Transient alert keeps airflow moving

  • Published
  • By Capt. Brus E. Vidal
  • 376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
MANAS AIR BASE, Kyrgyzstan (AFPN) --  Unlike the old saying which goes, “jack of all trades, master of none,” the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing’s transient alert team here are "airmen of all aircraft, masters of most."

The team is primarily responsible for meeting the fuel, cargo and maintenance needs of military and commercial passenger and cargo aircraft as well as distinguished visitor aircraft not assigned to Manas Air Base.

Affectionately known as the “third Aircraft Maintenance Unit” here, the team of six troops handles an incredibly large workload compared to their counterparts in the C-130 Hercules AMU and the KC-135 Stratotanker AMU, said Capt. Denny Lozano, the KC-135 AMU officer in charge, who also supervises the transient alert team.

“They’re making the mission happen with about a half-dozen people,” Captain Lozano said. “Think about it. I have approximately 70 maintainers here for the KC-135 mission, and there are roughly 65 maintainers in support of the C-130 mission.

The transient alert airmen handle everything else -- all commercial planes, mostly 747s and DC-10s, military aircraft like the C-5 Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster III and C-37A, and multinational jets.

“There isn’t an aircraft out there that they can’t catch,” the captain said.

And “catching” an aircraft can involve a wide range of potential tasks, testing the crew’s diplomacy and problem-solving skills at almost every turn. Besides working directly with aircrew members from around the world, the team has to coordinate internally with more than 10 agencies and also with the host nation for every aircraft not assigned to, but transiting, Manas AB.

Key in this process is handling maintenance issues. The team has no tools, components, or money to buy parts.

If they need tools, they borrow them. So, they are frequently challenged with repair issues and must work maintenance miracles to fix problems on the spot, get the parts in so they can fix it, or make the aircraft suitable to fly to another location and receive the necessary maintenance, he said.

In the past few months the team has parked and handled about two dozen different airframes among more than 170 aircraft – military and civilian, cargo and passenger, American and foreign.

But turning aircraft is not the team’s sole mission. They also maintain the base de-icing fluid tanks and ensure the fluid is readily available for all. They are responsible for the Condor High Reach work platform vehicle – the only vehicle capable of reaching the tail section of the C-5 and C-17 aircraft. The team also recently engineered a “snow squeegee” to remove snow from aircraft before de-icing. The use of this invention now allows much faster aircraft de-icing.

The team’s versatility makes them a “special breed,” Captain Lozano said. Most maintainers specialize in their systems, but these airmen face problems everyday most maintainers do not have to face.

“My people know the KC-135 like the back of their hand, how it works and its maintenance history,” Captain Lozano said. “We have the right tools, parts and supply system. The T/A crew doesn’t have that, they don’t know what to expect -- every time a new mission comes in, it’s a different scenario.”

Despite the challenges and high-operations tempo, Staff Sgt. Christopher Smith, the team’s day shift noncommissioned officer in charge, said the mission is the most fulfilling one he has had in his Air Force career.

“It’s extremely satisfying, when it comes down to it, because we see the end result of what we do in each and every mission,” Sergeant Goubeaux said. “The most rewarding thing for me, personally, is when we put military personnel on a plane and send them home after they’ve been down range for months.

“You know that they’re going home to their families, and that makes it all worth it to me,” he said.