PMEL professionals practice precision

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Chawntain Young
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) --  They diagnose, treat and cure. There is no room for error in their line of work, or it could cost someone his or her life.

The professionals assigned to the 379th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron’s precision measurement equipment laboratory are doctors for one of the Air Force’s most precious resources -- its equipment.

From medical defibrillators to equipment used to ensure bombs and missiles are calibrated to hit the target, PMEL professionals are responsible for ensuring every piece of equipment is in peak operating condition.

“Our field touches just about every squadron on base,” said Tech. Sgt. Sean Jenigen, PMEL production control supervisor. “Pretty much everyone uses some type of test measurement and diagnostic equipment, and it’s our job to calibrate or fix it if it’s broken. Just the other day, one of our technicians received a $500,000 piece of equipment that was inoperable, and he was able to troubleshoot the problem, fix it and bring the equipment back to life.”

Once a PMEL technician’s job is done, another precious resource has been renewed or revived, and an Air Force professional can continue using it to do their job; that is something many technicians seem to take to heart.

“When people ask us to fix or calibrate their equipment, they’re trusting us to help them do their job, and I can see how our piece of the puzzle fits in,” said Staff Sgt. Andrea Lopez, PMEL technician. “When I see them using equipment that I calibrated or fixed, it’s the best part of my day.”

It is all in a day’s work for the PMEL professionals here. It has to be because the mission -- fighting the war on terrorism -- depends on it.

“The best thing about being here was the day that they caught Saddam,” Sergeant Jenigen said. “It really made us feel like we were part of (operations) because what we do on a daily basis, in some small way, contributed to his being captured.”