Flightdeck Friday – Maintainers
Usually these spaces are given over to aircraft or the operations and battles they have flown in. The aviators normally are well represented as well, but there is another group, without whom from the dawn of aviation, none of this would have been possible – aviation maintenance personnel. Long before the mission is flown and long after the planes have returned and the aircrew departed the flight line, the maintainers are there fixing, tweaking, fueling, cleaning – getting the aircraft turned around in rapid time to go forth again.
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To get here… You need to start here.
During my active association with aviation, I was extraordinarily privileged to have spent the majority of my ground jobs, from branch officer up to Maintenance Dept head, with this special group. And what a group they were, from the ATs and AEs in Avionics – who, by the way, were some of the most creative folks (in a good and, well, other sense…) I’ve run across, to the mechs in Power Plants and the metal benders in Airframes; the forever be-speckled corrosion control crew to the analysts in QA and maintenance control and perhaps the hardest working and least acknowledged – the plane captains. In all weather, steaming tropics to frozen arctic and especially pitching deck they were a constant. Leading this group of merry rogues were an elite whom I hold in deep regard for their leadership and technical skills – and a few other skills probably best left unmentioned ("Where’d you find it Master Chief? AIMD said there weren’t any onboard…" "Sir, don’t ask questions you don’t want to have to answer later…" "Got it…"). That would be the goat locker, aka the Chief’s Mess. No where else will you find such a collection of experience, hands-on leadership and technical acumen. They were my advisors, sounding board and reference point and it was an honor to have served with them.
So here’s to you, the wrench turner, chock dragger, box swapper and painter. You who were present on the Langley and at Midway, on the Eisenhower and in the Gulf; you who through all the years, have kept us flying in combat and peace, ashore and afloat; who prevail despite some of the biggest curve balls tossed your way by aricrew…
“The radiodohickey failed to operate in the On Full Force mode.”- Aircrew
The less you know about how we scrounge the better you avoid making big rocks into little rocks. I really have enjoyed it as well when aircrew come down and do the “Hey I need training on how this works” because that means they want to make life easier on us maintainers. Aircrew give us the best laughs at times too. We love you folks.
“We’ll look right in to that one sir”-debriefing Maintainer
Thanks for the post of appreciation. Trust us when we say that some parts just showed up.
My Son Number One has been a maintainer for 18 years now (give or take a year or two here and there for schools and such), and even though he wears “the other blue” uniform, I’m sure he can relate to what you’ve said, SJS. Having seen him and his troops in their environment…the flightline and hangars at Cannon AFB, among other places…I certainly can relate! It’s always too hot, or too cold, or too windy, or too something, and the hours are long. Add in the fact that maintainers on your side do it on heaving decks in all sorts of weather and…well, suffice it to say you have my most profound respect.
SJS,
And you know what makes the very best windshield washing fluid? Piping hot Navy-brewed coffee. Especially if it’s ben sitting and cooking for a few hours. That stuff was great to remove salt spray from all sorts of canopies, observation blisters, etc. Also works well as a cleaner/degreaser in a pinch 😯
Yeah, Those guys were great to work with. No matter where I was, it seemed like those fellows would find a way to make it work. And let’s not forget the crew in the paraloft. They were more than happy to stitch on patches and other assorted name tapes, etc to flight jackets, zoom bags, or whatever. For a price. Usually a bottle of their favorite linament, so to speak… I once went in with an idea for a kit bag for my equipment that would also hold enough for a couple day’s of ROB. The rigger not only took my ideas and ran with it, he made it better. What great memories.
It’s just too bad you can’t get that kind of quality in the civilian workforce these days. At least, not consistantly you can’t.
Respects,
Same here. I started in Maintenance as as Ensign, ended up as A CDR and AMO of VO-67. It was a fantastic career. Being able to work with some of the most fantastic people who keep our aircraft in the air is unbelievable. Give a Sailor a job that other people say they can not repair and they will get it done. They will fix the items that the Engineers call Fail Safe and they will “Fix” the Fail Safe system when it is dead.
My experience was as a mechanized infantry officer. I became a company XO in 1983 of an M113 equipped rifle company in Germany. They company had received new (i.e. rebuilt) M113A2s the previous year. We went on a field problem when I get the word that one of the company tracks was done. My recovery team pulled it into the maintenance yard. They popped the panels and the engine compartment was sprayed with oil. Come to find out the oil lines had come out of the oil cooler…which was “conveniently†located UNDER the engine block. They had to pull the engine to get at it…something which entailed unbolting the armor on the front and lifting it up. No problem, the recovery vehicle crew got to work. About 45 minutes later we got the word 2 more tracks were down. Turned out to be the same problem. Over the next 37 hours 9 tracks would go down for the same thing. Turned out the oil coolers which were installed during the depot rebuilt had paper o-rings! Every one of the tracks was +/- 5 hours of 1,000 hours of service since rebuilt.
My 7 mechanics pulled and replaced 9 engines in 37 hours in the field with no hardstand. I was even turning wrenches by the end to help out. At the end of this I had to deliver the resupply fuel/food/water to my company so I left. I returned to the maint site about 3 hours later just as the sun came up…it looked like Jonestown! Guys had dropped dead asleep all around. As I got out of my jeep I saw one mechanic had fallen asleep across the open hatch of the recovery vehicle…it hurt to look at him. As I walked past him he lifted his head and said to me “Hey sir, go tell the grunts to break something. We’re bored!â€
As a hardcore Infantry officer I had not thought that much about all of the support personnel. I guarantee you my opinion changed dramatically that day.
Incredible bunch of guys.