MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan -- Every time a U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon takes off from Misawa Air Base, Japan, one crew loyally waits for its return. There's a certain sense of attachment, a feeling of ownership as each jet taxis back into its hangar to meet its crew chief.

"We're the last ones to see the jet before takeoff and the first to see it when it lands," said Senior Airman Eric Lane, 14th Aircraft Maintenance Unit crew chief. "We take pride in every successful sortie that leaves this flightline."

Maintenance crews are an invaluable asset to the 35th Fighter Wing's mission to suppress enemy air defenses; they literally keep the mission in action by maintaining every jet that flies the Wild Weasel mission. It's a worldwide, year-round effort that doesn't take a day off.

The added pressure of an Operational Readiness Exercise here Oct. 7-11 has tested the limits of most Airmen, but for maintainers - aside from the added weight of mission orientation protective posture gear - it's business as usual.

"The workload is no different than usual; we're used to quick turnarounds and long hours," said Staff Sgt. Chance Cunningham, 35th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. "That' the baseline attitude of maintainers, to push through and do whatever it takes to get the job done."

Throughout the exercise, the Wing Inspection Team implement simulated injects to pilots and maintainers, often times disabling F-16s and forcing maintainers to react on the fly to repair the jets.

"The WIT calls in wing fuel tank ejections, jet contaminations, gun jams - anything you can imagine to test our resilience," Lane said. "The MOPP gear makes things considerably more difficult, but the training we do here both during the exercise and real-world makes us better for whatever might come our way."

Cunningham echoed Lane's thoughts and stressed the importance of diversity during this week's exercise, while also touching on the future benefits.

"When we're downrange, you never know what can happen," Cunningham said. "It's important to have every maintainer prepared to perform in any kind of situation."