LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. -- Every day, Airmen use different tools for their job. A torque wrench is used on the flight line to fix an aircraft. A tape measure is used to measure the waist of an Airman taking a physical training test. Airmen train with gas masks which prevent the inhalation of harmful nerve, chemical and biological agents.
The accuracy of each piece of equipment is not always questioned, but calibrating it is an everyday task for the 19th Maintenance Squadron Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory Flight. They receive numerous pieces of equipment needing to be calibrated for pressure, torque, voltage, resistance or frequency. PMEL does it all.
“Everything the customer uses has to be accurate,” said U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Tanner Peck, 19th MXS PMEL technician. “We are the shop that keeps that standard.”
Due to the wide range of equipment, the shop is divided into two main sections: physical/dimensional and electrical. This separation helps Airmen stay up-to-date with their training and confident while calibrating equipment.
“Not one person knows how to do everything,” Peck said. “It’s very difficult in PMEL to be 100 percent task qualified so we rely on each other to make sure we can calibrate everything that comes through our door.”
The diverse amounts of measurements and calibrations aren’t the only criteria PMEL Airmen must be skilled in. Standards for new pieces of equipment arrive on a regular basis enforcing constant internal training and wingmanship to ensure equipment stays mission ready.
“When our shop received new standards for our force stand, I was the only one who knew those standards because they were used at my previous base,” said U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Emma Morgan, 19th MXS PMEL Flight test maintenance diagnostic equipment technician. “I was able to bring my knowledge here and teach my section during a training session.”
Sometimes PMEL Airmen can become immensely busy in standard and calibration training, it’s important to remember how they fit into the overall mission. Without those standards, aircraft brakes wouldn’t work or electrical signals would be misread causing serious issues and failures in the mission.
“We only see the equipment when it comes in as a stand-alone unit,” Peck Said. “When we get the chance to go out and see how that equipment is used in the field, it shows you how impactful it really is to the mission. It helps you understand how a calibration can affect the entire base.”
Keeping every Airmen 100 percent trained on each piece of equipment in PMEL isn’t always possible; working together for each standard and calibration makes sure Team Little Rock accurately executes Rapid Global Mobility anytime, anywhere.