Engine shop tune-up keeps sound of freedom flying

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Solomon Cook
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  On any given day, the reverberations of the F-22 Raptor's F-119 engines can be heard across Tyndall. A group of Airmen labor to keep the engines in tune so the sound of freedom can resonate loud and proud.

At the 325th Maintenance Squadron engine shop, Airmen and contractors work hand-in-hand maintaining, repairing and testing the engines of the F-22.

"We receive engines from the flight line that have items due for a change or parts that are broken," said Airman 1st class Dylan Guevara, 325th MXS aerospace propulsion technician. "After we issue out a spare, we repair and test the one that is brought in. We work with Pratt and Whitney, the company that makes the engines, in the shop. They are contractors, mostly retired Air Force, and they do the same thing we do, but more in depth."

Staying busy all through the week, the shop runs in two shifts from morning to night.

"The engine shop performs maintenance on day and swing shifts with operations ending at midnight on one to five engines a week," said Master Sgt. Randy Aikens, 325th MXS test cell section chief. "The shop is broken down into four sections: intermediate maintenance, test cell, trailers and support section. We fix the engine, test it and send it out to the flight line."

Although the job is very technical, the need for prior knowledge and a previous job as a mechanic is not required. Airmen attend Air Force technical school and receive on-the-job training.

"With this job, everything is in the book," Aikens said. "Airmen do need to have a certain level of mechanical skill, but having a prior job in some type of shop is not required. We have Airmen who are mechanics on the outside, but there are Airmen who don't do any of that aside from here, and they are still good mechanics. "

The needs of the overall mission and that of the flight line are carried on into the mission of the engine shop.

"Our mission is to support the flight line," Aikens said. "We perform intermediate maintenance on F-119 engines. Operational maintenance is done on the flight line, and anything that goes beyond what the flight line technicians can repair comes into the engine shop."