Eight Airmen from Dyess

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sgt. David E. McGuigan
  • 380th Expeditionary Maintenance Group
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Sometimes a small daily anecdote helps to remind us that in our business, flexibility is the well known secret to our success, and that the Air Force truly personifies "One Team, One Fight."

Nothing exemplifies this better than the outstanding performances on Jan. 12 of Staff Sgts. Ronald Farris and Richard Romano, Senior Airmen Neil Conn, Daryl Stout, Tahgie Winkle and Airmen 1st Class Mathew Phillips, David Arnold and Sung Choi. All of these Airmen are dedicated B-1 Lancer aircraft maintenance professionals deployed to the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, supporting the fight as force protection escorts helping to secure the base infrastructure during the myriad of construction projects.

On Jan. 12, our own steady drumbeat of the daily air tasking order execution was quickly overshadowed by the whirlwind pace of operations as nine unannounced aircraft were about to land due to poor weather at their deployed location. The 380th Expeditionary Operations and Maintenance Groups marshaled every available resource to help recover these aircraft ranging from the KC-135 Stratotanker, RC-135 , E-8C Joint Stars and a B-1B Lancer, all low on fuel, but none more so than Bone 22, a B-1 who had declared an in-flight emergency.

While performing his force protection duties, Sergeant Romano said he witnessed the unmistakable profile of a B-1 making a perfect landing. Not an aircraft that routinely operates from the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing, Sergeant Romano knew his expertise on the B-1 could make the difference in getting this aircraft back into the fight. Rallying the other Airmen from Dyess, also performing force protection duties, he requested a relief team so they could go out to the flightline and see if their particular skills could be of service.

On their own accord, this small armada of B-1 maintainers from every specialty stepped back into their core competency and came out to the flightline to lend assistance. They were met by a grateful maintenance group commander who immediately put this team of professionals to work on securing payloads, inspecting the engines and aircraft, and completing all the necessary servicing in order to return the aircraft back into combat, safely and by the book.

But the Dyess Airmen didn't stop there; they also coordinated with the aircrew and their force protection element supervision so they could be available later that night to prepare and then launch the aircraft. In short, the teamwork and dedication to the maintenance mission these Airmen provided during what could easily be described as orchestrated chaos, helped ensure we were able to return not only the B-1, but all the diverted aircraft back into the fight as soon as possible.

There were several keys to success that day. First was a passion for the mission -- these Airmen could have easily chosen to keep their force protection brassard on and leave the maintenance to others. Instead, their enthusiasm and passion compelled them to do what was needed most at that particular time -- the recovery of nine aircraft -- without neglecting the security of the base for their fellow Airmen.

Additionally, the deeds of the Dyess maintainers reflect only a small segment of the overall efforts by many that day. From the overtaxed transient alert personnel who worked hand-in-hand with airfield operations to resolve parking issues, to our own E-3 Sentry maintainers who helped recover, service and re-launch many of the KC-135 aircraft. And not to be forgotten, the Airmen who bedded down the aircrews and provided additional security to the aircraft, all of them and many others came together that day to personify our motto, "One Team, One Fight."