Photo By Senior Airman Matthew Garcia | U.S. Air Force maintainers with the 823rd Maintenance Squadron work together with U.S....... read more read more
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MARINE AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. – An airman's first Temporary Duty (TDY) is filled with many new experiences and challenges, from a different environment and new faces, to dealing with completely different branches of the military.
One airman recently added this milestone to his young Air Force career during Integrated Training Exercise 2-16 at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif.
Originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Airman 1st Class Brian Kracht, crew chief, 823rd Maintenance Squadron, joined the Air Force at the age of 22. He enlisted to further his education, education benefits being one of the top ten reasons why civilians enlist in the military.
His tasks as crew chief include having a clear understanding of the whole aircraft. The primary mission is to ensure the quality of an aircraft prior to its departures. Making sure everything is flight ready.
"First off, taking a quick glance over the aircraft is main priority when arriving on the flight line," said Kracht. "Then, once the crew shows up, we get on communication and head out to the line to prepare the birds to depart.”
At home station, Kracht usually has other aircraft to work on, but on this particular TDY, he is able to use some rare down time to get to know his Marine counterparts in the hanger.
When the flight crew returns, they inform the maintainers of any complications during their flight. Then, Kracht and his team proceed to repair the problems until the next shift arrives.
"On most days, there is never any major damage done to the birds," said Kracht. "So we maintain it to make sure no future problems have the potential to occur."
No major damage has resulted from this flight. Nevertheless, challenges present themselves in many different ways. Some challenges Kracht and the rest of the crew have no control over.
"Aircraft were parked this morning with their nose toward the wind and now the wind is going the opposite way," said Kracht. "Just like the other day with the rain, weather has been our toughest challenge we’ve faced so far."
Bad weathers never a pleasure to work in or rarely enough to stop production. Though weather was a tough obstacle, challenges outside the flight line arose as well.
Was there a quote to support the weather observation?
Marines are rigorous when it comes to the military lifestyle; rank knowledge being a prime aspect. Sir and ma'am are completely acceptable greetings in the Air Force, yet Marines take offense; not because they feel it’s an insult, but because they deserve further affirmation.
"The Air Force operates somewhat differently than other branches, from rank structure to how we act when we’re off-duty," said Kracht. "You have to know exactly what rank the Marine is and you have to call them by that rank because they earned that rank. It doesn't matter who you are."
Both branches have their differences, but taking the time to learn throughout the interaction is an important part of TDYs like this one.
“The whole purpose is to make sure we’re ready to fight," said Kracht. "Regardless of what branch you're in, it's going to take all of us working together.”
The camaraderie between both branches is exactly what the military needs to be able to work together to accomplish the same objective.
"I was fortunate enough to have come on this TDY," said Kracht. "I was able to experience what it's like to work with another branch, side by side first hand . It's an invaluable experience that I was able to have on my first TDY."
| Date Taken: | 02.04.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 02.19.2016 04:40 |
| Story ID: | 189276 |
| Location: | TWENTYNINE PALMS, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 117 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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