Phase focuses on family to support Fighting Falcons

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Cary Smith
  • 31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy --  Working long, grueling hours takes its toll on any person, so Airmen from the 31st Maintenance Squadron find a way to keep themselves resilient.

For these Airmen, their resiliency comes from a sense of comradery and pride built in the unit, all helping to better support the Aviano mission.

"I can trust someone to do a job because I know who that person is, in and outside of work," said Airman 1st Class Nathaniel Lott, 31st MXS phase technician. "I know how they are doing that day and can depend on them to do their job right."

When an F-16, Fighting Falcon rolls into the hangar, the team removes panels to expose its underbelly of wires and mechanical parts. Although the team enjoys time together on the weekends, they are still eager to spend even more time to inspect aircrafts.

"We strip down the jet and repair anything that we can in house," said Airman 1st Class Juanluis Cota, 31st MXS phase technician. "We are the middle man for any work that is sent out to other shops for repairs."

The crew chiefs perform an inspection by carefully checking sections that commonly have issues. Every 400 flying hours the aircraft receives this general inspection, also known as the "phase" inspection.

Certain parts receive extensive maintenance as more hours are spent in the air.

"An important part of phase maintenance on an aircraft are the document forms," said Staff Sgt. Andrew Beavers, 31st MXS phase floor chief. "The forms show detailed information on the flying times of the aircraft and what previous work has been done to it."

In the shop, forms are checked, panels are removed, sections are inspected, and music is playing while friendly banter keeps the mood light. Technicians move seamlessly around the aircraft without a spoken word about who needs to inspect what part next.

"The hard part of our job is fitting a lot of work into a small amount of time," said Beavers. "We want to try to finish as much work as we can to turn the jet around and bring it back to the flightline."

The work continues as Airmen tease one another siblings.

"Everyone gives each other a hard time, but it's out of love," said Cota. "Even though we tease, we look out for one another."

When the job is finished, the panels are replaced on the aircraft, and the Airmen walk away smeared in grease before performing their final inspections.

"The question we get asked a lot is 'Why are y'all so dirty?'" said Cota. "Some people don't understand the amount of work we do, there is never anyone with nothing to do."

Throughout the routine 400-hour inspections and coordination with other shops to perform more in depth maintenance and repairs, Airmen at phase maintenance provide a critical service to ensure F-16s continue to support the Aviano mission.

"We value the comradery we have built at this shop to provide a quality product," said Staff Sgt. Mark Redman, 31st MXS phase floor chief. "The pilot's life is on the line, and we want him or her to return to their family safely."