Dover puts the M in retrograde

by Roland Balik
436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

12/16/2014 - DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- Keeping the gigantic C-5M Super Galaxy mission going at home station is challenging, and for Dover's deployed C-5Ms supporting the Afghanistan retrograde mission, there were some unique challenges for the deployed C-5M maintainers.

Beginning in August, a 10-person C-5M maintenance team from the 436th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Dover AFB has been a part of the 5th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron supporting C-5M aircraft transiting through a staging location in Southwest Asia in support of the retrograde mission.

Other than what they brought with them, maintainers found themselves with limited maintenance resources and tools. They encountered language barriers and procurement issues of specific items from local vendors needed to support the Super Galaxy and C-5 legacy aircraft, all challenges that come with working in a deployed location.

"In mid-August, I was tasked to stand up a maintenance team as maintenance officer in charge at the staging location," said 1st Lt. Kyle Ives, 436th Maintenance Squadron accessory flight commander. "The 5th EAMS has two other locations located in the area of responsibility."

The Dover maintenance team's primary duty was to work on C-5Ms, but assisted with maintenance on C-5A and B models as well.

"The 5th EAMS already had a maintenance team from Travis Air Force Base, California, mainly to work on C-5A and B models and perform some M model maintenance," said Ives. "Our job was to augment their maintenance capabilities for the C-5M."

According to Ives, about six Super Galaxies assigned to Dover AFB were used for retrograde missions on a rotational basis of two to three C-5Ms in theater at any one time.

"One of the biggest challenges we had was defueling," said Ives. "On September 25, 2014, we had a C-5M that required defueling so it could be put on jacks to do gear swings."

A defuel had never been accomplished in that location by the fuel contractor that typically only performs refuels for the military aircraft transiting through the staging location. Coordination, planning and working out specific details were made to make the defueling a success.

"A day later we got our first defuel, the first of two," said Ives. "Three days later we got the second one done. Both defuels were based on opportunities such as having an empty fuel truck and no other priorities."

Another challenge posed to Team Dover maintainers was the procurement of specific consumables used by C-5 aircraft, such as liquid oxygen and nitrogen needed to service the aircraft.

Not having the same availability of tools, equipment, supplies and manpower as home station requires the leadership and knowledge of an experienced aircraft production supervisor.

"This C-5M stage is very unique from a maintenance perspective," said Master Sgt. Willie Davis Jr., 5th EAMS production superintendent. He went on to say that flying aircraft from a staging location forced the maintainers to be creative in coordinating resources that are, for the most part, readily available at home station.

Being deployed as part of a small maintenance team added additional challenges to the team.

"The most challenging part about turning the aircraft was stepping out of the normal skill set we are trained with and trying to learn more about other career fields in order to be a better team member," said Staff Sgt Christopher Figueroa, 5th EAMS electrical environmental systems craftsman. "Doing that enabled us to quickly turn the aircraft in order to avoid delays."

For one maintainer looking into the future, this deployment led to personal growth, too.

"I would like to be more proficient in my leadership skills," said Senior Airman Kyle King, 5th EAMS hydraulic journeyman. "I realize as a Senior Airman pursuing Staff Sgt., my leadership roles will become more essential to mission success."

Even the most experienced person of the Team Dover C-5M maintainers realized certain personal characteristics are essential to keep the retrograde mission on schedule and eventually to its success.

"As a production supervisor, I feel that having strong leadership ability is the greatest key to success," said Davis. "However, having extensive maintenance knowledge allows me to stress [to Airmen] safety and technical data usage which are the most valuable tools to keeping the aircraft moving during the retrograde."

When the Afghanistan retrograde mission is complete, Team Dover members who deployed supporting the retrograde will be able to look back at the airlift statistics and be proud of what they accomplished.

"The retrograde mission has definitely made me more aware of the global reach and airlift mission we are supporting," said King. "Being at a forward staging location, it is easy to see the direct impact of what we do each and every day."