Armament Airman shadowed by commander

Published April 14, 2015
By Airman 1st Class Sergio A. Gamboa
325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Once a month, the 325th Fighter Wing commander shadows an Airman to observe what their job duty entails. For one Airman at the 325th Maintenance Squadron armament shop, things went a little different April 3.

Airman 1st Class Sierra Clark, 325th MXS armament shop team member, found out she was going to be showing Col. Derek C. France, 325th Fighter Wing commander, what her job duties include as an armament team member after her unit leadership mentioned to the office she was chosen for the Airman Shadow Program.

"My floor chiefs announced to all of the airmen that one of us was chosen to be shadowed, and shortly after they said I was picked," said Clark. "At first I was nervous, but very excited. It's not every day you get to show off what you do at work, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to show the wing commander what armament does."

According to her submission package, as an armament team member, Clark assembles, repairs and inspects suspension equipment, F-22 Raptor guns, nuclear certified equipment and schedules and performs maintenance for 55 F-22 weapons. She also supports the 325th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group with weapons maintenance.

"Certain things in my job can be stressful at times, especially when working with expensive equipment on a timed basis, but the shop is trained well enough and is provided the right equipment to get the job done in a timely, safe manner," Clark said.

The Grand Junction, Colo. native showed the commander the different areas at her shop, including the storage rooms and the weapons room, where she showed him how to perform a 20mm gun system pre-check and discussed about components of the gun system.

"Once we started working, he started asking questions and telling his own stories, it became a lot easier talking to him and helped calm my nerves down," Clark said. "His interest in the equipment we were working on made it a lot easier to explain certain things and show him what I do. It was fulfilling seeing the commander interested in what maintenance does. It was exciting to be able to show him things like testing a gun and have him be really interested in it.

"He said that seeing the gun uninstalled from the aircraft 'brought a tear to his eye,' so I think based on his excitement and interest in the equipment and work we were doing, he had a good time," she said. "It was a great experience and I got a whole lot out of it."

She wasn't the only one that took something out of the experience.

"I am completely impressed by Airman 1st Class Clark's dedication and professionalism," said France. "The work she and her Armament Shop teammates do make our F-22's more reliable and lethal in combat. Like so many things we do in the Checkertails, these 20mm gun inspections are a great example of how individual actions add up to our ability to Train and Project Unrivaled Combat Airpower."