AMC maintainers compete in civilian aircraft maintenance competition

Published March 24, 2009
By 1st Lt. Danielle Kreger
317th Airlift Group

DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Three Air Mobility Command maintenance teams gathered in Las Vegas, Nev., March 9-12 to compete in the Aviation Maintenance Technology Society's second annual Maintenance Skills Competition.

AMC teams were from Dyess AFB, Texas; McChord AFB, Wash.; and McGuire AFB, N.J.

The competition consisted of 12 events that tested the maintenance technicians' abilities to accomplish various tasks commonly found in the civilian aircraft maintenance profession.

The events included a 40-minute engine event in which the teams simultaneously worked a hydraulic pump and tachometer generator removal and installation; a composite material damage event where teams used a tap inspection method to find damage not visible from the surface; a flight control rigging event; and an electrical troubleshooting event in which the teams had to find the best fix for various fault codes without spending too much money on parts.

Though the events were geared toward the civilian sector of aircraft maintenance, the skills required were very similar to those used on Mobility Air Forces aircraft, according to Chief Master Sgt. John J. Scinto Jr., superintendent of Hq. AMC Maintenance Resources.

The chief said safety played a big role in the overall scoring of each event, and each team was required to follow safety guidelines that are enforced in both the military and civilian sectors, such as proper use of personal protective equipment.

The chief said civilian aircraft maintainers hold A&P (airframe and powerplant) licenses and are expected to perform in all areas of aircraft maintenance, as compared to Air Force maintainers who are generally specialized. Since the competition was designed to test the skills of an A&P-licensed mechanic, he said the AMC teams had the added challenge of selecting the right mix of career fields to best cover all the events, some of which occurred simultaneously.

Each event was graded on a time basis, and the team with the shortest overall time (minus penalties for infractions) was named the winner in each of the four competition categories: Military, School, General Aviation, and Commercial.

After two days of heated competition, two out of the three AMC teams took home awards.

The McGuire AFB maintenance team captured first place in the Military category with an overall time of 4 hours, 25 minutes and eight seconds.

Coming in at a close second was the McChord AFB team with a time of 4 hours, 33 minutes and 22 seconds. The McGuire AFB team also captured the best time in the Flight Control Rigging event.

Team Dyess competitors included: Master Sgt. William Galvan, 317th Airlift Group (team lead); Staff Sgt. Samuel McCurley, 317th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron; Staff Sgt. John Poe, 317th Maintenance Squadron; Staff Sgt. Mark Viola-Turner, 317th Maintenance Operations Squadron; and Staff Sgt. Armando Soler, 317th AG Quality Assurance.

Representing Team McChord was: Master Sgt. Michael Wisniewski, 62nd MXS (team lead); Tech. Sgt. Seanjon Judkins, 62nd AMXS; Tech. Sgt. Nicholas Thompson, 62nd AMXS; Staff Sgt. Anthony Nowak, 62nd MXS; and Staff Sgt. Paul Weeks, 62nd MXS.

Team McGuire competitors included: SMSgt Christopher J. Hofrichter, 514th MXG (Team McGuire MSC Team Coordinator ), Tech. Sgt. Mathew Woodward, 373rd Training Squadron (team lead); Tech. Sgt. Erik Barnhart, 305th MOS; Staff Sgt. Tyler Witte, 305th MOS; Staff Sgt. Jason West, 305 MOS/QA; and Staff Sgt. Derek Dusseau, 305th MXS.