Life-support techs keep OEF airlifters rescue ready

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
  • 416th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs
KARSHI-KHANABAD AIR BASE, Uzbekistan (AFPN) --  For C-130 Hercules aircrews flying a combat airlift mission, there are various forms of lifesaving equipment on the plane and on the Airmen every time they fly.

Whether it is a parachute or a helmet, aircrews here are fitted with the best equipment available from the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron life-support section here. The section’s Airmen maintain, inspect and issue items used as lifesaving devices for crews and passengers on a C-130.

Big jobs for the section’s Airmen are issuing and maintaining survival radios and nigh-vision goggles and controlling the 9 mm pistols the aircrews are required to carry here, said Senior Master Sgt. Tom Jones, noncommissioned officer in charge of the section who is deployed from the Ohio Air National Guard at Mansfield Lahm Airport.

“With the survival radios, we have to ensure the proper information is loaded into them in case the aircrew had to be rescued. This information changes quite often, so we have to make sure the most up-to-date data (are) loaded into them,” he said.

Sergeant Jones said the Airmen also train crews to use radios.

“The training is critical because we don't have these radios available at our home units,” Sergeant Jones said.

Supporting aircrews with their equipment is “paramount” for mission success, said Tech. Sgt. Steve Tigges, a life-support technician deployed from the Oklahoma ANG in Oklahoma City.

“We take our job very seriously,” he said. “I think most people may not realize how multifaceted we are as technicians. Not only are we technicians working on equipment, we are instructors, safety NCOs, hazardous waste handlers, weapons custodians and chemical decontamination experts.

“We are major players in the (war on terrorism),” Sergeant Tigges said. "Wherever you have aircrew, you have life support. Our role -- although a silent one -- is an important support position. … We take care of (the aircrews’) equipment, make sure they have the newest and neatest gadgets, get them to the planes and make sure they have the best equipment to do their mission.”

Staff Sgt. Jason Bremer, an aircrew life-support technician deployed from Yokota Air Base, Japan, said every job in the war on terrorism is important, but supporting one of Operation Enduring Freedom’s most used airlifters -- the C-130 -- through his work is very rewarding.

“To know that your work gives an aircrew member a good chance to survive if something bad happens is special,” Sergeant Bremer said. “That is why we are here -- to make sure our aircrews have a chance at survival. We give them the training they need so they know exactly what to do if their plane goes down.”

The equipment the technicians care for is routinely inspected for serviceability, said Master Sgt. Ralph Bumgardner, an aircrew life-support technician deployed from the West Virginia ANG in Charleston.

“With those constant cycles, we are always busy,” Sergeant Bumgardner said. “We have hundreds of pieces of equipment to take care of, so staying on schedule is critical. If equipment becomes overdue on an inspection, we could possibly put an aircrew member’s life in danger. We refuse to let that ever happen.”

Since Sept. 11, 2001, the role of the life-support troops in the deployed environment has increased dramatically, said Airman Ed Schwab, an aircrew life-support technician deployed from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska.

“Since then the C-130, for example, has done more flying into some dangerous situations,” Airman Schwab said. “Without things like night-vision goggles, which we care for and provide to the C-130 aircrews, their ability to go in ‘lights out’ would not be possible.”

Life-support technicians have to have equipment pre-positioned on every aircraft, including parachutes, survival kits, night-vision goggles, emergency breathing devices, the emergency passenger oxygen system, life preservers and anti-exposure suits.

“The equipment we provide has to work,” said Tech. Sgt. Charles Bittle, an aircrew life-support technician deployed from the Georgia ANG in Savannah. “Most of it is only used when something else doesn’t work or in an emergency. The equipment we provide is usually the last option for protection and survival.

“When you start using our equipment, you have stopped trying to complete the mission and have started trying to survive to fly another day,” Sergeant Bittle said. “Bad things can happen, and that's why we pre-position equipment on planes and give aircrew members all the gear they need to complete the mission. With the right life-support equipment and training, aircrews who face a life-threatening situation can survive.”