Page 2 - Desert Lightning News 11-6-15

2 November 6, 2015 Desert Lightning News

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Load Crew of the Quarter contest

Airman 1st Class Mya M. Crosby

355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

NEWS DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz., -- Select Airmen (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Mya M. Crosby)
from the 354th Aircraft Maintenance Unit and 924th Aircraft Main-
tenance Squadron competed against each other in a load crew of the U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Christopher Sisk, 354th Aircraft Maintenance Unit load
quarter contest on the flightline, Oct. 2. crew team member, wires a control computer group of a Guided Bomb Unit-12 Paveway
II during a load crew of the quarter contest at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., Oct.
The six Airmen, formed into two load crews, were chosen to com- 2, 2015. The selected Airmen for the contest were hand-picked from their unit leadership
pete in the contest. The objective of the contest was to load GBU-12 to compete.
Paveway II laser-guided bombs onto an A-10 Thunderbolt II cor-
rectly in order to win the competition. LCOQ competition at the 355th AMXS third Quarter Awards cer-
emony, Oct. 9.
The Airmen from each squadron are chosen from their passing
rates of quality assurance and monthly proficiency requirement The LCOQ winners will be competing against one another during
loads. an annual load crew competition.

“We all say ‘Oh, I can do this better than you’ and it’s cool to finally
go compete to see who is better,” said Senior Airman Riley McIrvin,
924th AMXS weapons crew member.

During the contest, the Airmen were also evaluated on their Com-
posite Tool Kits and maintaining dress and appearance.

“I definitely think the contest boosts morale,” said Tech. Sgt. David
Hink, 355th Maintenance Group loading standardization crew chief.
“You have guys out there on the flightline busting their butts every
day and it’s nice to recognize them in some sort of way, especially the
guys that are doing it right.”

The 354th AMU load crew was announced as the winners of the

D-M’s deployers return home

DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE

BASE, Ariz. - -- The last 24 of 48 total

rescue personnel deployed from the 79th

Rescue Squadron at D-M returned home

at 3:40 p.m., Oct. 14.

Airmen were greeted by family, friends

and base leadership. Photos are attached

and a video link is included below.

A total of 1,200 Airmen from across

D-M have been deployed around the

world including the 79th Rescue Squad-

ron, which deployed in support of Opera-

tion Inherent Resolve. This is the largest

deployment at D-M since WWII. Nor-

mally, the base has approximately 500

Airmen deployed at any time throughout

the year; since early this year D-M has

had more than double that amount de-

ployed at one time.

“We were supporting Operation Inherent

Resolve, providing 24-hour personnel recov-

ery, seven days a week, in the Middle East as-

signed to the Personnel Recovery Task Force.

This included Guardian Angel Teams with the

HH-60 and we provided the HC-130 support,”

said Lt Col Jim Brunner, 26th Expeditionary

Rescue Squadron Commander. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Mya M. Crosby)
These deployments highlight the im-
U.S. Air Force Capt. Ronald Maxfield, 79th Rescue Squadron combat systems officer, embraces his family on the flight-
portance of Davis-Monthan and its units line at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Oct. 9. Two HC-130J Combat King IIs and 25 Airmen returned from a 4-month
to America’s national security. deployment to Southwest Asia.