TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Airmen and vehicles from three maintenance units at Kadena Air Base, Japan, lined the flightline, awaiting the takeoff of Patches, an F-15C Eagle. After being assumed dead for almost three years, she was to soar again. The crowd cheered with pride at the sight of her take flight. The rebuild team, who pieced the jet back together were proud of their accomplishment; for she flew in remembrance of an Airman who lost his life, U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Robert Wade.
“Everyone there was part of this small victory over tragedy and adversity,” said retired Senior Master Sgt. Ronald P. Wagner, a Boeing F-22 Raptor simulator technician with the 325th Training Support Squadron. “When she broke ground, there were tears shed, a collective cheer and fist-pumping was palpable.”
The aircraft was released back to the unit for normal flying after three verification sorties in time for an important mission, Wagner added.
Then Staff Sgt. Emery J. Breznai, 67th Fighter Squadron dedicated crew chief at Kadena, was assigned to Patches as his first jet as a dedicated crew chief.
“A crew chief shares a special bond with his or her assigned aircraft, as well as the fellow men and women who worked on the aircraft,” Breznai said. “This is not something any crew chief takes lightly, and especially not when many fellow technicians spent months rebuilding her. I was entrusted with the F-15’s care and in keeping her in top shape so the men and women assigned to fly the jet could count on her to always be ready!”
“The F-15 was brought to a fully mission capable state in time to be deployed with the 67th FS on what turned out to be the first combat deployment for the squadron to the Middle East,” Breznai added.
Breznai would go on to become an officer after departing from the 67th FS. What he didn’t expect was to reunite, years later, with a cherished piece of his past.
“I’ll never forget how thrilled I was to see her again in 2006, when I was assigned to the 57th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base, [Nevada],” Breznai said. “For an old crew chief to go through Officer Training School, get commissioned, and have the extreme fortune of remaining in an aircraft maintenance career field is amazing. But, to run into a cherished treasure like A0484 again is beyond anything a maintainer could ask for. Where I was once entrusted with A0484’s care as her enlisted dedicated crew chief, I was again entrusted with her care, as well as the care of all the enlisted maintainers in the unit, as an officer.”
Now, in 2017, Patches still flies till this very day, honoring her fallen comrade, and the maintainers who spent almost a year repairing her to her former glory.
The jet was recently part of a Temporary Duty Assignment at Tyndall from Nellis for a couple of weeks in support of the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group’s Weapons System Evaluation Program.
“It was fantastic being able to see the jet at Tyndall after dodging retirement and serving over two decades in the Air Force,” Wagner noted. “So many great [F-15] Eagles have been sent to the boneyard. Here, still in the inventory, still punching holes in the sky, is a jet so many people wanted to see succeed and has. It feels great to say, ‘We did that.’ For the one unique time and place in our careers we got to do our regular job, fix jets, and affect many people in a positive way. Every day she flies is a mini-victory.”
Patches has represented the importance of resiliency. On the verge of death, she defeated the odds and is still able to fly in honor of one of her fallen comrades.
“Somewhere under a piece of skin that will likely never be removed, is a written dedication to Tech. Sgt. Wade signed by members of the rebuild team,” Wagner added. “Patches is not only a flying testimony to the pride, dedication and skill of aircraft maintainers, she really is a flying memorial.”
Part I of Patches: ‘A Flying Memorial’ can be viewed at http://www.tyndall.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1345984/patches-a-flying-memorial-part-i/