Page 3 - Nellis Creech NTTR Bullseye 5-13-16

BULLSEYE
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Assuring maintenance quality for the MQ-1, MQ-9 mission
By Senior Airman Christian Clausen
432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public A airs grams, quality of maintenance, quality
CREECH AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. —
Quality assurance Airmen in the main-
tenance world are known by many titles;
the “best of the best”, the “eyes and ears,”
and even “sharks in the water” for their
‘no nonsense’ attitudes where mainte-
nance is concerned.
No matter what perspective they are
seen from, the Airmen of the 432nd
Maintenance Group QA shop are ac-
countable for being knowledgeable and
well-trained, enforcing standards, and
inspecting all the work performed on the
MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper within
the maintenance group.
“As QA we’re responsible for the qual-
ity of maintenance and the personnel as
far as their knowledge of the tasks they’re
performing, maintenance and inspec-
tions,” said Master Sgt. Patrick, 432nd
MXG QA chief inspector. “We have 14
personnel and perform about 580 inspec-
tions a month.”
e QA shop should have approximate-
ly 20 personnel for the amount of work they
perform for the Creech AFB MQ-1 and
MQ-9 eet. e workload is signi cant
especially when Airmen are deployed.
Everything a maintainer repairs, upkeeps,
or builds has to be examined.
Sta Sgt. Rebekah Adams (left), 99th Inpatient Operations Squadron critical care technician,
and 1st Lt. Elizabeth Cassidy 99th Surgical Operations Squadron Post Anesthesia Care
Unit nurse, pose for a picture at the Mike O’Callaghan Federal Medical Center at Nellis Air
Force Base, Nev., April 28. On May 6, Nellis AFB began a week-long celebration for Nurse
and Medical Technician Appreciation Week to recognize the contributions nurses and
technicians make to healthcare.
Feature 3May 13, 2016
Facebook.com/NellisBullseye
“Everything is inspectable,” said U.S. Air Force photo by Dale Eckroth
Patrick. “Processes, management pro-
Crewmembers explain the characteristics of the MQ-9 Reaper to visiting priests during Air
verification inspections and special Force Recruiting Service’s “Come Be With Us Familiarization Tour” at Creech Air Force Base, Nev.
inspections which are everything they
do can all be inspected. We also ensure “Since we don’t belong to the units nance may think everything is correct,
the crews have the proper tools and themselves, we can take an unbiased look however, QA is there to double-check
they’re maintained.” at the maintenance being performed,” and ensure sorties produced by Creech
said Tech. Sgt. Bryan, 432nd MXG tech- AFB are of the highest quality to meet
Not only are the aircraft mainte- nical order distribution o ce. “ ere’s so the requirements of training and support
nance units inspected, QA evaluates much Airmen have to remember when it the needs of the combatant commanders.
other units who touch the aircra as well. comes to aircra maintenance as far as
regulations, technical orders, and data.” “Without us, I think there would be
ese units include munitions, aircra ________ See QUALITY, on page 5
structural maintenance, metals technol- Airmen who performed the mainte-
ogy, non-destructive inspection, ground
control stations and support shops are
subject to inspection.
e attention to detail the QA Airmen
must have is essential to completing the
mission. Missing minor mistakes or
maintenance errors can result in serious
damage to aircra and personnel.
“We produce a product, in this case,
[aircra ] sorties, just like any other com-
pany produces a product,” Patrick said.
“If we didn’t have anyone to ensure our
product was of the highest quality, the
potential would be that every once in a
while we could put out a bad product.”
A “bad product” in terms of aircra
maintenance could mean anything from
aircra mishaps, which would be a dan-
ger to those near the aircra , to aircra
damages at a potential loss of millions of
dollars to the Air Force.
U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Nathan Byrnes NURSE, from page 1 ___________ Nursing and medical technicians are
“Not only that, it reminds us as nurses physically demanding positions and
o en require working long hours and
and technicians how important we are to nights and weekends. ese are just a few
each other. Speaking from a technician’s of the sacri ces that come with the job.
point of view, I couldn’t do my job with-
out a nurse and I don’t think they could “Inpatient is the most grueling of
do their job without us. We are a team.” nursing work,” said 2nd Lt. Erin Mc-
Ilvaine, 99th Inpatient Operations
This weeklong celebration raises Squadron clinical nurse. “ e days are
awareness of the value of nurses and o en 14 hours long and although you
medical technicians and helps educate only work three to four days a week, the
the public about the role nurses and
technician’s play in meeting the health rst day o is o en spent resting and
care needs of their patients. recovering. Night shi inpatient is even
harder, since your whole life is running
“Nurses and technicians kind of on lack of sleep.”
go under the radar as far as medical
goes sometimes because most people e sel essness of nurses and techni-
just think of doctors,” said Staff Sgt. cians is re ected in their commitment to
Rebekah Adams, 99th Inpatient Opera- their patients and plays a vital role to the
tions Squadron critical care technician. hospital’s mission success.
“Nurses and technicians kind of run the
show as far as patient care goes.” “ is hospital would not work without
nurses and technicians,” said 1st Lt. Eliz-
This is an important week for the abeth Cassidy, 99th Surgical Operations
nurses and medical technicians of the Squadron Post Anesthesia Care Unit
99th MDG as it highlights the hard work nurse. “We are the ones that are getting
they put in day in and day out that tends the job done.”
to go unnoticed.
The week-long group appreciation
“It means a lot,” said Adams. “We try events, spearheaded by Cassidy and her
to make the week more about nurses and committee team members included a
technicians not having to do anything but number of free food o erings, an edu-
just appreciating them. Even the nurses cational brief on evidence-based practice
and technicians that are volunteering to for trusted care delivery and celebrated
help put on this week are getting to par- 13 new Nurse Residency Program gradu-
take in the festivities. It’s really cool to get ates. e Las Vegas USO and Nellis Com-
some recognition for what we do.” missary leaders supported a burger-burn
and ice cream social to top o the week.