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Deployed helicopter maintainers keep rescue mission rotating

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Melissa B. White
  • 451st Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --  From the moment a nine-line report comes in, it's all about speed. The aircrews need to get their team of pararescuemen to the site as soon as possible to make the life-or-death difference in someone's life. The HH-60G Pave Hawk maintainers also play a major role by ensuring the teams get off the ground to support the casualty evacuation and combat search and rescue missions at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan.

"I charged my folks from the beginning with the challenge to beat all aircrews and pararescuemen to the aircraft when we scramble," said Capt. John Barry, 451st Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 55th Expeditionary Helicopter Maintenance Unit officer in charge. "Our average time to prep the aircraft for their use is easily less than one minute ... we have it down to a tee."

This helicopter unit, which solely supports alert missions, must always be ready to go at a moment's notice. They are required to be airborne within 15 minutes of notification but with their skills and the help of their maintenance partners, the aircrews move out in an average of eight to 10 minutes.

"If we weren't here to always make sure the aircraft was ready, people would be losing their lives," said Staff Sgt. Robin Yerger, 451st EAMXS, 55th EHMU communications and navigation systems craftsman. "Most of the time it's really busy, but one day we could be running from here to the flightline to get them ready to launch, and then other days it's not really busy ... but that's a good thing because it means no one is hurt."

Like a well-orchestrated dance, they all know their places when they are alerted. They rush out to the flightline and post as traffic guards to protect the aircrews as they make their way to the aircraft. Meanwhile, others stand by to assist the PJs with loading rescue equipment, and more Airmen watch for specific maintenance issues. Finally, they safely guide the aircraft while other maintainers keep communication with the aircrews until they launch.

Since the unit's arrival from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., in the end of July, they have launched nearly 700 sorties, accumulated nearly 600 flight hours, and ensured more than 220 lives were saved.

"We sustained a record-breaking monthly HH-60G sortie utilization rate during this summer's surge, all while juggling 14 engine changes, 11 major inspections, two major depot-level repairs, battle damages, several airframe swap-outs ... all with a minimal manning footprint," said Captain Barry. "Everyone was full throttle."

In addition to launching aircrews safely at the drop of a hat, it's equally vital for these 50 maintainers to make sure their three assigned helicopters remain operational because they never know when the next call could be.

"It can be stressful sometimes because of the high operations tempo," said Tech. Sgt. Korey Ehinger, 451st EAMXS, 55th EHMU productions flight expeditor. "Whenever an aircraft comes back and needs maintenance, we need to fix it as soon as possible they need those aircraft to complete the mission."

With Airmen spanning across 11 different career fields in the unit, there's a lot of work to be done with just the right people to do it.

"I absolutely love the group of people I'm working with and they continue to blow my mind every day," said Master Sgt. Rick Piltz, 451st EAMXS, 55th EHMU productions flight superintendent. "We're one- or two-deep in a lot of the career fields, and we're doing a great job of coming together and finding ways to help out each other."

Other than their lifesaving mission, another thing making this unit stand out is that they're the only rotary-wing unit the Air Force has assigned to KAF. Some maintainers, though, say they don't mind some of the differences they have between those working on fixed-winged aircraft.

"We have a lot of differences, but my favorite one is that we get to go out and fly on the aircraft when we're working on it ... I've been out about a dozen times this deployment," said Senior Airman Alex Austin, 451st EAMXS, 55th EHMU HH-60G crew chief. "Our mission is basically to save lives by ensuring the aircraft are fully operational all the times."

With only a few days left in their rotation, these Airmen have left their footprint in Afghanistan by keeping the rescue mission rotating so "That Others May Live."