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Busiest PMEL team in the Air Force moves to enduring facility

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Kia Atkins
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar --  The only expeditionary Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory Centralized Intermediate Repair Facility in Air Forces Central Command is preparing for a move that will support the enduring trajectory of its mission.

The 379th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron PMEL shop here is responsible for performing and managing repair, calibration and modification of test, measurement and diagnostic equipment support for over 260 work-centers, across 14 bases, in nine different countries.

The PMEL team currently conducts operations from a facility that was designed to support expeditionary operations; however, because of the now enduring nature of its mission, the unit will be moving to a new, more reliable, facility that was designed for enduring operations before March 2015.

“The new facility will help us increase our capabilities because it will have more space and more calibration tools or standards as we call them,” said Senior Airman Jeffrey Tyler, 379th EMXS PMEL technician, deployed from Ramstein Air Base, Germany. “Right now we lateral support about ten percent of our equipment because we don’t have the capability to calibrate those items here, so we have to send them to other bases such as Ramstein.” He added, "At the new facilitiy, we can calibrate more items, resulting in faster turnaround times for our customers.”

The PMEL shop has an inventory of more than 13,000 Test Measurement and Diagnostic Equipment items, and performs over 1,000 calibrations a month, making it the busiest PMEL shop in the Air Force. The new facility will double the calibration area and provide a more stable environment for the PMEL team, which will allow them an increased measurement capability.

In preparation for their move, the PMEL team is asking their customers to send or bring in more than 1,800 TMDE items from now through Feb. 1, 2015.

“This move will affect everyone in the AOR [area of responsibility], so we’ve started taking in more items early to prevent any work stoppage,” said Tyler, “When the move happens there shouldn’t be a lot of items waiting on us, which will give the next rotation more time to settle in and adjust to the new facility.”

PMEL Airmen here receive and ship anywhere from ten to 20 packages a day, containing anywhere between 20 to 40 TMDE items from all over the U.S. Central Command’s AOR. The 379th EMXS PMEL shop has achieved an average of a one-day turnaround and 97.3 percent equipment availability rate on all items that come through their shop.

“My mission here is to calibrate equipment and make sure it is all working the way it should for maintenance and communication [379th Expeditionary Communications Squadron] Airmen, and pretty much everyone else on base,” said Senior Airman Nathaniel Bruce, 379th EMXS TMDE technician deployed here from Travis Air Force Base, Calif. “We have to ensure their equipment works correctly so that they can get their missions done to the best of their abilities.”

Not only do PMEL Airmen manage all of the items entering and leaving their shop, they also have to maintain minimum levels of dust, lighting and vibration, as well as, ensuring precise tolerances of the power and voltage coming out of the walls. This also includes maintaining the correct temperature and humidity in the calibration area.

The equipment calibrated by Airmen in the 379th EMXS PMEL shop is used all over the AOR and has supported several operations, to include Operations Enduring Freedom and Inherent Resolve.

“Almost every item that comes through here is used for missions in support of operations around the AOR,” Bruce said. “No matter what operations arise out here, we will always be doing what we can to ensure that all of our customers have the equipment they need to get their job done and get it done right.”