Not your every day accessories flight

  • Published
  • By Capt. Martin Sisson
  • 86th Maintenance Squadron
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany --  Aircraft maintainers are a proud, confident group of warriors that will tackle any maintenance problem that gets in their way whether it is raining, snowing or a 150-degree day on the tarmac or in an austere desert location. The 86th Maintenance Squadron Accessories Flight, led by Master Sgt. Richard Lipphardt, is made up of three sections that maintain and provide support for the electrical and environmental, fuel systems and hydraulic components of the C-130E aircraft. It is one of the most diverse flights in the squadron with three different Air Force specialty codes under one roof and though small in size, the flight has produced big results that are seen throughout the Department of Defense. 

The 86th MXS Fuel Systems Repair Section was instrumental in enabling transient aircraft from the U.S. Navy, Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark.; Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.; and the Texas Air National Guard to continue their flights downrange to meet operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom missions. Without the unwavering capability of these maintenance professionals who perform both in-tank and external tank maintenance, these missions surely would have been delayed or cancelled. 

The fuel cell maintainers are instrumental in F-16 Falcon hydrazine accident response should an F-16 have an emergency on Ramstein's airfield. When a hydrazine emergency response capability requirement was identified, the Fuel Systems Repair Section rose to the occasion. The team acquired needed safety and monitoring equipment for emergency response, wrote and routed the local response checklist and coordinated several response exercises with base agencies to ensure seamless operations. 

The Hydraulics Section of the flight supports the C-130 mission at Ramstein, a U.S. Navy detachment at Sembach and several U.S. Army units in the Kaiserslautern Military Community. From hydraulic actuators and flight controls to the aircraft's braking system, they are a vital member of the maintenance team.

"Not only do we support Ramstein's C-130s, the section is also active in supporting numerous transient AMC [Air Mobility Command] aircraft that flow through Ramstein Air Base," said Tech. Sgt. Zachary Motley, 86th MXS Hydraulics Section NCOIC.

Since the beginning of fiscal year 2008, the hydraulics section has executed maintenance on nine C-130E isochronal inspections, repairing over 650 discrepancies--an impressive feat considering the shop has only nine Airmen assigned, he said.

The electrical and environmental section recently worked with the 86th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron to correct a deficiency in serviceable portable therapeutic liquid oxygen converters, devices used for breathing oxygen for medical and aeromedical evacuation needs. 

Staff Sgt. Roshekie Oliver was instrumental in producing eight additional LOX converters, significantly increasing the capability of the 86th AES's mission while simultaneously reducing the daily requirement of having to refill the few available converters. 

"The shop's recent efforts were tremendous as the PT LOX repairs increased the available assets for 86th AES by 350 percent," said Tech. Sgt. Sean Lorenz, 86th MXS Electrical and Environmental Section NCOIC. "That in itself is a noteworthy accomplishment." 

During the fiscal year 2007, these maintenance professionals repaired more than 50 PT LOX converters, saving the Air Force over $250,000 in out-sourced repairs and associated shipping costs. More significantly, they sustained the lives of Airmen, Marines, Soldiers and Sailors during critical aeromedical evacuation missions.
 
This is only a minor part of the daily duties accomplished by the 86th MXS Accessories Flight as they are all critical members of the squadron's team and perform isochronal and time-phased inspections throughout the year on 16 assigned C-130E aircraft. While inspecting these veteran war birds, they have identified and repaired over 2,100 aircraft discrepancies in fiscal year 2008. 

Each and every time the Airmen from this flight here the sound of C-130 engines on Ramstein, they know if it a sound of a job well done and when that C-130 is in the air, they know that they were part of the maintenance team that got it there.