Rock Solid Warrior Published March 19, 2010 SOUTHWEST ASIA -- This week's 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Rock Solid Warrior comes from the 386th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. Name: Airman 1st Class Jack J. Okon Unit: 386th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Duty title: EC-130E/H aircraft hydraulics journeyman Home unit/base: 755th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. How do you support the mission here? It is my responsibility to inspect, troubleshoot, repair and maintain highly modified EC-130H aircraft valued at $65 million each in support of priority U.S. Air Force missions. One of the challenges of hydraulic systems maintenance is that almost all of our write-ups cause the aircraft to be grounded, making it imperative that I do my job right the first time and keep our missions on schedule. How many times have you deployed and what makes this one unique? This is my first deployment. It's amazing to me that all of the preparation and training finally has me ready for any hydraulic problem this aircraft can throw at me. From tech school to maintaining aircraft at home station, I never really understood how important what I did was until I came here. How does your job differ in a deployed environment vs. home base? Home station is more focused on training personnel and preparing our aircraft to come here. I have a lot more opportunities here to learn about other career fields and assist them with their jobs; however, the biggest difference for me is knowing that if the aircraft breaks and doesn't fly there are peoples' lives at stake. At times it can be intimidating, but it really is rewarding to know that I am making a difference.