EMXS Day in the Shoes
Staff Sgt. Aaron Ridenour (left), 379th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron conventional maintenance crew chief, and Airman 1st Class Andrew Finch, 379th EMXS conventional maintenance crew member, guide a munition into position in preparation for the installation of a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) kit Oct. 12, 2011, at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia. The JDAM is a guidance tail kit that converts existing unguided free-fall bombs into accurate, adverse weather "smart" munitions. With the addition of a new tail section that contains an inertial navigational system and a global positioning system guidance control unit, JDAM improves the accuracy of unguided, general purpose bombs in any weather condition. JDAM is a joint U.S. Air Force and Department of Navy program. Ridenour, a native of Battle Creek, Mich., and Finch, a native of Fresno, Calif., are deployed from Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Paul Labbe)