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319th ARW completes final PE/ISO

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Rachel Martinez
  • 319th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  The final KC-135 Stratotanker periodic isochronal inspection took place here, July 6 to 16 and the final panel was installed by Col. Don Shaffer, 319th Air Refueling Wing commander, during a ceremony July 20.

More than 40 Airmen from the 319th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron participated in the PE/ISO.

The KC-135 has been a part of Grand Forks Air Force Base's history since May 6, 1960, but due to a mission change, the last KC-135 is scheduled to transfer to a different base by the end of this year.

"Due to the inspection interval times, no other KC-135s stationed here will be due for an inspection before being transferred," said Master Sgt. Dale Bangert, PE/ISO dock controller.

The PE/ISO occurs when an aircraft reaches either 24 months of service or 1,800 flight hours or 1,000 landings.

During a PE/ISO, Airmen look for items that are broken or worn out or for parts that have exceeded their usable life span. The maintainers also look for corrosion and structural integrity issues during the inspection.

If anything problematic is found, the maintainers repair the problem or remove the part and replace it with new one.

"Since the first PE/ISO completion in 1960, more than 2,500 PE/ISOs have taken place here," said Colonel Shaffer. "More than 702,000 panels have been removed and replaced, more than 21.8 million screws have been removed and replaced and more than one million discrepancies have been identified and corrected. That is a pretty amazing accomplishment."

Colonel Shaffer said that with the completion of the PE/ISO, this is the first step in mission complete for the Warriors of the North team.

"All of the personnel assigned to the PE/ISO, will move over to the Sortie Generation Flight to help with flight line maintenance," said Sergeant Bangert. "All of the equipment that was used exclusively for the PE/ISO process will be transferred to other bases."

Sergeant Bangert said he felt proud about the work done during the final PE/ISO and was honored to be a part of it.

"It has been a great privilege to be a part of the KC-135 PE/ISO process over the last four years," said Sergeant Bangert.