Page 8 - Luke AFB Thunderbolt, Oct. 6 2017

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October 2017 56TH MAINTENANCE GROUP Thunderbolt www.aerotechnews.com/lukeafb http://www.luke.af.mil
56th Maintenance Group staff
Mission: Plan, moni- tor, train, manage, and adapt through precise scheduling, and ef- ficient execution to produce the world’s finest maintainers,
and fighter pilots. Demographics: There are 167 active-duty and 14 civilian members. Leadership
Section commander: Maj. James Hodges Maintenance operations superintendent: Senior Master Sgt. Heather Tufty
Weapons standardization superintendent: Chief Master Sgt. Richard Pelletier
Quality assurance: Senior Master Sgt. Michael Bannon
Training: Master Sgt. Christopher Draper Responsibilities: Oversees smooth maintenance operations on more than 79 F-16s, 42 F-35s. Builds, executes and analyzes the maintenance and flying schedule. Manages and provides train- ing for 1,852 active-duty members, 210 civilians, and 101 Air Reserve technicians. Manages key group programs and enforces standards. Serves as liaison to Detachment 12, 372nd Training Squadron.
56th Equipment Maintenance Squadron
Mission: We provide safe and reliable maintenance and munitions support
to build the future of airpower.
Vision: We will pro-
vide sustained flexibility through a disciplined and innovative approach while developing Airmen and supporting our families. Demographics: There are 545 military and civilians assigned. Leadership
Commander: Lt. Col. Jeffrey Kaepp Superintendent: Chief Master Sgt. James Royston Jr. First sergeant: Senior Master Sgt. Phillip Nissen Responsibilities: Maintains 703 pieces of aerospace ground equipment, 1,200 pieces of alternate mission equipment and a munitions stockpile all valued at more than $208 million. Perform aircraft inspection and repair of 78 F-16 and 53 F-35 aircraft.
Fun facts: The squadron was redesignated the 56th Equipment Maintenance Squadron June 15,1977, at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, the first equip- ment maintenance squadron in the Air Force. The squadron was reassigned to Luke AFB April 1, 1994.
56th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
Mission: Provide safe, reliab
b aircraft, equipment and muni-
l
le
e
tions to train the world’s finest F-35 and F-16 pilots and crew chiefs.
Demographics: There are more than 1,184 military, civilian and contractor mem- bers, including 100 Singapore maintainers.
Leadership
Commander: Lt. Col. Charles Ploetz
Maintenance operations officer: Maj. Lexie Greene Assistant maintenance operations officer: Capt. Jessica Salgado
Superintendent: Chief Master Sgt. James Cash Assistant superintendents: Senior Master Sgts. David Bruce and Jonathan Brannon
First sergeants: Master Sgts. Marco Escandon, Gregory Spiczka, Jennifer Pelletier and David Moats Responsibilities: Provides organizational level mainte- nance for 52 Block 25 and 42 F-16A/B/C/D aircraft and 55 F-35A aircraft valued at more than $5 billion. Also has a $700,000 annual budget to ensure mission-ready aircraft to directly support
U.S. Air Force active-duty and Reserve components, and Singapore air forces pilot training.
56th Component Maintenance Squadron
Mission: We build the future of air- power by providing safe and reliable component repair of propulsion, avi- onics, accessories, and test, measure- ment, and diagnostics equipment systems.
Demographics: There are 284 mili- tary and 50 civilian personnel across seven Air Force specialties. Leadership
Commander: Maj. Edward Romero Superintendent: Chief Master Sgt. Brian Bowers
First Sergeant: Master Sgt. Brian Shaw
Responsibilities: Deliver mainte- nance solutions for the Air Force’s largest combat-pilot training pro- gram. We are divided into four flights — propulsion, avionics, ac- cessories, and test, measurement and diagnostic equipment, and one supporting section — command sup- port staff.
The propulsion flight conducts inter- mediate maintenance for 140 Pratt & Whitney F-100 engines valued at $450 million in support of 128 F- 16s. The flight is comprised of four sections — jet engine intermediate maintenance, modular repair, test cell, and support section, totaling 58 enlisted and 26 civilian personnel. The avionics flight provides safety, quality and flightline support to F-16 avionics systems through component repair of more than 56 navigation, radar, and communications systems. Over the last two years, avionics flight hosted engineers and depot teams to test upgraded avionics software and components to increase
fleet-wide F-16
flight capa-
bilities.
The ac-
cessories
flight con-
sists of 150
technicians
across four
diverse sec-
tions — egress,
fuels, electro environmental and hydraulics. These sections provide on and off equipment repairs on both F-16 and F-35 platforms. The flight provides emergency ejection capabil- ity, aircraft fuel system distribution, as well as electrical and hydraulic component repair. In addition the Hydraulic Section, operates the Air Force’s sole West Coast Centralized Repair Facility, supporting 313 F- 16s, F-15s, & A-10s across Air Edu- cation and Training Command, Air Combat Command, and Air Force Reserve Command.
The test, measurement and diag- nostic equipment flight, verifies the proper operation of test, measure- ment, and diagnostic equipment through the subtle art and science of calibration. TMDE supplies cali- bration and repair support to more than 6,000 items owned by 107 work sections.
Fun fact: We are the Scorpions! We put the sting in the wing! The propulsion flight’s extraordinary production of 60 engines per year has been recognized by Pratt and Whitney as the top performer for 12 consecutive years!
‘Rock rules’ imperative
The Rock* rests quietly on the north side of the 56th Fighter Wing Head- quarters, Bldg. 452, and is ready for all challenges.
1. The 56th Fighter Wing Commander (Thunderbolt 1) is the owner of the Rock. 2. Thunderbolt 1 delegates care and painting of the Rock to any unit (group, squadron, flight, section, unit, or train- ing class) with the following stipula-
tions:
• It must be professional – Thunder-
bolt 1’s Rock has a proud heritage. DO NOT EMBARRASS THE ROCK OR THE THUNDERBOLTS.
• The Rock is to be painted in such a way as to clearly represent the group, squadron, flight, section, unit, or train- ing class who has chosen to care for the Rock.
• Colors that stand out are highly encouraged, but camouflage painting is also acceptable.
• When the Rock is freshly cared for (recently painted), it must be allowed to cure for a minimum of two weeks as long as the current design is appropri- ate in nature.
• Training classes are not permitted to paint the Rock until each member of the class has passed the first significant milestone (i.e., a major course test; B-course students have soloed, etc.). Because of this restriction, when the Rock has been painted by a Training Class, the Rock will be allowed three weeks to cure.
3. If a unit repaints the Rock before the Rock has properly cured as stated above, the offending unit will be re- sponsible for returning the Rock to the
previous design (within 56 hours).
4. Delegations that paint the Rock are not to be caught by the 56th Security Forces Squadron patrol (SFS patrol sees
the group painting the Rock).
• If caught, the SFS patrol will notify
the 56th SFS commander or DO and then resume duties; the only question asked by the patrol will be what unit the delegation is representing. The group can complete the painting of the Rock after they have been caught by SFS.
• The commander of the unit caught painting the Rock will (within 56 busi- ness hours of being caught) report to all SFS shift changes (Guard Mount) during a day to thank SFS for their hard work and explain how SFS helps their unit. Contact SFS Ops at x7062/4172 to deter- mine the day’s shift schedules.
*The Rock is defined as the two large rocks that are currently painted. Do not include the multiple smaller rocks in the area.