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Small detachment; big impact

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Holli Nelson
  • 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Sometimes, less is more. That saying is no different for the crews and maintainers of the U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III working on The Rock. This small detachment has a big mission here: theater direct delivery throughout the area of responsibility.

Deployed together from different active duty, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserves units, the members of the 5th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron Aircraft Maintenance Unit and the 385th Air Expeditionary Group Detachment 1 work 24 hours a day, seven days a week to ensure their aircraft can and do perform any mission needed at any time.

"Our aircraft move people, supplies, and equipment throughout the AOR in support of the war effort," said Capt. John Sauceda, 5th EAMS AMU officer in charge. "Our maintainers are directly responsible for ensuring our C-17s are airworthy and able to make their assigned missions."

The pilots and aircrew, with the dedicated help of the maintainers from the 5th EAMS AMU, are able to participate in a wide range of missions all due to the versatility of the C-17.

"We're unique in that the C-17 is so flexible. On the way in, it could be pallets and people, and on the way out it could be mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles, depending on their size and weight," said Lt. Col. Richard Tanner, 385th AEG Det. 1 commander. "We've also had some of our crews diverted in-flight to aeromedical evacuation missions where they fly a patient to Germany from Operation Enduring Freedom locations. What a wonderful testament to the value we place on human life. Those missions and the dignified transfers are very sobering, but they keep us grounded in the fact that the war continues and we have the chance to be part of making a difference in it."

For Senior Airman Jacob Costello, the best part of his job as an aerospace maintenance journeyman with the 5th EAMS AMU is seeing one of the C-17s take off on the runway.
"It's pretty exciting to know I made that happen," said Costello, who is deployed from the 860th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 60th Air Mobility Wing at Travis Air Force Base, California.

The young Airman is utilizing his time here to expand and fine tune his skills in all the specialties of his airframe.

The fast-paced environment of living and working in a deployed location hasn't slowed any of these Airmen down. Their small detachment has maintained the current operations tempo with extraordinary team work, dedication to the mission and ensured that each Airman is the best in each of their specialties said Costello, an Oxford, Pennsylvania native.

"Bottom line, attitude is everything and it's easy to maintain the tempo when you're productive every day. We watch our Airmen closely and give them a break when they get worn down," said Tanner who is deployed from the 305th Operations Support Squadron Joint Base McGuire-Dix Lakenhurst, New Jersey.

Being a part of such a small tenant unit on both the operations and maintenance side has its challenges and also many rewards. The maintainers of the 5th EAMS AMU have built lasting relationships here at The Rock and around the AOR in an effort to overcome the limited capabilities they may face.

"Our troops work very hard to make the mission happen with limited resources, which ultimately leads to ingenuity by having to think 'outside the box' to find solutions--in this sense, we've grown well accustomed to adapting and overcoming," said Sauceda, a Southern California native deployed from March Air Reserve Base, California.

Altogether, these Airmen, from two geographically separated units, work side by side and hand in hand on The Rock to accomplish the mission every day.

"We need every single one of us at 5th EAMS and 385th AEG Det. 1 to accomplish the mission. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to function," Costello noted. "If it weren't for us, combat forces and bases serving in support of Operation Enduring Freedom would not be receiving the support they need and the global airlift capability would not exist. We're a part of something so much bigger than ourselves by being here."