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Tech. Sgt. Dean DeFrank wipes down an engine after routine servicing at Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan, Saturday, March 25, 2006. Sergeant DeFrank is a C-17 engine specialist with the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, but like everyone in his flight, when his part of the job is done he does whatever is required to keep the aircraft at a high standard of maintenance. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Lara Gale)
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Maintainers multi-task to keep C-17s safe
Posted 3/27/2006
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by Staff Sgt. Lara Gale
376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
3/27/2006 - MANAS AIR BASE, Kyrgyzstan (AFPN) -- In a dusty tent in the middle of maintenance town, computers are humming and a lone radio squawks the status of an incoming C-17 Globemaster III. The only sign that anybody works here is a row of desert camouflage blouses hung neatly near the door.
A few of them belong to crew chiefs. The rest were shed by jet engine specialists, hydraulics specialists, navigation and avionics specialists, and fuel cell specialists as the calls came in for one jet landing after another.
“We’re all crew chiefs here,” said Staff Sgt. Jason Wells, one of three C-17 engine specialists in the 376th Air Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron. “We have to be.”
More than 10,000 short tons of cargo and nearly 40,000 people have moved in and out of Manas Air Base since the beginning of January -- record-breaking numbers since the closing of Karshi-Khanabad Air Base in Uzbekistan shouldered Manas with a workload that used to be split between two bases.
The high workload means several C-17s are out at a time, some turning around twice in a day. Jets are high-maintenance -- every one of them requires an inspection at least every 72 hours, even if it isn’t flying, in addition to pre- and post-flight maintenance with every turn-around. With only a few crew chiefs in the ranks, the entire C-17 maintenance flight is becoming proficient in many of these routine tasks.
“I never changed a tire before coming here,” Sergeant Wells said. “I’ve learned a lot.”
Generally, a crew chief is paired with two specialists for post-flight maintenance, said Airman 1st Class Adam Snedden, a crew chief. The crew chiefs double as trainers, working hard to bring the others up to speed on tasks like checking fluid levels and attaching fuel lines. If a jet calls in an engine problem, engine specialists will be assigned to the crew so they can fix the engine after completing post-flight maintenance under the crew chief’s supervision.
The more others can do, the better the entire team can manage its time and the more quickly jets become mission-ready.
“It’s just like any other job, if you decide to be good at it, you’re going to be good at it," Airman Snedden said. "It really matters that this is done right, we have a lot of responsibility on our hands making sure these jets are safe to fly.”
The training is all recorded, and after several deployments, some specialists are almost fully qualified crew chiefs, said Senior Airman Randy Kroeger, a hydraulics specialist. He’s going to certify as a flying crew chief in the next few months, he said.
These duties are additional to specialized maintenance they would normally be doing exclusively, said Staff Sgt. David Ritchie, who is also a jet engine specialist. It keeps them busy. With such a small number of people to accomplish such a large mission, most of them are on-call even on their days off.
But it’s a life they love -- he and Sergeant Wells agreed.
“The best thing about it is we never see the same thing twice,” Sergeant Ritchie said. He said he enjoys troubleshooting and getting to the root of a problem.
“I haven’t taken a day off in.... two weeks,” said Sergeant Wells, laughing as he realized how long it had been.
The C-17 is a heavily-tasked airframe for operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom, transporting military personnel and cargo critical to the fight in all directions. As the maintainers here work to keep the airframe safe for flight, the people counting on them are never far from their minds, Sergeant Wells said.
“Those are lives we’re taking care of,” he said. “That’s a $250 million aircraft. When that’s what you’re dealing with -- we really do everything we can to keep it safe.”
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