Mountain Home maintainers keep Eagles, Falcons flying Published Jan. 20, 2006 By 2nd Lt. Erin Tindell 366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho (AFPN) -- Behind every good jet is a good maintainer –- actually, make that several maintainers. More than 850 Airmen with the 366th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron here serve as the first line of defense for maintenance on 73 jets, ensuring they’re safe, reliable and ready to fly when pilots need them. The 366th AMXS is the largest squadron on base and has the big task of helping carry out the fundamental mission of the Air Force –- getting planes off the ground. “No matter what command you’re in, the primary mission of the Air Force is to fly aircraft -– either putting bombs on target or putting people or equipment in the right place,” said Capt. Ronald Carver, 389th Aircraft Maintenance Unit flight chief. “You can’t do any of that without aircraft maintenance.” The 366th AMXS is divided into three units, one for the 389th, 390th and 391st Fighter Squadrons. Each operates in the same way to make sure its respective jets can fly and do fly. Within each unit are crew chiefs, weapons loaders and specialists who each play a specific role in making a jet operable on a daily basis. Like a NASCAR team that preps its driver’s vehicle to stay in the Indy 500, crew chiefs prepare and recover their jets to stay in the fight. Before jets take off, crew chiefs check to make sure everything is functioning such as panels, controls and brakes. These Airmen need to have basic knowledge in all systems related to their aircraft, including its avionics, weapons and electrical systems, said 1st Lt. Gerald Davis, 391st AMU flight chief. Whereas crew chiefs learn the big picture of their aircraft, weapons loaders focus on keeping their jets armed and ready to drop bombs like it’s hot. To stay qualified on their aircraft, weapons troops stay current on various munitions. Whatever weapons are requested for a mission, ammunitions storage brings them out and the weapons loaders attach them to the jet, Lieutenant Davis said. Weapons loaders also maintain the pylons that cradle the munitions on the plane. “When a pilot pushes the button to launch his missile, he’s expecting that missile to not just sit on the pylon, but to come off,” Lieutenant Davis said. Finally, specialists step in for all other flightline maintenance to troubleshoot and correct any problems that go wrong with electrical and avionics equipment and jet engines. “As an electrician, there are plenty of things that set my job apart from other maintenance jobs,” said Senior Airman Josh Mishka, 366th AMXS. “My job involves both mechanical and mathematical skills, and this is important because my career field is responsible for roughly 10 to 15 different systems on the aircraft -- all of them vital for the aircraft’s proper operation, not to mention the safety of the pilot and ground crew.” To do their jobs, all the maintainers with the 366th AMXS rely upon hundreds of technical orders that outline how to fix any problem or part on the jet step by step, Lieutenant Davis said. Nestled in the back of the support section of the 391st AMU, hundreds of technical orders are neatly stacked on shelves like books at a library. Each time a maintainer goes out to perform a job, a technical order is checked. “No matter how many times a maintainer performs a certain job on a jet; a technical order is always with them in hand,” Lieutenant Davis said. But a maintainer and a technical order is useless without the right tools to manually fix the job. Airmen with the 366th AMXS don’t use the small tool box in a father’s garage but a more monstrous tool box the size of a shopping cart. Each tool in the box is marked with a code that matches another code on the tool box itself. When a maintainer needs a tool, its scanned and tracked through a tool accountability system to ensure accountability. If it’s not checked in at the end of the day, maintainers will track it down to make sure it’s not left somewhere on the flightline where it may be sucked into a running jet engine. “We don’t want a wrench or socket sucked up into an engine where it will cause major damage,” Lieutenant Davis said. “That’s why we keep an extensive tool control system in place.” While the crew chiefs, weapons loaders and specialists are doing their thing, a production superintendent for each unit is driving out on the flightline making sure everything runs smoothly, correctly and in a timely manner. “Everything that goes wrong with a jet or the maintainers working on it is the pro super’s baby,” said Master Sgt. Mark Bryant, 366th AMXS superintendent. “They also keep everything on schedule whether it’s daily, weekly, quarterly or annually -– they’re constantly looking into the future to stay prepared.” Finally, the 366th AMXS senior enlisted and officers ensure their maintainers receive the proper training, equipment and gear to do their job. They also work closely with other base agencies to get certain jobs done. According to Colonel Landoch, the maintainers with the 366th AMXS do an outstanding job in getting aircraft off the ground and back safely. “I couldn’t be more proud to work with such a wonderful group of maintainers in a stressful job like this. These guys take great pride in the jobs they do and it shows when pilots are able to walk out to an aircraft and complete his or her mission.” From crew chiefs to weapons troops to specialists, the mighty maintainers with the 366th AMXS get the Air Force mission cranking from the ground up to the sky.