Maintainers keep F-16 fit to fight

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Brittany A. Chase
  • 35th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
KUNSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  Even while assigned to Kunsan Air Base, Republic of Korea as a temporary duty location, Airmen with the 35th Fighter Wing continue to provide worldwide deployable forces to protect U.S. interests in the Pacific and defend Japan with sustained forward presence and focused mission support.

Within a mere couple of hours, F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter pilots with the 35th FW can be out the door – but who makes this possible?

There’s no magical button to push, no secret lever, not even a switch to flip making all mechanical or electrical wrongs, right, on the Fighting Falcon…but there are hundreds of Airmen who work tirelessly to ensure each pilot has a fully functional and safe jet, whether at home station, on a TDY or during wartime.

“In the Air Force, we have the best technology but we also have the best people,” said Senior Master Sgt. Paul Riley, the 35th AMXS armament shop flight chief. “Without the maintainers on the ground, working long hours, the jets wouldn’t be in the air executing the mission.”

After nearly two weeks worth of flying at Kunsan, maintainers have proven their efficiency and tenacity to get the job done no matter where they are.

“There haven’t been any issues so far on this TDY; the maintainers have worked diligently to ensure mission success,” said Lt. Col. Paul Schultz, the 35th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron commander. “In roughly two weeks, only having one maintenance non-delivery, due to a timing issue, is a great achievement.”

With no major issues arising because of the 35th AMXS and Maintenance Squadron's hard work, pilots can continue normal operations, while promoting interoperability in a power projection theater.

“The 14th Fighter Squadron has flown countless sorties in a two week span,”said Lt. Col. Mark Heusinkveld, 14th FS commander. “To be able to conduct such a large number of sorties takes an entire team. From the maintainers ensuring the safety of the aircraft to the pilots making the missions happen, we have flawlessly executed every scheduled mission we have flown.”

Due to rigorous inspections needed every certain number of flying hours, both flight line (AMXS) and backshop (MXS) personnel can fix any problems the jet presents them.

“We are a very important part in putting that aircraft in the air, as are the backshops,” said Riley. “Without the support all our backshops provide, we wouldn’t be able to get the aircraft in the air.”

When a job is too big for maintainers to repair on the flight line, it’s the diligent work of the Airmen in the backshops who can get a better look and fix more in depth issues.

“Sometimes when an issue arises it is not a simple fix,” said Staff Sgt. Maxo Pierre, 35th AMXS aerospace propulsions craftsman. “When this happens the jet is moved to a backshop so they can conduct further inspections and replace anything that needs to be replaced.”

From the flight line to the backshop, it doesn’t matter where Airmen work as long as they can get the jet back into the sky.

“To maintain such a majestic creature (the F-16) it requires a gentle touch,” said Senior Airman Janeill Hill, a 35th MXS inspection section team member. “With phase inspections each jet is fully dismantled which allows us to see parts of it that are not always visible without the trained eye.”

When all is said and done, it comes down to all members of the 35th Maintenance Group to ensure mission success under all circumstances.

“With any TDY you prep months in advance but with an F-16 you never know what kinds of issues you will run into,” Hill said. “Since being here, we have not run into any huge issues we weren’t able to take care of; this is due to the great team here just working together, to include our Kunsan phase family, to get any job or problem solved.”