Photo By Master Sgt. Chelsea FitzPatrick | Master Sgt. Manuel F. Tarango, Jr., a production superintendent 380th Expeditionary...... read more read more
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AL DHAFRA AIR BASE, United Arab Emirates-- Master Sgt. Manuel F. Tarango, Jr., a production superintendent, 380th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron here, is what some Airmen might call an “old pro.” Since arriving here late last year, Tarango can say he’s on his last career deployment. In a nearly 20-year -long career maintaining KC-10 Extenders at Travis Air Force Base, California, Tarango’s current tour marks his eighth and final deployment, all of which have been to Al Dhafra.
“It’s kind of surreal having started here as an Airman and getting ready to end my career here, it’s just different knowing you’re not going to come back,” Tarango said. “There’s a lot of memories here.”
After enlisting in the Air Force in June 2003, Tarango was assigned to his first and only stateside duty station at Travis Air Force Base. Only 18 months later he was on his first tour to Al Dhafra, a stark contrast to today’s deployed location. Where now there’s concrete and buildings, Tarango remembers when the flight line was sand and deployed Airmen lived in tents., endearingly referred to as, “Tent City.”
“When there used to be a KC-135 [Stratotanker mission] here, they didn’t have a ramp, they just had small runways, little turnoffs,” Tarango remembered. “There was like sand dunes and they would have to navigate through.”
Early on at Al Dhafra, aircraft couldn’t taxi to the runway, because the engines would blow sand into Tent City. Maintainers would tow aircraft from the ramp to the runway.
“Now there’s WIFI, hardened facilities, you can get your eggs made to order at the dining facility,” Tarango said. “I mean, we’re kind of spoiled.”
Regardless of the change of scenery, Tarango’s favorite aspect of his job is the people he supports. He helps manage more than 50 people in the KC-10 maintainer shop and one of his favorite things to do is share knowledge with the less experienced team members, and his team members appreciate it.
Master Sgt. Abraham Almonte, also a production superintendent, works as Tarango’s partner. While his maintenance background is with the KC-135 airframe, Tarango shares his wealth of knowledge with Almonte as well.
“He knows everything about this airplane and his experience is unmatched,” Almonte said. “I’ve been picking his brain and I’m learning so much from him.”
“He came [to Al Dhafra] when he first joined as an Airman, and now he’s going to be here when at the end of his career,” Master Sgt. Kevin Hester, a section chief also assigned to the 380th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. "I think it’s cool that the legacy is there."
Tarango deployed to Al Dhafra seven times between 2005 and 2014, then due to job assignments at home station, he had a seven-year break in deployment tours. He met and married his wife and welcomed three daughters into his family during this time.
“I remember joking with my mom after my then girlfriend and I were in my third deployment as a couple, I said, ‘well, she hasn’t left yet so I guess we can get married,’” Tarango laughed.
He returned home from that deployment in May 2012 and was married five months later.
With children, the challenges of family separation are greater in many ways. For Tarango, it’s because it's hard to explain to young children why a parent is not coming home.
“Back in 2005, we had a 15-minute phone card you could take to the community activity center to make your call home and now I can see [my family] two or three times a day and talk to them whenever I need to,” Tarango said. "My 2-year old calls and wakes me up in the middle of our night, but it's daytime where she is and doesn't understand why she can't see me."
At the end of the tour, Tarango wants his career legacy to be the skills and knowledge he can share with the younger maintainers.
“I enjoy working with the young guys, because sometimes they let me get back in to turn a wrench,” Tarango said. “It’s my hope that I can pass some of the information along so it’s not lost and that’s the most rewarding and fun part of the job, just the knowledge, just basic stuff.”
Back home, Tarango just wants to be a husband and father.
| Date Taken: | 02.22.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 02.28.2022 07:25 |
| Story ID: | 415022 |
| Location: | AL DHAFRA AIR BASE, AE |
| Web Views: | 658 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Eighth Al Dhafra deployment caps maintainer's career, by MSgt Chelsea FitzPatrick, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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