Free of FOD for 1,500 days

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Peter Thompson
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  The B-1's greatest threat isn't enemy ground combatants or opposition aircraft targeting them; in actuality one of the largest, preventable causes of damage to Air Force aircraft is foreign object damage, better known as FOD.

On Aug. 29, Dyess reached a new pinnacle of FOD prevention; 1,500 days without a chargeable FOD incident.

"This accomplishment has never been achieved with aircraft of a similar engine," said Master Sgt. Patrick Pauls, 7th Bomb Wing FOD manager. "Normally those bases don't even come close to 1,500 days FOD free."

Foreign object damage is caused when any substance, debris or article alien to a vehicle or system, inflicts damage to an airframe. Foreign object debris can range from missing tools to pens and pebbles.

Damages from FOD can range widely. Minor damage caused by debris might only require a few man hours to inspect and make slight adjustments while heavy or large objects have the possibility of destroying an engine, which can cost upwards of $3.8 million.

Minimizing damage to aircraft through FOD management is vitally important due to increased budget constraints that Dyess and the Air Force community have faced over the last several years.

"With our current financial situation, we need to save as much money as we can," said Tech. Sgt. Bradley Preston, 7th Bomb Wing FOD manager. "Preventing damage to our aircraft allows us to use our money the way we need to because we won't have to allocate it to pay for repairs."

Keeping aircraft safe and staying below budget aren't the main concern when accounting for FOD. The safety of Airman takes priority.

"Many people only think of the impact FOD can have on an aircraft," Preston said. "But our people are inside that B-1 or C-130. We put their safety first while they put their trust in us."

In recent years, Dyess has increased its FOD prevention initiative to minimize the mission impact of foreign object damage.

"Awareness and education of FOD prevention have been our biggest tools," Preston said. "We have instituted new ways of combating it; if you look out on the flight-line, you will constantly see sweepers and mats being driven up and down, picking up even the smallest objects they can."

Every Airman at Dyess Air Force Base has a responsibility to ensure FOD is minimized. The Wing and FOD management office encourage Airmen who don't work directly on the flight-line, to take part in monthly FOD walks. Hundreds of Airmen participate, walking the length of the runway side-by-side to ensure it is clear of debris. At each shift change, a wall of maintainers moves through aircraft and machinery, meticulously picking up every possible substance that could possibly damage an aircraft.

"It's every Airman's job," Preston said. "Even for people who don't work on the flight-line, at the end of the day everybody supports one goal, which is to assure our aircraft can takeoff and stay mission capable."

Pauls credits every Airman on base for reaching this huge feat and explained how it reflects Dyess as a whole.

"Being a part of such a huge accomplishment is an amazing feeling," Pauls said. "This shows how hard our Airmen work, on and off the flight-line. To succeed like this takes a lot of people working together well, while doing their job proficiently. It's the epitome of situational awareness, attention to detail and excellence in all we do."

Dyess' goal for the future requires effort from all of Team Dyess, to deliver the most comprehensive and aggressive FOD prevention program in the Air Force. Looking forward, the FOD management team has set an even loftier goal for Dyess.

"We want to improve on everything, even what we have done right so far," Pauls said. "Our goal for down the road is to reach 2,000 days FOD free and to keep climbing from there."