Cut Training keeps maintenance mission moving

By Staff Sgt. Joshua Turner, 354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs / Published October 13, 2015

EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska (AFNS) -- The 354th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron has created a program called Cut Training to train Airmen from different maintenance career fields to perform crew chief tasks and keep the mission going.

Senior Airman Terrence Lawrence, a 354th AMXS aircraft electrical and environmental systems journeyman, was the first Airman to complete the program.

"I was cross utilized because crew chiefs are 50 percent (manned)," Lawrence said.

Lawrence is fully certified on refueling, launch and recovery, turnover, preflights and through flights along with almost all crew chief tasks.

"It's a little stressful when I actually launch the aircraft myself because if I mess up one thing the jet can't launch," Lawrence said, "so I have to make sure to check everything correctly."

Trained in two fields, Lawrence has become an added resource for his unit.

"The program is used to help elevate the current manning issue," said Tech. Sgt. Neske, the 354th AMXS section chief. "Lawrence was the first Airman chosen because he proved himself as one of the best electrical and environmental systems maintainer(s)."

With the knowledge of his original career field, if Lawrence -- as a crew chief -- notices an environmental or electrical issue while launching, it can be fixed on the spot.

"The best part is, I can be versatile for my entire flight," he said. "I can launch an aircraft and if a red ball comes in, I can catch it at the same time."

Red ball is a term used when an aircraft is about to launch and the crew chief finds something wrong. If possible, the crew chief fixes the issue immediately to ensure the mission can continue.

With additional knowledge from the training program, Lawrence gained more responsibilities and a new outlook on his career and future.

"I honestly wasn't always the best Airman," Lawrence said. "Now that I've changed my attitude about my job and how things work here, I'm trying a lot harder. It feels good to be recognized and feel a little bit more needed. It's great working hard, becoming a good Airman and being needed at my job; it's a world of difference."

Munitions Airmen blow doors off Red Flag

by Airman 1st Class Kyle Johnson
JBER Public Affairs

8/24/2015 - EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska -- A unique aspect of Eielson is  it only really has two seasons - RED FLAG-Alaska season, and RF-A preparation season.

The Airmen at the 354th Maintenance Squadron's munitions flight know this very well.

"We support the 18th Aggressor Squadron with countermeasures and training missives," said Master Sgt. Rick Hedrick, the 354th MXS munitions flight materiel superintendent. "We ensure they are good to go for their training combat hours and maintain their qualifications, so when RED FLAG season comes around, they're ready to rock and roll."

To that end, the munitions flight has five operating locations where its Airmen actively build and inspect munitions and then store them in earth-covered igloos, which are large bunkers covered by earth that are isolated from the rest of the base.

"In general, we assemble chaff and flare, stuff it in modules, deliver it to the 18th Aggressors and process their expenditures," said Staff Sgt. Eleanor Coan, a 354th MXS munitions systems crew chief currently assigned to the chaff-and-flare operating location.

Every explosive munition Airmen work with is dangerous and must be handled with proper care.

"Flare is probably the most dangerous thing we have. It's electrically initiated, so static electricity could set it off," Coan said. "Once a little electricity hits the primer on it, it fires off a spark on the inside which pushes the flare and everything out, with enough force to launch it out of the aircraft and into the airstream. It's very beautiful and very, very hot."

To prevent static discharge, Airmen working on the flares must wear wristbands that ground them to some form of metal while they work.

They also cannot wear any cotton clothes, such as the waffle-top undershirt, as they generate more static electricity.

"Safety is our top priority," Coan said.

Risks like this become all the more prevalent when RF-A starts and new units begin to use the operating locations with the 354th munitions flight.

That risk is compounded by foreign military partners who sometimes use different names for the same equipment and  there's often a language barrier, Coan said.

When RF-A gets underway, more than 1,000 extra personnel arrive with their own munitions and aircraft.

"We're responsible for the support and bed-down of all the units that come in, so basically we absorb them into our unit," Hedrick said. "Right now, we have five units we are working with. We bring them in and integrate them into our operations. They work as a team together to build each other's munitions and we provide the oversight, support and equipment."

During this time, the extra units all share the munitions flight facilities for their own munitions operations.

"We basically help them take custody of their assets and process each time they fire something off," Coan said.

During RF-A season, munitions Airmen join many other units at Eielson burning the midnight oil, working 24-hour operations in a three-shift system.

The other units on temporary duty at Eielson also need to pull such shifts in order to keep up with their own munitions demands, and it is the job of the munitions control facility to determine who is going where to build what, Hedrick said.

"The melding together of all personnel is on us," Hedrick explained. "Depending on what they are requesting to drop munitions-wise, each unit is responsible for bringing their supporting personnel according to their allocation. The more they want to drop, the more personnel they are required to bring to support their mission operations."

Depending on which operation facility munitions Airmen may be assigned, they could have little with the visiting units - or they may be working extensively with them.

"The [South Korean] airmen were here last week building GBU-10s and we walked them through the whole process," said Senior Airman Justin Ponder, a 354th MXS munitions flight munitions systems journeyman.

Sometimes, they all pitch in.

"If multiple units, including foreign units, are flying the same type of chaff or flare as us, we'll just take a couple of people form each unit and do a massive build. This is what they all pull from," Coan said. "They each have their own expenditure limits and allocations, so we don't give them more than each unit is allotted."

One of the objectives of RF-A is to increase interoperability between allied forces to create a stronger, more unified force.

That mission reaches beyond the skies and is evident in ground-level missions like this one.

"We've got five units that all want to do different things at the same spot, so having to that, and overcome those language barriers with the foreign units can be challenging," Hedrick said. "We are always able to the mission and get it done."

Air Force removes nuclear excess from Alaska

by Susan A. Romano
AFTAC Public Affairs

8/3/2015 - EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska  -- The Air Force Technical Applications Center, headquartered at Patrick AFB, Fla., removed excess nuclear material from one of the center's seismic arrays on Burnt Mountain, Alaska, and transferred it to a repository at the Nevada National Security Site after nearly 15 years of inoperability.

Ten radioisotope thermoelectric generators, or RTGs, were used as a power source by AFTAC at its array 60 miles north of the Arctic Circle.  Originally placed on Burnt Mountain in 1973, the first RTG was installed to power a single seismometer.  Twelve years later, due to the increase in communications equipment and demand for additional power, nine more RTGs were placed at the site.

For the next 17 years, the RTGs were operated and maintained by AFTAC's Detachment 460 based at Eielson AFB near Fairbanks, and were used because of their high reliability and low maintenance requirements to determine if regional seismic activity was caused by nuclear explosions or naturally-occurring events such as earthquakes, mining explosions, volcanic activity, etc.  AFTAC's primary mission is to verify compliance with nuclear test ban treaties.

But in 1992, a tundra fire encroached on the Burnt Mountain site and damaged some of the data cables.  Despite the fact the fire did not impact the generators themselves, it raised public concern among nearby inhabitants about the safety of using radioactive material as a power source at the station.

The Air Force, in coordination with multiple agencies and mission partners, made the decision to remove the RTGs and relocate them to NNSS.  By regulation, radioactive material determined to be excess must be moved to a facility with a mission, capability and authorization to support long-term storage or recycling of the material.   NNSS fits that bill.

Each thermoelectric generator contains between one to three pounds of a radioactive material called strontium-90.  The material is about the size of a hockey puck and is securely contained in a vessel with an inner shield made of tungsten inner and a cast iron protective housing, weighing approximately 4,000 pounds.

After two years of planning and a dry run in the summer of 2013, relocation operations began July 14 and were based out of Eielson AFB.  Personnel from AFTAC's Florida headquarters, Alaska's Det 460, the Air Force Inspection Agency, the Air Force Radioisotope Committee, Air Force Radiological Disposal, Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Sandia National Laboratories formed the cadre that ferried the RTGs from Burnt Mountain to Eielson via U.S. Army helicopters based at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks.

Each day, two CH-47 Chinook helicopters transported the crew from Wainwright to Burnt Mountain.  The chinooks were chosen because of their heavy lift capabilities.  A single CH-47 is able to transport 33 troops and their gear, or three pallets of cargo, or a single sling load, or a combination of the three up to 26,000 pounds.

The 10 RTGs were located at five different sites within four miles of each other. Much of the terrain was rocky, pitched and covered in heavy brush, making movement somewhat challenging.  At two of the sites, the crew had to lay several yards of modular interlocking surfacing to help shore up the ground as the RTGs were transferred to the helicopters.

"One of the toughest aspects of this entire operation was working in the rugged terrain amidst challenging Alaska weather," said Scott Lattimer, project manager for the relocation. "Those things, coupled with I-track set-up, tear-down and transport made several of the days a bit demanding."

Once the generators were loaded on the helos and secured for transport, the cadre returned to Eielson, where the RTGs were temporarily stored until all 10 could be relocated to Nevada.

On day three of the operation, the crew hit a significant snag when one of the Det 460 members, who was driving a 6-wheel utility vehicle, became impaled on a 29-inch long, three-quarter-inch thick branch.  The branch speared the staff sergeant deeply in his upper thigh as he drove over extremely rugged terrain in very poor weather conditions.  The extent of his injury required him to be medically evacuated via one of the two available Chinooks to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital.  (Editor's Note:  Surgeons successfully removed the impalement and the Airman is on the road to recovery; he was released from the hospital within days and was present in the hangar when the final RTGs landed at Eielson.)

"The doctors from Fairbanks said the crew did a phenomenal job stabilizing the patient," said Joy Morris, AFTAC's radiation safety officer.  "They were really impressed with their on-scene first aid actions and the fact that the responders had the wherewithal to not remove the impalement from the injured NCO, while simultaneously keeping him calm."

After hurdling the safety incident, the mission continued.  Army Staff Sgt. Matthew Patterson was the senior flight engineer from B Company, 1-52 Aviation Brigade at Ft. Wainwright.  As the eyes and ears in the rear of the aircraft, he was responsible for providing the muscle that handled and oversaw the sensitive cargo, ensured the safety of the passengers and served as the vital communications link to the pilot.  This transport was Patterson's first with radiologic material.

"I've flown to Burnt Mountain a handful of times, but this mission required a lot more training and awareness around the nuclear materials," he said.  "Our biggest challenge wasn't necessarily the cargo or the many moving parts; the weather became the predominant issue we had to overcome.  That, and the very rugged terrain at some of the mountain sites."

When the helos returned to Eielson each day, the pallets were quickly downloaded with fork lifts operated by the 354th Logistics Readiness Squadron.

Tech. Sgt. Rebecca Morin, 354th LRS noncommissioned officer in charge of air terminal operations, was impressed with the organization and fluidity of the RTG removal.

"Out of all the operations I've been a part of during my career, this is one of the best I've ever seen," said Morin.  "It was obvious that a lot of solid planning went into this mission.  We had a few communications obstacles at first, but with so many hands and agencies in the mix, you kind of prepare yourself for that and overcome it as quickly possible to get the job done."

She added, "This was the first time my team and I have worked around nuclear materials.  I'm proud of the hard work by Tech. Sgt. (Brian) Ashton, Staff Sgt. (Rebecca) Bartlett and Staff Sgt. (Michael) Berglin.  Teamwork is definitely the number one key to mission success."

Once all the RTGs were recovered and shuttled to Eielson, a C-17 Globemaster III was dispatched to the base for transport from Alaska to Nevada.

Gradually, each pallet carrying one RTG was forklifted onto a K-loader - a heavy equipment transporter capable of offloading/onloading equipment from military aircraft -- until all 10 were safely strapped down into the Globemaster. The C-17, which was based out of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, then flew to Creech AFB, Nevada, northwest of Las Vegas.

The RTGs were loaded onto ground vehicles and driven to NNSS, where they were accepted by personnel from the Department of Energy for official disposal at NNSS.

"This was, from start to finish, a 100 percent team effort," said Col. Jonathan VanNoord, on-site commander and AFTAC's Director of Operations. "To move the largest non-weapons grade nuclear material in the Air Force inventory was an incredibly intricate and complicated mission, requiring detailed planning and precise mission execution. Despite Staff Sgt. (Richard) Northey's unfortunate accident and some weather challenges in Alaska, the mission was a complete success and everyone who participated in the RTG transfer should be extremely proud of the role they played."