62nd Maintenance Operations Squadron deactivates

by Staff Sgt. Frances Kriss
62nd Airlift Wing Public Affairs

5/16/2013 - JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- The 62nd Maintenance Operations Squadron was deactivated here May 13 as part of an Air Force-wide restructuring initiative to better allocate company and field grade officers to needed positions.

"Simply put, there are not enough FGOs to fill major billets throughout the Air Force," said Maj. Clinton Varty, the former MOS commander. "There are captains filling major positions and majors filling lieutenant colonel positions. The deactivation will free up approximately 50 majors to do needed jobs in the Air Force."

Varty also said that while the changes may mean additional time before officers assume a command position, it will ultimately benefit them.

"This will better prepare our officers before taking command because they can focus on career development," he added. "In addition, it will make squadron command opportunities more competitive."

With the deactivation, Varty is slated to become the 62nd Maintenance Squadron commander. The Airmen formerly assigned under the MOS now become part of the 62nd Maintenance Group's Maintenance Operations Section.

"Within the first month of taking command last year, we found out about the deactivation, so we spent the year planning," said Varty. "It then became my priority to prepare and educate our Airmen to make sure they understood what was happening and why. All of our Airmen will still do the same job and continue to do great work, but it will just be a different organizational structure."

The Maintenance Operations Section will be commanded by a company grade officer on "G-series" orders, which gives him or her command authority.

"I will act as the 'commander' of the maintenance operations Airmen," said Capt. Benjamin Chapman, 62nd MXG maintenance operations officer in charge. "This means I will take care of any administrative or punitive actions such as reviewing performance reports, granting permissive leave, and authorizing nonjudicial or UCMJ (Uniformed Code of Military Justice) punishments."

Other changes, as a result of the organizational restructure, include duty titles, personal accounting symbol codes, enlisted and officer performance cut-off dates, etc.

The 62nd MOS traces its roots back to World War II, and was originally constituted as the 62nd Station Complement Squadron May 15, 1943 at Walterboro Army Air Field, S.C. After being assigned to five different locations in England and France during World War II, it was disbanded April 25, 1945.

The squadron was reconstituted and redesignated as the 62nd Logistics Support Squadron December 1, 1991, and became the 62nd MOS Oct. 1, 2002.

The 62nd MOS has a history of notable achievements, including earning the Air Force Meritorious Unit Award for the period Sept. 11, 2001 through Sept. 10, 2003, as well as the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award eight times since 1996. Additionally, the squadron was awarded the 2002 Air Force Maintenance Effectiveness Award and 2005 Air Mobility Command Maintenance Effectiveness Award.

"It's been an honor to be the last commander for the 62nd MOS," said Varty. "It's been an amazing time and I couldn't be more proud to be part of the squadron during its last year."