Courtesy Photo | Sgt. Russell Moura, aircraft power plant repair, Company B, 404th Aviation Support...... read more read more
By Sgt. Syrena Ogden
4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division
CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Just shy of the six-month mark into their deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Company B, 404th Aviation Support Battalion, 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, logged the completion of 5,000 work orders Dec. 10.
This milestone is representative of the hard work and dedication required to maintain the 4th CAB's fleet of rotary-wing aircraft in support of combat operations.
Co. B is the 4th CAB's only aviation intermediate maintenance company, and it is comprised of a maintenance platoon, an armament platoon and a component specific shop platoon which is equipped to test, repair and perform inspections with specialized tools and equipment that are not available at the aviation unit maintenance level.
Units throughout the 4th CAB submit work orders to Co. B that range from component inspections and repairs to tools and parts fabrication. The company consists of more than 300 Soldiers with 28 separate military occupational skills that are trained and proficient in their jobs.
The Co. B Production Control Office receives, prioritizes and controls the work order process. The PC office gets the ball rolling by coordinating parts and personnel to accomplish all of the required maintenance or repairs needed for completion of the work orders.
"The PC office is the starting and ending point, or hub, for everything going on with maintenance, but completing a work order is a team effort to include all the back shops, maintenance and quality control sections," said Sgt. 1st Class Gilberto Camacho, PC non-commissioned officer in charge for the night shift, who hails from Hunacao, Puerto Rico.
The Quality Control Office serves a vital role in the work order process. A technical inspector assesses the actions required to correct the deficiencies and ensures the proper paperwork accompanies the part.
The 5,000th work ordered component was determined to be non-repairable at the AVIM level. Shortly afterwards, the 5,001st work order was submitted to PC. It was a worn brake disc. The designated shop for the repair was the hydraulics shop.
"This shop handles all hydraulic and pneumatic issues on the aircraft," said Sgt. Alex Bowers, aircraft pneumatics and hydraulic repair NCO from LaSalle, Ill. "We also support ground hydraulic equipment and Camp Taji's entire nitrogen bottle refills. This [hydraulic] shop has completed more than 450 work orders. Repairing a worn brake disc takes an average of five hours to complete."
"First, we tear it [the brake disc] apart, replace the packings, pistons, wear pads, rotating and stationary discs, washers, nuts and bolts; then [we] test it for 30 minutes and wait for an inspection," said Pfc. Serinda Mitchell, a hydraulics repairer from Galveston, Texas.
Once the final inspection on the brake disc was complete and all the accompanying paperwork filed, it went back to the production control office where the owning unit picked up the repaired part.
"Is it so important to document the amount of work orders B Co produces," asks the Quality Control NCOIC Staff Sgt. Elvin Carr, from Christain Stead, St. Croix Island of the U.S. Virgin Islands. "Yes," Carr answers his own question, "there are so many steps from start to finish, but the bottom line is we produce quality products for our customers."
| Date Taken: | 12.20.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 12.19.2008 15:03 |
| Story ID: | 27913 |
| Location: | TAJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 308 |
| Downloads: | 247 |
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