LO Airmen highly observable

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Solomon Cook
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

As Tyndall continues its mission of training and projecting unrivaled air power, there is a section responsible for ensuring F-22 Raptors remain at the highest level of survivability and lethality against air-to-air and surface-to-air threats.

The 325th Maintenance Squadron low observable section recently received the wing innovator award. This award is presented to a unit by the 325th Fighter Wing for innovative actions or processes that result in significant mission gains or success.  

The LO team created an innovative formula that broadcasts what an F-22 could look like in the future with coating degradation. They also got the F-22 Raptor combat fleet to a stealth compliant/ready state and maintained forward progress on the training fleet’s health through strategic, alternative methods.

“For our mission, we increase the stealth ability of the aircraft through the coatings and other repairs we do. Our main mission is to make sure the aircraft is stealth,” said Master Sgt. James Thompson, 325th MXS LO section chief.

To meet the high demand of their high tempo operations, the low observable section pooled their resources and developed more efficient ways to achieve mission success.

“Low observable is built around a simulated aircraft signature, or SAS,” said Master Sgt. Jake Arbogast, 325th MXS LO section chief. “When our aircraft are not LO compliant, then we are in what we call a ‘SAS hole.’ We took time and dug ourselves out of that by coming up with different ways of doing our maintenance and being more efficient with our manning. Additionally, we got together with aircraft maintenance units, getting them on board and having them help us get the aircraft where we needed them faster.”

Due to the environment around the Tyndall area, the Airmen and Contract Field Team of the LO section have been working harder to ensure a successful mission.

“With the climate at Tyndall it does make the job increasingly difficult,” said Tech. Sgt. Isaac Schooler, 325th MXS signature NCO in charge. “The coating breaks down at an accelerated rate, so we have to do quite a bit more maintenance to keep the jets combat-ready.

“We have approximately 90 Airmen, [and with civilians] a shop totaling a personnel number of right around 153,” Schooler added. “We run 24-hour operations, 365 days a year. If LO did not exist, the F-22 Raptor would not be able to do what it does every day. The whole purpose of that weapon system is to be able to get in and get out without being seen on radars until it is too late.”

These capabilities are something the team constantly works toward to keep the F-22 the technological marvel it is.

Members of the low observable leadership concluded by touting the efforts of their Airmen and CFT as the key factor in the success of their mission.

“It took the entire shop. We can come up with plans all day, but if Airmen can’t execute, or we don’t give them a plan they can execute, it goes nowhere,” Schooler explained. “It took a lot of coordination from the entire flightline to get us back to where we needed to be. It was a huge team effort that can’t be singled down to one person. We have to work with everyone and be very efficient and very open-minded to what their requirements were versus what ours were.”

“This was an amazing team effort. We worked hard beside the CFT, and the Airmen have done so much to reduce the SAS margin of both the 95th and 43rd Fighter Squadrons over the past year,” said Capt. Kendra Asmar, 325th MXS fabrication flight commander. “The positive can-do attitudes of everyone involved has made this possible. They are always striving to find ways to improve and make the unit better.”