Balad survival Airmen...critical to mission accomplishment

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Olufemi A. Owolabi
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq --  As the Air Force values attention to details and safety in everything it does, so do the Airmen of the 322nd Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron's survival equipment shop here.

With a cursory glance at a survival shop, it might be mistaken for an alteration shop, with a sewing machine and a variety of colors and sizes of threads that abound in the shop.

But at the survival shop, the five-member unit here does more than just uniform alterations. Its job contributes to the safety and survival of aircrews. Survival Airmen work around the clock to ensure aircrews have serviceable equipment such as torso harnesses, G-suits, flight suits and survival vests.

"We support every aircrew and their aircraft, ranging from F-16s and C-130s to helicopters," said Staff Sgt. Reid Huckle, a survival non-commissioned officer here deployed from Misawa Air Base, Japan. "Our job is very important, especially in a deployed environment, with the sand and heat causing a lot of damage to fiber fabrics, the materials this equipment is made of. Our job is about pilots' safety because without us here, there will be nobody to repair their equipment."

Though these Airmen don't pack and repack parachutes because there is no facility for them to do so here, they said the amount of repair work they do on parachutes, harnesses and G-suits is what makes them a critical part of flying operations.

Survival Airmen repair more than 50 harnesses, four G-suits and five flight suits a week. They also repair intake covers on F-16s.

If a harness has a hole in it, it can jeopardize a pilot's safety when there is an emergency or need for him to eject from the aircraft. The survival shop prevents this from happening. When aircrew members come back after flying with a hole in their harness, the survival shop repairs it.

"Due to nature of our job, paying attention to details is a big part of it," the sergeant said. "Survival Airmen are always aware of their surroundings to ensure they don't rip things more than they've been ripped. We are the last resort when it comes to pilots' safety in case they have in-flight emergencies."

Survival Airmen work closely with the life support shop and every aircrew here, irrespective of the aircraft they fly. Pilots take their equipment to the life support shop before they fly for inspection and fitting to ensure it is functional. If there is a problem with the equipment or it doesn't fit, they take it to the survival shop for repair or modifications.

'We provide last-minute, quick fixes and modification on life-sustaining equipment," said Master Sgt. Jose A. Rodriguez, survival shop superintendent, deployed from Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, Fort Worth, Texas. "Everybody assigned to the survival equipment shop is well rounded, and we do each other's job. It doesn't matter if the job is for F-16s or C-130s."

They work with three different types and sizes of threads which are made of various thickness and materials such as nylon, cotton and Nomex heat resistance materials.

"With the amount of heat pilots encounter here, the Nomex heat resistant material prevents their equipment from melting, and it keeps them together during an emergency," Sergeant Huckle said.

Besides paying attention to details, Sergeant Rodriguez said a survival Airman must be very meticulous and have integrity.

"Integrity is one of the Air Force core values; it is instilled in us right from basic training and technical school." he said. "If we don't have integrity, we won't have the will or want to actually go back and redo a job that already took us eight hours to do. Without integrity, we can lose a life because we are the last to let them (pilots) down when it comes to parachuting, ejecting out of an aircraft and survival."

"Without us here, pilots won't be able to fly," Sergeant Huckle said. "And if they can't fly, they won't be able to give air support to the troops on the ground."

Each day is always different for survival Airmen, depending on the time or the equipment they have to work on. As long as they can get their job done before another flying mission and ensure the pilot is comfortable, they consider this a mission-accomplished day.

"Our job is all about the comfort of pilots," Sergeant Rodriguez said. "As long as the pilot is comfortable inside the small cockpit, our mission is accomplished. We provide the service that gives them the comfort to accomplish their mission."