Aircraft structural maintenance shop keeps 3rd Wing in the fight

by Airman Ty-Rico Lea
JBER Public Affairs

4/18/2013 - JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARSON, Alaska -- With the Air Force's current sequestration and budget cuts, everyone has their role to play to save the Air Force money. One organization doing their part to limit Air Force operational costs while still maintaining the highest possible quality standards is the 3rd Maintenance Squadron's Aircraft Structural Maintenance Shop.

Aircraft structural maintenance personnel are tasked with restoring the structural integrity of aircraft. This duty requires the use of materials such as titanium, aluminum, steel, carbon-fiber or any other materiel that provides aircraft with refurbished environmental or structural protection.

"Our job is important, because it repairs the structural grade of the aircraft and keeps the aircraft in the air," said Senior Airman Jeremy Robinson, an aircraft structural maintenance journeyman with the 3rd MXS. "Our job could vary from removing screws to rebuilding doors."

Robinson's job starts by first assessing damage on an aircraft to determine what type of repair is needed; he then transports the aircraft to a hanger where the repair crews work night and day to return the plane to the skies above JBER and throughout the world.
According to Robinson, this line of work is considered by most a way of "going green" when it comes to manufacturing materials for aircraft, since the shop puts an emphasis on using recycled metals. Not only does this process save the Air Force a considerable amount of money, but it also encourages other shops to do the same when it comes to utilizing resources.

"Our technicians here are trained to fix aircraft at the field level so as not to cost the Air Force too much money to have the material sent to another base," said Janny Dunlavey, a 3rd MXS aircraft structural maintenance craftsman civilian. "We're lucky enough to have the people we do here to share their knowledge and ideas on better ways to tackle refurbishing jobs."

Personnel also repaint the aircraft's exterior as to avoid further damage being done to exposed sheet metal. Rather than contracting with a private organization, members simply gather the necessary materials and handle the job themselves.

"When people think of sheet metal, they normally think of nut-plates, rivets and any other material associated with an aircraft's outer hull," Dunlavey said. "We as aircraft structural maintenance personnel are charged with the tasks of restoring the body of an aircraft to its original state."

Due to the unpredictability of damage to an aircraft, the sheet metal repair shop Airmen must constantly adapt to repair challenges, said Steven Johns, 3rd MXS aircraft structural maintenance foreman. They pride themselves in being able to manufacture a repair from scratch if it's within their capabilities and limitations.

"In our job, we use technical orders, which tell us what we can repair and what we can't based off of damage limitations and structural criteria," Johns said.

"When we have damage that is beyond repair limitations and parts are unavailable or not cost productive, we do a request for engineering disposition instructions," Johns said. "Basically, we will develop a repair or locally manufacture the part based off of our capabilities and experience and expertise in the field."

The REDI process asks the aircraft manufacturer for authorization to make or repair the part. Around 35 application requests are pushed forward each year and saves the Air Force a great sum of money in replacement costs.

Some pieces that cannot be created or repaired using REDI are transported to Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, Ga. Robins is the Air Force-owned major repair center and is just one of the major repair facilities that specializing in replacing heavily damaged aircraft material.

Due to the high-mission tempo rate at JBER, the pressure is always on the aircraft structural maintenance shop Airmen to get the repairs done as soon as possible, but it's a challenge they welcome.

"The highlight of my job is knowing the 3rd Wing's mission is a success when I see those aircraft take off up into the air," Robinson said. "At the end of the day, we put those planes back in the sky and we saved the Air Force money in the process."