AGE among nine shops to see big changes

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Rachelle Elsea
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  The 325th Maintenance Squadron aerospace ground equipment shop, is one of nine shops in the squadron making the transition from contracted personnel to active duty Airmen.

The swap was set in place in order to accommodate the Oct. 1 mission change from Air Education and Training Command to Air Combat Command.

"The big thing is that with a combat-coded squadron of F-22 Raptors coming, the AGE shop must be ready to deploy," said Master Sgt. Robert Ward, 325th MXS AGE flight chief.

AGE is home to more than 800 pieces of equipment supporting around 60 aircraft.

"Our job is to provide ground support equipment for aircraft maintenance," said Staff Sgt. Elaina Arpino, 325th MXS AGE NCO in charge of production support. "Basically we handle the equipment from cradle to grave, which includes fixing it, storing it, inspecting it, delivering it and any maintenance that needs to be done on it."

The first Airman to begin the switch arrived earlier this spring, and little by little more have been trickling in.

"We have about 25 Airmen now and we expect to have 60 by March of next year," said Sergeant Arpino.

Among the new Airmen, about one-third are fresh out of basic training and technical school.

Also, another challenge the shop faces is the Airmen coming from bases that don't typically house F-22s and F-22-specific equipment. Additionally, military-manned shops require certain programs that contractors don't.

"A lot of people coming here haven't worked with F-22s yet, so that is the majority of our training," Sergeant Ward said. "We also have to start all our programs from scratch. So, everyone has to learn to set up programs; contractors have different requirements then we are going to have ... they don't deal with events such as IG [inspector general] inspections."

The shop will also be making the switch to 24-hour, 7 day-a-week operations in order to support the transient aircraft that come through and any of the night missions or night time maintenance needed.

The Airmen will officially take control of the shop Oct. 1, until then, they are working side-by-side with the contractors, in order to ease the transition.

"The civilians are very useful in the transition," said Senior Airman Christopher Blake, 325th MXS AGE technician. "They give us all the ins and outs of the job pertaining to how the flight line operates on a daily basis, all the new equipment and the easiest way to get the mission completed in an efficient and timely manner. Working with the F-22s is very different from what most of us are used to working with, but with the civilians helping it's going to be a lot smoother than it would normally be."

The other eight shops making the transition are Egress, Fuels, Wheel and Tire, Low Observable, Non-Destructive Inspection, Metals Technology, Crash Recovery and Armament.

"Our manning total is around 200 right now and when the transition is complete we will have about 600," said Sergeant Ward. "The maintenance squadron is tripling."