AL UDEID AIR BASE, QATAR --
Quick access
to spare engines, batteries, C-130 wheels or just an O-ring on a gas gauge could
save time, money, and maybe even lives downrange. The Consolidated Aircraft
Part Store is where more than 18 thousand sorties per year gain their support.
Having more
than 390 thousand items in stock daily makes the airmen of the 379th
Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron consolidated aircraft parts store valuable
assets on the Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar flight line. They are crucial to storing
and issuing parts to maintain six different airframes, to include the KC-135
Stratotanker, C-130 Hercules, and the B-1 Bomber.
“We validate
everything daily that is in the warehouse to ensure nothing is missing and serviceable;
all the documents that go to our customers are pulled and verified. We also do
location checks on specific parts customers call for,” said Staff Sgt. Alan
Nadal, 379th ELRS.
Ensuring
that the correct parts are available is vital to the CAPS team. Their facility
is manned 24 hours a day seven days a week managing $138 million dollars of
aircraft parts and supplies. Their stockage effectiveness rate is at 89 percent
with an issue field rate of 93 percent.
Nadal said
these numbers aren’t bad and are getting better, considering the hundreds of
aircraft that launch in and out of the base. He also mentioned the great team
of airmen he has to complete the day to day operations.
“The CAPS
shop separates tasks throughout the warehouse to work effectively from pulling
parts, consolidating benched stocks; parts that have either meet their shelf
life or unserviceable, also shipping parts to other bases in the AOR and first-hand
customer support here on station to our maintainers,” said Nadal. “But coming
in everyday and working with these airmen is the best part and makes this
deployment a great experience.”
With a rise
in operations tempo and the amount of airpower supporting our allies, it is
positive reassurance knowing that there is a place open 24/7 that will keep our
aircraft flying, ground equipment working, cargo delivered, patients
transported and the mission rocking.