Avionics shop works around the clock

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Michaela Judge
  • 437th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. --  While many of us are heading to bed at the end of a long day, Airmen from the 437th Maintenance Squadron avionics flight are working around the clock in order to ensure vital repairs are made on parts necessary for C-17 Globemaster IIIs to conduct day-to-day operations.

The avionics intermediate systems shop houses only 20 percent of Air Mobility Command's avionics test equipment capabilities, yet provides 50 percent of all avionics equipment repairs AMC-wide, said Master Sgt. George Hans, the avionics flight chief.

"These repairs include avionics parts from (JB) Charleston, U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Central Command, the United Kingdom and Hungary," he said.

The avionics shop here, one of only 11 worldwide, is responsible for repairs on 37 separate avionics line replaceable units on the C-17. These LRUs consist of panels and computers that control areas such as fuel, environmental, communications, mission display, flight control, airdrop, radar and warning systems on the aircraft, Sergeant Hans said.

This type of repair work is accomplished by active-duty Airmen, Air Reserve Technicians and civilians.

Despite having less than 25 members in the avionics shop, their mission continues to have an impact on C-17 operations worldwide.

"We currently repair, on average, 2,000 avionics units per year, and return 96 percent of the units that arrive in Charleston to service," Sergeant Hans said.

Senior Airman William Chambers, a 437th MXS journeyman, is one of the active-duty Airmen who provide hands-on repair support for parts delivered to JB Charleston.

"A normal day for me in the shop consists of picking up a part delivered from supply and bringing it over to our workstations to begin repairs," he said.

From there, Airman Chambers said he attaches the broken unit to a test station, which simulates a C-17, to measure the responsiveness of the part and to test various aspects of the unit to include line of sight on display images, fuel levels, signals and more. 

Once a problem is identified with the part, there are different options for repair, Airman Chambers said.

"We can either order through base supply, or use our forward supply point where certain common parts are kept on hand for routine repairs," he said.

"After a LRU is repaired, we clean the part, do paint touch-ups if needed and have a (craftsman) inspect the part before it's packaged and put back on the shelf for supply to pick up."

After supply Airmen take the part, it is shipped, often to a deployed location, for the C-17 needing the repaired LRU.

This entire process, Sergeant Hans said, takes approximately 20 hours to complete.

In the past, members in a deployed location needing LRU repairs for a C-17 would have to ship the parts back to the U.S. for work. However, an avionics shop recently stood up in Southwest Asia to help service some of these aircraft, Sergeant Hans said.

While there are still logistics needed to establish a fully operational shop overseas, Sergeant Hans said the new work center will eventually provide direct support for C-17 aircraft in the area of responsibility, reducing shipping costs of spare parts, and relieving some of the workload here.

In addition to maintaining the LRUs, the avionics shop here is also responsible for servicing flight simulator and maintenance trainer parts.

Their work on these units helped to reduce repair time from 130 days to four by providing in-house support instead of sending the part off to a contractor for repair, Sergeant Hans said. This practice saved $333,000 last year and was a benchmark idea that other bases have used.

This new process, along with improvements made to help identify and correct discrepancies on C-17 heads-up displays, earned this shop the Chief of Staff Team Excellence Award for 2009 from Air Force Reserve Command.

"I believe we are the best avionics back shop in AMC, and our numbers show it," said Tech. Sgt. Tarean Neville, the C-17 avionics intermediate shop NCO in charge. "The awards we have received are the result of our civilians, reservists and active duty (Airmen) stepping up so that we can provide the support needed to the AOR."