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380AEW Article

380th EMXS flight fabricates equipment for mission

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Amanda Savannah
  • 380th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Not everything broken has to be replaced. Sometimes it can be re-made.

Members of the 380th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron fabrication flight repair or create parts for just about anything the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing needs every day.

"We're in the business of making things," said Master Sgt. Kevin Payne, 380th EMXS fabrication flight NCO in charge. "We work on not only aircraft but support equipment as well."

Payne said the fabrication flight can repair or manufacture parts when it is allowed by maintenance technical orders. This saves the Air Force time and money in having to purchase and wait for replacement parts.

"If we couldn't do that, they'd have to procure a new part," said Payne, an Owensboro, Ky., native deployed from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. "Something as simple as (an aircraft) light (fixture) could take two, three weeks just to get in.

"That aircraft is going to be down all those days just waiting on a little light. We can fix that here on station."

The fabrication flight includes three shops to break up the work. They include the metals technology shop, which is also called the machine shop; the aircraft structural maintenance shop, also called sheet metal; and the non-destructive inspection shop, or NDI.

Tech. Sgt. Catherine Van Hyning is a sheet metal specialist and 380th EMXS fabrication flight shop lead. She said the sheet metal technicians repair any aircraft's "skin" structure, as well as perform the painting and corrosion protection for the aircraft.

"If there's any damage on the aircraft, typically we are the ones that can repair it," said Van Hyning, a Castleton, Vt., native deployed from Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England. "We also do full paints on aircraft."

Staff Sgt. Rachel Merriman, 380th EMXS fabrication flight NDI lead, said her section is responsible for preventative maintenance.

"We inspect (and) check for any type of cracks (or) dis-bonds in the aircraft," said Merriman, a Yuma, Ariz., native from RAF Lakenheath. "We also X-ray the aircraft to look internally for any type of damage, missing components or things that shouldn't be in there."

Staff Sgt. Raymond Gomez, 380th EMXS fabrication flight metals technology NCO in charge, said his section is responsible for the fabrication flight's machines and welding.

"We take a piece of metal and make it to the part (needed) for the aircraft or support equipment," said Gomez, a New York City native also deployed from RAF Lakenheath. "We also weld a lot of support equipment (and) some aircraft parts if they have a crack or they can't procure a part."

Payne said the new rotation's team hit the ground running.

"We have a great group of people," he said. "They're doing the job (and) they're doing it every day. They do a bunch of good things (and) save a bunch of money."

Merriman said she enjoys working with everyone across the 380th AEW.

"We pretty much encompass everyone," she said. "I like that because then you can network with different people in their different jobs."

Gomez likes the creativity his job provides.

"We can make stuff out of nothing," he said. "You have a chunk of metal -- we can turn it into a part that's going to be serviceable to aircraft or for support equipment."

Van Hysing said she enjoys knowing how important repairing or replacing parts is to the mission.

"You get to actually see your contribution," she said. "An aircraft can fly or not fly depending upon the job that you're doing. It's nice to know that you actually play a part in the bigger picture."