. Some Airmen have continued attending the classes even after they were no longer required to participate, and others have expressed interest in becoming physical training leaders themselves.
"We have seen people stick with it, which is nice," Rowell said. "Just the other day, I had a member who is no longer required to be in the class, and he's actually about to get out of the military, but he said, 'Thank you for making fitness fun.'"
For Mays, the change has been more than numerical. It has been cultural.
"We're starting to see a new shift in the culture," Mays said. "I'm seeing more Airmen going and using the gym and making that a part of their lifestyle."
That same focus on readiness also extends beyond physical fitness.
Through True North, embedded mental health professionals work directly with Airmen in their units, building relationships in the shops, on the flight line, and in the spaces where Airmen spend most of their time.
Autumn Ward, an embedded mental health licensed clinical social worker with True North, and Ginger Davis, an embedded mental health professional with True North, said their work is built around prevention, early support and reducing the stigma that can keep service members from seeking help.
"Our job is to engage with everybody in their environments, in their shops, to get a feel for what's going on in their shops and where the stresses might be," Davis said. "Basically, just to build rapport and help them get to know us, so they feel more comfortable coming to see us."
True North offers support at different levels, from nonclinical counseling and individual coaching to referrals for full clinical therapy when needed. Ward said the embedded model helps create a bridge between Airmen and the mental health clinic.
"Part of being embedded is that we can see what's going on," Ward said. "We can see their stressors. We can see them on the flight line. We can engage them, and part of the engagement is reducing the stigma of mental health."
That visibility matters.
Ward said the previous squadron commander wanted mental health support closer to Airmen so they would know where to go and feel more comfortable asking for help. The move helped lead to the creation of a resiliency room near the work center, bringing multiple helping agencies into a shared space where Airmen can find support more easily.
"My commander wanted me to have a space kind of closer just in case, so I was more visible," Ward said. "They would see me, and they'd be like, 'Oh, there's Autumn. Let me go to her.'"
Ward said the idea grew when she saw the opportunity to bring support services together in one location. If an Airman worked up the courage to ask for help and no one was available, someone else would be there to meet them.
"My thought process with seeing the space was, what if we're all together?" Ward said. "We'll catch more people. If one of us isn't there, there are three others to get that person and take care of them."
The resiliency room also provides Airmen with a place to pause before stress takes them away from the mission for extended periods. Ward said some Airmen had been leaving work areas to sit in their cars, walk away from the flight line, or find a place to decompress.
"Why wouldn't we have a space for them just to be able to do that?" Ward said. "Just sit a minute, have something to drink, collect yourself. Guess what? Flight line's right there. Go for it, right back down."
Since opening the space, Ward said she has doubled the number of people she sees.
For Davis, the embedded model has shown her a side of military life she could not fully see while working only in the mental health clinic.
"Since being over here since September, I understand more about what they go through than I ever did doing intense therapy with them because I am here and I see it," Davis said. "I see why it was so hard to come to the clinic. I see the things that they're facing that are making it more difficult."
Ward said the environment also helps Airmen open up in ways they might not in a clinical setting.
"They're not as honest when they're in the clinic," Ward said. "They're worried about all that comes with being honest and being vulnerable."
The resiliency room and fitness program may look different on the surface, but both are built around the same idea: Airmen are better prepared to do the mission when they have the tools, access, and support to take care of themselves.
For maintainers, that support can be especially important. The work is physically demanding, technically complex, and directly tied to mission success. Ward said Airmen do not always recognize the importance of their role.
"I feel sad that they don't realize in the moment what a big part they're playing in keeping us safe," Ward said. "They deserve it. They deserve everything. They deserve a therapist who cares about them and listens to them."
Mays said the squadron's approach reflects a broader push to take care of Airmen before problems grow and to build a culture where readiness includes both physical and mental resilience.
"This is us taking a very proactive approach to our Airmen's readiness, to be fit to fight," Mays said.
The success of the fitness program also depends on the Airmen leading from within. Rowell said physical training leaders keep the classes organized, creative, and engaging, helping make fitness something Airmen want to continue.
"They are basically what's holding this program up," Rowell said. "Making sure that we have reliable and fitness-hungry PTLs to lead these classes is very important."
From the gym to the resiliency room, the emphasis on Airman care helped shape a squadron approach that treats resilience as a daily practice rather than a reaction to a crisis.
For Mays, that investment is visible the moment someone walks through the squadron gym.
"Fitness has been a priority for AMXS here, and we are putting our money where our mouth is," Mays said. "You can see it when you walk through our gym, and the sense of pride that we have in this program."
Whether an Airman needs a workout, a conversation, or just a quiet place to reset, the squadron's message is the same: readiness starts with people, and people need more than one kind of strength.