PMEL Airmen ensure equipment is ready for fight

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Mark Munsey
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing
SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) --  When you do not feel well, the solution is simple. Aches or ailments of unknown origin are taken to medical practitioners for treatment.

But what if it is test, measurement, and diagnostic equipment that is not up to speed?

Airmen with the precision measurement equipment laboratory ensure the equipment is fit to fight.

“The easiest way to think about (the laboratory) is to visualize (the equipment) as patients coming into a hospital,” said Master Sgt. Kenny Trawick, 379th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron TMDE flight chief from Kadena Air Base, Japan. “Most are routine annual checkups, others are sick-call visits and some we have to send to specialists at other bases.

“A few require emergency attention and unfortunately we lose some along the way,” he said.

The laboratory is a shop that does not lack patients, with more than 3,000 calibrations, alignments, repairs and certifications to conduct during a four-month rotation, Sergeant Trawick said.

Their “patient load” comes from 201 work centers at 23 bases in eight countries.

“Our … shop is like the lead domino in the series for the entire theater,” said Lt. Col. Eric Payne, 379th EMXS commander. “If they don’t repair and certify a piece of measuring equipment, then the maintainers can’t validate a plane’s capabilities, and our pilots are left cooling their heels while their aircraft sits idle.”

Being part of the shop also means being part-time post master as well as investigative detective.

“During my time here, I have personally handled (more than) 800 shipments of more than 2,900 pieces of equipment worth more than $17 million,” said Staff Sgt. Kevin Timmcke, 379th EMXS PMEL scheduler from Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.

“There have been a few times when things get lost in transit,” he said. “It was a great feeling to coordinate with work centers and track down three missing items, valued at (more than) $30,000, and get them to their proper owner.”

For the most junior Airman of the team, home-station experiences have helped lessen the load.

“One lesson I brought with me was the importance of staying on top of things,” said Senior Airman Javario Mathis, who is from Charleston AFB, S.C.

“When it looks like you’re making a dent in the lab’s backlog, it always seems to climb back up,” said Airman Mathis, who is on his first deployment. “Only here, if you don’t pay attention, the backlog seems to grow in giant leaps.”

It is a lesson that has helped keep much-needed equipment in top shape fend off mechanical ailments and keep the mission flying.