Keeping aircraft out of the hangar

Photo By Monica Guthrie | Spc. Christopher Bird, D Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, repairs a Black Hawk troop cargo door track, Feb. 11, at the Combat Aviation Brigade flight line, Baghdad.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

02.16.2008

Story by Spc. Monica Guthrie 

3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division

Pfc. Monica K. Smith, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs Office

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq – In the Combat Aviation Brigade, line companies can quantify the amount of work they do by the number of hours they fly, or the pounds of equipment or the number of troops they move. For members of Company D, success is quantified in the number of aircraft they keep out of the hangar.

"Helicopters are combat multipliers but as you probably already know they require a lot of maintenance, both daily, unscheduled and cyclical," said Lt. Nick Cahill, executive officer of Co. D, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment. "Delta Company's role is to ensure that the battalion's aircraft are mission capable in a safe and timely manner."

The company is broken into three platoons, headquarters, maintenance and shops. The headquarters platoon consists of offices such as technical supply, production control, quality control and the aviation life support equipment.

Among other responsibilities, these offices deal with the ordering of aircraft supplies, maintaining records of flight hours and the maintaining of aircraft and aviators.

"We make sure we're working on what's important, not just what's important to the crew chiefs, but what's important to make those birds fly," said Sgt. Timothy Davis, production control non-commissioned officer in charge. "There's a difference between something that can be fixed and something that needs to be fixed. We make sure our priorities are coordinating."

The maintenance platoon handles both scheduled and unscheduled maintenance on Black Hawks and Chinooks within the battalion. This platoon performs all scheduled maintenance, which takes the stress off the crew chiefs.

"Some of the major scheduled inspections, like the 120-hour phase on the Black Hawk, requires a lot of heavy maintenance and a little more personnel and we relieve that load off the crew chiefs," said Sgt. William Canady, Co. D, 2-3rd Avn. Regt. "We're a key part because without us the crew chief wouldn't be able to fly the aircraft because they don't have the personnel and time to fly missions and do the maintenance that needs to be done. We're the backbone. We keep aircraft in the sky."

"The maintenance shop is 24-hour operations," said Lt. Laura Naigle, Co. D, 2-3rd Avn. Regt. "Maintenance never stops until the aircraft is ready. So when B Co., (2-3 Avn. Regt., the Chinook company) goes on a mission and they come back with a problem, we work on it till it's fixed so by the following day the aircraft is repaired and fully capable for the mission that day."

The shops platoon is divided into six sections or shops. These include power plant, which works on the engines, structural repair which handles sheet metal, hydraulics, avionics, electrical and power train, which maintains the rotor head assemblies.

Each morning PC holds a meeting at which every aircraft's deficiencies are examined and the current status of the aircraft is given. Any issues with a particular aspect of maintenance on an aircraft are discussed at this meeting and tasks are assigned.

Each facet of Company D comes together to ensure aircraft spend more time in the air and out of the hangar. That mission keeps Company D busy to guarantee the battalion's mission is met.

"High hours and gross weights, combined with the high temperatures and speeds at which Black Hawks and Chinooks frequently fly, lead to a great deal of added wear and tear on the aircraft," Cahill said. "Due to this harsh environment, maintenance is continually fixing and repairing aircraft with short timelines in order to ensure the battalion meets mission."

• Date Taken: 02.16.2008
• Date Posted: 02.16.2008 12:10
• Story ID: 16423
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ