An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

New concrete pad opens for flightline maintenance

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Vincent Borden
  • 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Aircraft mechanics will see an improved boost in the number of places they'll be able to perform maintenance outdoors on the flightline. A concrete maintenance pad is scheduled to be ready for use on Sept. 15 at the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing.

The concrete pad will open for maintenance operations after nearly two months of construction, including acquiring the supplies, performing the cement work and curing. The project is part of a collaborative effort by the 386th Civil Engineer Squadron and the 386th Expeditionary Maintenance Group to install additional maintenance areas on the flightline for aircraft maintainers who may have to wait on access to a hanger to perform it otherwise.

According to Senior Master Sgt. Raymond Yurista, 386th ECES, the maintenance pads were originally requested in January.

"Eventually we ended up starting things off," Sergeant Yurista said. "We had a lot of help from other Airman around the squadron, including the Structures section and Heating, Ventilation and Cooling, who helped us lay the concrete."

The maintenance pads are an improvement over the asphalt parking spots the planes normally sit on the flightline. Due to the high temperatures on the base and the local area, problems, such as aircraft jacks sinking into the asphalt, can cause unexpected difficulties for maintainers.

"Asphalt also reacts to hydraulic fluid and engine oil and heats it up pretty easily," said Senior Master Sgt. Gary Dube, 386th Expeditionary Maintenance Group quality assurance." Once it gets on the asphalt after a full leak or after an engine change, these fluids will eat into the asphalt and start breaking it up, and then you have the potential for FOD."

"Concrete is more resistant to hydraulic fluid and oil. It's better for overall maintenance wear and tear," Sergeant Dube said.

The 386th AEW flightline has over four pads already available for use when maintaining C-130 aircraft, but as U.S. Central Command's premier aerial hub, the more options maintainers have for places to perform maintenance, the better equipped they are to keep the mission going, especially in times of increased operations tempo.

According to Senior Master Sgt. Scott Wagner, 386th ECES, the squadron is expected to conduct more maintenance pad construction in the future.

Because of the relatively quick turnaround time of the construction of the pads, the total number will be dictated by flightline operation needs.