KC-135s stay perfect during 17-day hot streak

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. James A. Rush
  • 376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
GANCI AIR BASE, Kyrgyzstan (AFPN) --  Really good or just lucky – which describes the 376th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron?

From Aug. 25 to Sept. 10, all of the KC-135 Stratotankers here were ready, willing and able to get the job done in the sky over Afghanistan.

The mission-capable rate target for Air Mobility Command aircraft is 80 percent. Couple the limited number of aircraft here with each Stratotanker flying nearly every day and that standard is tough to meet, according to 1st Lt. Matthew Smiley. He is the 376th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron officer in charge here.

“Even if you’re not 100-percent mission capable, it doesn’t mean you’ve had a bad week,” he said.

They have avoided the unavoidable problems that have jinxed the unit recently -- an unscheduled but necessary engine replacement and getting struck by lightning twice. So perhaps a nod should be given to luck after all. Smiley, perhaps fearful of irritating fate, does not say for certain.

“You can’t really predict (100-percent mission capability),” he said. “You just have to be happy when those times come along.”

It takes only the smallest of things to keep the Stratotanker from flying because the Air Force tends to err on the side of caution.

The last tanker to be listed nonmission capable needed a landing truck assembly replaced.

“It had a gouge. The scratch was less than a finger’s length and only about a millimeter deep. But even a minor thing like that can ground an airplane,” Smiley said. “When that happens, you can’t fly, and you wait on the part.”

Crew chiefs and systems specialists must be familiar with thousands, if not tens of thousands of parts. Waiting for replacements is one of the biggest reasons for keeping an aircraft as nonmission capable, according to Smiley.

“And a lot of times, no one on base has control of that,” he said.

Smiley credits the 376th Expeditionary Logistical Readiness Squadron’s mission capable section airmen for their hard work. They specialize in finding necessary parts to get an aircraft up and running as quickly as possible.

Even with all the pieces in hand, the puzzle must still be assembled. This is where the skill level of the maintainers is important, and this could have been a problem area for the Stratotankers. The 376th EAMXS has only a handful of KC-135 7-level crew chiefs and one 5-level. The rest are 3-levels.

“Knowledge is a factor. You’ve got to know what to do,” said Staff Sgt. Jason Goins, one of the unit’s senior crew chiefs. “Every good crew chief knows each jet has its quirks. You have to get to know them.”

Knowing aircraft history is part of the equation. Good upkeep and preventive maintenance are important, too. The final variable may be attitude, he said.

Calling the 3-level crew chiefs novices is somewhat misleading. Some are close to attaining their 5-level, and all are able to complete a wide variety of tasks under supervision. Their enthusiasm is making up for a lack of experience, according to Goins.

“These guys are always willing to get out and learn. They’ve made tremendous progress here,” he said. “The young guys are gaining confidence from a job well done. (Reaching 100-percent mission capable) doesn’t happen very often. It’s exciting to see how long it lasts.”

Like Smiley, Goins said he is reluctant to assign all the credit for the streak to one factor – luck or skill. He knows not every problem can be predicted, but he also exudes confidence when it comes to fixing the KC-135s.

Each day the streak continues, the maintenance crews focused on caring for the aircraft with their fingers crossed to ward off misfortune. They said they are content to be good and lucky.

“You always have to do the best you can. People’s lives are in your hands, so you have to make sure that aircraft is ready to fly,” Goins said. “But the planes are like people, and they’ll have days when they are sick. And when they’re sick, we take care of them.”