Deployed aircraft given ISO inspection

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Amy Mundell
  • 123rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (AFPN) --  Maintainers recently completed a comprehensive inspection of a deployed aircraft here for the first time when a Kentucky Air National Guard C-130 Hercules underwent a complete isochronal inspection.

Isochronal inspections examine numerous essential aircraft systems like propulsion and hydraulics, said Lt. Col. Pat Cole, the maintenance section commander for Kentucky ANG’s 38th Airlift Squadron.

Normally, these inspections are conducted at a unit's home station, either annually or whenever an aircraft reaches a set number of flying hours, Cole said.

The aircraft, however, has been deployed here since mid-March along with more than 100 airmen of the Kentucky ANG's 123rd Airlift Wing. The guardsmen provide airlift services for Operation Joint Forge and other assignments from U.S. Air Forces in Europe officials. While here, the airmen are assigned to Ramstein's 86th Operations Group.

Typically, the ANG and Air Force Reserve units that comprise the 38th AS deploy to Germany for much shorter periods of time, according to Col. Park Plumb, commander of the 86th Maintenance Group here.

"Normally, the planes rotate in and out (every) two weeks to a month," Plumb said.

Because of increased operational missions, however, units are staying for months at a time, making it difficult for home-station maintainers to complete regular inspections, he said.

"The amount of time these planes are staying over here has driven this ISO requirement," Plumb said.

In fact, Air Force officials had already granted two waivers allowing the deployed aircraft to fly 800 hours past its usual inspection window, Cole said.

With the waiver period running out, officials faced two possibilities: Send the aircraft back to Louisville, Ky., thus reducing mission effectiveness; or complete the inspection in Germany with the help of the 86th MXG.

The Kentucky unit already had maintainers at Ramstein, and home-station airmen had their hands full with other Kentucky aircraft that were returning to Louisville after a five-month deployment to Southwest Asia supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Thus, officials decided to complete the inspection in Germany.

"It made sense to get the ISO done here," Plumb said. "We had the work force, the equipment and the parts. And with the Kentucky planes moving between home station and the desert, I think we had more resources here collectively to get the ISO done quicker."

Cole said he was thankful for the help from the active-duty troops who made it possible to keep the Kentucky aircraft in Germany and boost mission effectiveness.

"It's phenomenal that Ramstein (officials) allowed us to do the ISO here," Cole said. "Because they had an open block of time for their hangar space, they said, 'If you can get it in and out in this time frame, we'll work with you.'"

Scores of maintenance airmen pitched in from Ramstein, Kentucky and other units, including the Alaska Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve's 910th Airlift Wing from Youngstown, Ohio.

It was, Cole said, a true depiction of the total-force concept.

It also demonstrated the willingness of the active-duty forces to support an aircraft deployed on location. In the past, the Kentucky airmen operated as separate entities, Cole said.

The inspection, which normally would have taken 45 days, was completed in about two weeks of 24-hour-a-day operations, said Senior Master Sgt. Frankie Bronger, Kentucky's isochronal dock chief here.

"We would have been in a really tight spot without the help of Ramstein," Bronger said. "We would've had to stop flying real-world missions and returned the aircraft to Louisville and grounded it."

Plumb attributed the success of the inspection to the trust the professional maintainers had for each other.

"It's definitely about teamwork and mission accomplishment," he said. "We work together to get missions done."

The 123rd AW airmen have worked from Ramstein numerous times as part of the Air Force's air and space expeditionary force deployments, although never for such a long period.

The Kentucky unit remains on active duty here supporting operations in Liberia and elsewhere around the world. This marks its second yearlong call to active duty since Sept. 11, 2001.

The Kentucky crews based at Ramstein have flown missions into Southwest Asia, the Balkans and Africa.