Rock Solid Warrior - Staff Sgt. Michael Williams

Published July 13, 2012
386th Air Expeditionary Wing

SOUTHWEST ASIA --
Rank/First & Last Name: Staff Sgt. Michael Williams

Deployed Unit: 386th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron/MXMFN

Duty Title: Nondestructive Inspection Craftsman

Home unit/station: 19th Equipment Maintenance Squadron - Little Rock AFB, Ark.

Family's military heritage? My two grandfathers were both in WWII. One was in the Army and the other in the Navy. Also, my uncle is retired Army and my cousin was in the Army for six years.

What is your mission here? My primary mission here is to perform nondestructive inspections on C-130s, HH-60s, MQ-1s, C-17s, aerospace ground equipment, and all hooks and slings for the 386th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron and the 386th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron. The purpose is to look for structural fatigue to avert catastrophic failure of components. My secondary mission is as a Quality Assurance Augmentee. I perform evaluations on the job skills of other airmen in my career field. In my tertiary mission, I'm integrated into the Sortie Support section. Some of the duties include; issuing tools and equipment for flightline maintenance, performing inspections utilizing guidance integrated from Air Force Instructions, Local Operating instructions, and technical data. Lastly, I perform tiger team duties on Air Force Programs to meet all standards and criteria within the Fuels, Sortie Support, Environmental Engineering, and Nondestructive Inspection career fields.

What are some of the best parts of your mission? The best part of my mission is going home every day with a great sense of accomplishment. Performing so many random tasks can be stressful at times, but I enjoy knowing what I've done at the end of the day will help the future rotations to come.

What are some of the challenges you face while conducting your mission, and how do you overcome them? One of the challenges I face is what types of defects I'll have to inspect on aircraft. There are never two defects exactly the same, so it's a challenge sometimes. But with the equipment available to me, I can always say I perform a precise inspection with guaranteed results. On the Sortie Support side, it's sometimes difficult. Since my primary job is in a flightline back shop section, I'm not familiar with all the tools and inspections that are used for flightline maintenance. There are a lot of standards and requirements and it's been a difficult learning curve. You could almost say it's like asking a cook to fix an airplane. Having no prior experience can be problematic at times. But as you read the regulations, learn the tools, and learn how to use the computers systems, you eventually learn enough to get by and perform your duties to meet standards.

How does your job differ in a deployed environment vs. home base? My home base job is very different in the aspect that I only perform nondestructive inspections. In addition, we have greater capabilities at home station than in the AOR. For example, at home station I perform all the nondestructive inspections that I perform here, but I also perform X-rays, ISO work cards, and inspect aircraft and backshop parts for Air Mobility Command, Air National Guard and Air Education and Training Command.

How many times have you deployed? I have deployed six times and have worked on HH-60s, A-10s, F-16s, C-17s, C-5s, B1s, U2s, F-15s, C-130s, KC135s, J-stars, U.S. Customs helicopters, and back-shop equipment.

What makes this deployment unique? This deployment is unique because it's many jobs in one. Also, the living conditions are the best of all my deployments and I work with a great crew of personnel. No matter how stressful things can get sometimes, we always make it happen.

Why did you join the Air Force? Initially, I joined as a way to pay for college. I also wanted to see the world, experience life as an Airman, and do my part to defend our country. As time went on, I began to love my job and decided it was a career choice for me. No other job can give you the rewarding feeling that you are the one protecting the United States, learning a great job, and going home every day knowing you accomplished a great task no matter how large or how small.