Check the oil please

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. John E. Lasky
  • Air Force Print News
MORON AIR BASE, Spain --  It’s a long flight over “the pond” from the United States to Africa and Europe. Sometimes that flight is twice as long for those deploying to Southwest Asia.

Moron Air Base is bout halfway to those locations -- and the key bases from where the U.S. military runs Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom.

It’s in the right place for a service station or rest area -- the middle of a hot, arid land.

The base is like an oasis, located in Spain’s famous Andalusia region, about 35 miles southeast of Seville. In the past, this region was the launching point for the discovery of America. It is the birthplace of the flamenco dance. And since 1953, it has been what former Secretary of the Air Force Dr. James Roche called an “irreplaceable gateway to Southwest and Central Asia.”

Apart from other Air Force units, the base is home to the 4th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron. Its Airmen are in perfect position to receive air transports, offer beds for aircrew and passengers and provide maintenance so aircraft may continue their missions “downrange” or home.

“Generally, the flights coming from downrange are better -- since the passengers are mostly smiling,” said Senior Master Sgt. Bill Morrissey, the squadron’s production superintendent.

Holding a big gate open for transiting C-5 Galaxy transports are 46 maintainers. They’re a total force mix that includes active duty, professional and traditional reservists from three bases, seven units and 10 Air Force specialties.

Sergeant Morrissey said the Airmen provide a bi-directional C-5 staging area with around-the-clock operations. The Airmen handle, on a monthly average, 70 C-5’s that move 900 tons of cargo and 1,000 passengers.

The production superintendent receives notification on the status of inbound Galaxy’s, “usually within 30 minutes,” he said.

Alpha-1 is the term used to describes an airplane that serviceable and only needs, primarily, a through flight inspection, fuel, oil and liquid nitrogen. An aircraft given an Alpha-2 status tells maintenance crews the aircraft needs some kind of minor repair -- for quick turn service -- and can be ready for launching “in a few hours.” Alpha-3 means the plane needs more intensive attention and could be on the ground for a while.

Of course, everyone on the line likes the Alpha-1 birds better. It means less work and that the aircraft can continue its mission.

On this day, Senior Airman Matt Mobley hoped the airplane his crew was “catching” would be Alpha-1. But it came in Alpha-2. So he had to wait for notification from supply that the part was on the shelf before he could replace it on the huge transport plane.

“I like it a lot here,” said Airman Mobley, a reservist from Houston. This was his first temporary duty job with his unit, the 433rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.

After a little wait, he got word the replacement part was in supply. He also got word he had three hours to replace the part so the aircraft could continue on its way.

“That’s more than the time I need,” he said, as he grabbed a wrench. Then he went to work in the shade behind the rear wheel compartment of the six-story high aircraft.

In the meantime, others at the squadron took care of the aircrew. Airman Mobley and his mates worked through the middle of the warm afternoon and fixed the airplane.

Soon, the heaviest air transport in the Air Force’s inventory whined its way back into the sky.