Maintainers: 'Cold weather? - No sweat'

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Carolyn Viss
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  The challenge for the 7th Maintenance Group: generate and then regenerate six B-1s in 24-hours with temperatures near freezing in wind strong enough to knock-out power to the base. The results of the Dec. 14 and 15 Operational Readiness Exercise are in... mission accomplished.

"I am extremely proud with our maintenance team's positive attitudes and how well they performed during this ORE as we prepare for the upcoming ORI," said Col. James Milburn, 7th MXG commander. "In spite of the extremely cold weather conditions, our maintainers' demeanor during each phase of the exercise was methodical and professional, which paved the way for mission success." 

Additionally, five of the six B-1s were regenerated and accepted by the Exercise Evaluation Team with only very minor discrepancies, Colonel Milburn said. The sixth jet developed a fuel leak, which required more time than was available to meet the evaluation criteria. 

"With the launch phase rated 'outstanding' and the regeneration 'excellent,' we are postured to excel during the January ORI," Colonel Milburn said. "Overall, I couldn't be more proud of how this team has come together to position us for success." 

Having studied and applied every "lesson learned" from all the OREs and the October ORI, the group was able to fine tune their maintenance processes, Colonel Milburn said. 

"We completely scrubbed the regeneration process from start to finish after the ORI, and have been able to decrease our average regeneration time from 10 to 12 hours per jet to seven and a half hours, which is in the 'excellent' category," he said. "I've never seen an aircraft regeneration go as smoothly as it did during this ORE, and I would be willing to wager that it was by far the best the B-1 community has seen in many years." 

Because the 7th MXG has a significant role in the 7th Bomb Wing ORI and is such a critical piece of the evaluation, their goal was to leave the Air Combat Command inspector general team with no room for any negative comments. 

"It was essential to put the entire wing in motion to provide the context for our focused re-evaluation: performing to the 'excellent' and 'outstanding' grading criterion," said Col. Robert Gass, 7th BW commander. "Right now, we're exactly where we need to be, and it's time to execute." 

Colonel Milburn agreed that the 7th MXG is ready to demonstrate its combat readiness. 

"We will exceed all requirements and put this ORI behind us so we can concentrate on our real-world deployment commitment to Global War on Terror," Colonel Milburn said. "Everyone needs to enjoy their time off, but after the holiday we're going to return to work determined and ready to concentrate on the business at hand: flying and fixing aircraft!"