5th EAMS: Accomplishing more with less

Published Dec. 1, 2008
By Staff Sgt. Vincent Borden
386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- The 5th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron is a unit that has learned to live with limitations. Geographically separated in two areas in the Persian Gulf region, the squadron handles the maintenance of C-17 Globemasters and C-5 Galaxies transiting in and out of the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.

The large cargo planes create huge demands for flightline real estate, something the 5th EAMS, even in two locations, does not have much of. But it doesn't seem to slow the squadron operations down at all.

The unit at the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing, for instance, loads more than 4,500 short tons of cargo and 45,000 passengers a month.

First Lt. Kristina McGann, a maintenance officer at the squadron, believes a lot of the 5th EAMS success has to do with the capable Airmen put in charge of coordinating aircraft departures and landings, as well as the enthusiasm of the maintainers who have gotten their individual crafts down to an efficient science.

Lieutenant McGann said those abilities have enabled them to work on any C-17 that lands on the airfield, as well as help coalition force maintainers with their aircraft if they have problems. "It doesn't matter what tail sign it is; tail signs really mean nothing to us. We just work C-17s," Lieutenant McGann said.

The maintenance personnel of the 5th EAMS work 12 hours a day six days a week, rotating days off. The squadron employs the expertise of maintenance personnel school in guidance and control systems, hydraulics, communications and navigation systems, crew chiefs and jet engine mechanics. Both day and night shifts have a crew of about 12 Airmen.

Senior Airman Michael Robinson, a crew chief who said before now has never gotten real experience with C-17 maintenance in the deployed environment, looks at the increased workload as a chance to become more proficient in his maintenance practices. He's looked at the hours as more blessing than burden. And it's paid off.

"Changing tires on the aircraft, we can get it up and down in 30 minutes with two people," said Senior Airman Michael Robinson, a Reservist deployed from McChord Air Force Base, Wash.

Since coming to the 386th AEW, Airman Robinson has helped everything from cargo headed to Iraq and Afghanistan to his brother, an Army medic in the national guard, depart the airfield in the fastest time possible.

The 5th EAMS qualifies as an enroute location; those squadrons that fall under the enroute umbrella facilitate the maintenance of any C-5 or C-17 flying throughout CENTCOM. The maintenance personnel at these locations maintain core proficiency in whatever their primary airframe is, and then branch out and learn other airframes they have the capability of receiving.

Branching out helps the squadrons do more maintenance with fewer personnel.

"At a true enroute that caught C-5s, C-17s, KC-135s and KC-10s, the crew chiefs would be able to work on all four of those jets, but their specialty may be on C-17s," Lieutenant McGann said.

Because of the limited space at the 386th AEW, the 5th EAMS unit located there cannot accommodate any C-5s transiting through the area. That makes its dual-located existence that much more important.

The other 5th EAMS unit is located at the busiest aerial port of debarkation, or APOD, in the CENTCOM AOR, and has fewer maintenance personnel and members than its sister unit at the 386th AEW. But in the day of downsizes and limited manning, the 5th EAMS has learned to work with more than less.

With the limitations of the unit at the 386th AEW to accommodate C-5s , the APOD unit has created a cross-utilization program for C-5 maintainers to become versed enough in C-17 maintenance to be able to fix minor discrepancies with the aircraft.

Success of the cross-utilization is crucial; the squadron's APOD unit usually has a crew of six Airmen working on its day and night shifts. Their ability to work on whatever aircraft hits the tarmac is essential for keeping operations running smoothly.

Tech. Sgt. Robert Wilson Jr. is a prime candidate for the program. He is deployed here from Dover Air Force Base, Del., on what could be called the "holiday tour." During his deployment, he will miss Thanksgiving and Christmas, New Years and Valentine's Day. But Sergeant Wilson, a jet engine mechanic by trade, has taken the lead in facilitating maintenance on aircraft passing through on those days to other locations throughout CENTCOM, a spot normally reserved for crew chiefs. And that's enough for him to celebrate.

Sergeant Wilson said his duties here, which require maintenance coordination for the labor intensive C-5 and the more repair friendly C-17, has similarities to his work back at Dover Air Force Base in the Isochronal Inspection Shop. There, he works 12 hour days with the same crew of Airmen day in and day out, and the difference between completing inspections on time depends a lot on keeping his troops motivated, as well as the aircraft maintenance scheduling.

He focuses on those same things here. Motivation is key, whether one or two aircraft land or whether 10 come in the first half of their shifts. The challenge can be formidable, but it's something that Sergeant Wilson enjoys. It feeds his passion for fixing things.

"Ever since I was a little kid, I've always been mechanically inclined," Sergeant Wilson said. "My mother would buy me toys, and I would take them apart and try to put them back together. And there are a lot of little pieces that come together and have to be coordinated for this job.

"So you have to have a passion for what you do," said Sergeant Wilson. "My job is to keep the planes in the air; to fix them as quick as possible the first time, safely and by the book. For me, seeing the plane in the air is my reward."