Maintainers get results despite tough conditions

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Chuck Roberts
  • Air Force Print News
Approximately 1,900 coalition aircraft have launched almost 24,000 round-the-clock sorties since March 19 supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

That means 24,000 opportunities for something to go wrong mechanically.

"No problem," say maintainers like Senior Master Sgt. Ricky Abbott and Staff Sgt. Robert Souders who are assigned to the 321st Air Expeditionary Wing at a deployed location.

Abbott, a production superintendent, said his team of maintainers from Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., and March Air Reserve Base, Calif., are achieving mission-capable rates of more than 90 percent for their KC-135 Stratotankers. As of April 3, aerial-refueling aircraft have combined to deliver more than 27 million gallons of fuel to coalition aircraft.

Souders, a C-130 Hercules crew chief, and his fellow maintainers launched 500 sorties in 18 days with a 100 percent mission-capable rate. And cargo aircraft moved almost 31,000 tons of equipment and approximately 38,000 passengers since March 19.

Maintainers are achieving these in-service rates despite scorching hot weather, sand and the challenge of keeping a steady flow of spare parts coming into the country.

"It's definitely a challenge, but we have a bunch of go-getters here," said Abbott. He said his maintainers have excelled at assessing and solving problems.

They cannot solve the sticky weather problem, but they are acclimating, Abbott said. Temperatures were dipping into the 20s when Abbott and crew left Oklahoma. They landed in a humid environment with temperatures in the 90s.

"We've all tanned and peeled two or three times since we've been here," said Abbott. Maintainers put in days exceeding 12 hours beneath the scorching sun, "but I haven't heard a soul complain about that," Abbott said.

In fact, maintainers often try to keep working on a mechanical problem until it is resolved. "Sometimes we have to make them leave," Abbot said.

That is about what Abbott said he expected of his team.

"You couldn't have made them stay at home," he said. "We left people home who wanted to come."

Since arriving, Abbott said the war has caused him to pause and reflect on why he is supporting the fight.

"I sit back and realize we take a lot of things for granted in America," Abbott said. "(The war) makes you definitely appreciate that you come from a country where you have your freedom. That has touched me."

On the C-130 side of the house, Souders said maintainers are also contending with the weather challenge.

When Souders and his fellow Air National guardsmen departed the 167th Airlift Wing's home base at Martinsburg, W.Va., there were 30 inches of snow on the ground and below-zero temperatures. But here, Souders said, the sweat continues to flow even when the maintainers escape the heat for a few moments of refuge in the air-conditioned "morale tent."

The Hercules has performed extremely well in the challenging weather conditions, Souders said, but maintainers must make accommodations for the heat and fine sand.

Maintainers keep the aircraft sealed shut until a short time before the aircrew arrive to block out the sand, Souders said, but blocking out the sand traps in heat which can affect some aircraft systems. It requires a delicate balance to open the aircraft in time to cool it down without letting the sand in, but so far their timing has been perfect, he said.

Souders said he is glad to be in the same situation as his two cousins who fought with the Marines in Operation Desert Storm more than 10 years ago, when he was still in high school. He remembers praying for his cousins and his mom sending them care packages.

Like Abbott, Souders said he believes in the cause his country is fighting for.

"I can't wait until Saddam is out of power," Souders said. "He is robbing freedom from the Iraqi people."