The flights must go on Published July 22, 2011 By Tech. Sgt. Emily F. Alley 451 AEW Public Affairs KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- Airmen of the 451st Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron are tasked with more than just conducting phase inspections on the A-10 Thunderbolt II. They are also called upon to form crash, disabled, damaged aircraft recovery teams responsible for clearing the busy single runway of Kandahar Airfield so that every coalition country can continue to fly. Working side-by-side with their coalition partners, the Airmen work quickly and safely around unique recovery issues so KAF, one of the busiest single runways in the world, can continue flying aircraft to support their mission. Each tasking for a CDDAR team brings a set of challenges the crew must work around. For example, a broken aircraft may be missing a hoisting area and the crew must improvise on how to lift the aircraft to move it. The team must devise a way to safely remove the aircraft despite the missing piece. Since partner nation airframes can be dramatically different in where hoist areas are located, each team member is also required to become familiar with coalition aircraft. Technical orders may provide solutions for cleaning up crashes, but experience and familiarity with the aircraft are invaluable to the teams so they can quickly and safely move the damaged aircraft. CDDAR teams have been instrumental in assisting the Afghan air wing, which flies the Mi-17 out of Kandahar. On July 13 the team helped their Afghan partners move a damaged helicopter on its way to a repair depot by lifting the aircraft and placing it on a flatbed truck. Tech. Sgt. Jonathan Holt, the CDDAR team chief who is deployed from Moody Air Force Base, Ga., supervises clearing damaged aircraft. In order to be prepared so they can quickly respond to any scenario, including potential coalition aircraft crashes, Holt said his team trains by running through standards and procedures for hypothetical situations. He organizes opportunities for his team to view coalition aircraft and talk with coalition mechanics to better understand the differences between U.S. and their aircraft. "Other nations are very helpful," Holt said "They're eager to show off their aircraft." Staff Sgt. Jeremy Morse, a CDDAR team member also deployed of out Moody AFB, Ga., agreed that any time the CDDAR team is called to respond, the situations vary dramatically. "It's a learning process because every crash is different," Morse said. During a recent aircraft recovery, Holt's team was called to respond. They took safety precautions by spraying a crashed aircraft with wax to prevent carbon fibers from becoming airborne. His team also had to improvise while working on ground that was saturated with fire-suppressant foam after the Kandahar Airfield fire department sprayed the area and the aircraft to prevent a fire or explosion. The team pulled the wreckage to dry ground utilizing the winch on their truck. Once on firmer ground, they were able to safely hoist the damaged aircraft on a waiting flatbed truck. Capt. Matthew Booth, from the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing safety office who is deployed from Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., said the safety office also responds as part of the CDDAR team and that aircraft recovery needs to happen quickly. "Recoveries are tracked minute by minute," said Booth. "You may have F-16s or A-10s waiting for the runway to clear before they can fly out to support troops in combat."