C-130 maintainer keeps airlifter roaring for combat missions in Southwest Asia

Published Sept. 15, 2010
By Master Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
Air Mobility Command Public Affairs

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Senior Airman Corey Sites is a C-130 Hercules aerospace propulsion journeyman deployed with the 379th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron, 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, at a non-disclosed base in Southwest Asia.

Airman Sites is deployed from the 1st Special Operations Component Maintenance Squadron, 1st Special Operations Wing, at Hurlburt Field, Fla. According to the 1st SOW Web site, the 1st SOCMS is responsible for organizational and all intermediate level maintenance on 141 different avionic, electronic warfare, sensor, electrical, pneudraulic, fuel and engine maintenance systems, specifically AC-130 gunships, MC-130H Combat Talon IIs, MC-130P Combat Shadows and MH-53J/M PAVE LOW III/IV helicopters assigned to the 1st Special Operations Wing. Technical support is provided on communication and navigation, guidance and control, sensor, electronic warfare, pneudraulics, electrics and fuel systems, engines and propellers.

At his deployed location, Airman Sites is part of a team that keeps the C-130 Hercules aircraft deployed there ready for combat airlift missions every day.

As an aerospace propulsion journeyman for the C-130, Airman Sites plans, organizes and directs aerospace propulsion maintenance activities, his official Air Force job description shows. To do this he interprets and implements directives and publications pertaining to maintenance functions, including environmentally safe maintenance practices. He also determines resource requirements, including facilities, equipment and supplies, and he inspects and evaluates maintenance activities.

Aerospace propulsion Airmen like Airman Sites also advise, perform troubleshooting and determines repair procedures on aircraft engines, the job description shows. He diagnoses and repairs malfunctions using technical publications and solves maintenance problems by studying drawings, wiring and schematic diagrams, technical instructions and analyzing operating characteristics of aircraft engines and propellers.

Airman Sites is also trained to remove, install, inspect, repair and modify engines, engine modules and components and propellers and propeller components. He can disassemble and assemble engines and propellers adhering to prescribed procedures and prepare engines and propellers for installation, storage or transportation.

Furthermore, aerospace propulsion Airmen test components using bench mockups and test equipment, the job description states. They also install and remove engines on test stands and operate, evaluate and perform test stand functions on engines and they accomplish operator maintenance on test stands. Additionally, they inspect and maintain engine ground support equipment and operate and perform operator inspections on related support equipment. They also select, use and care for special tools, hand tools and test equipment.

To maintain their skill level and complete their job successfully, aerospace propulsion Airmen like Airman Sites also has to maintain a large amount of mandatory job knowledge. Knowledge areas include mechanical, hydro-mechanical, electrical and pneudraulic principles applying to jet and turboprop engines and propellers, oil analysis principles, wear metal criteria and guidelines, concepts and application of maintenance directives and using and interpreting diagrams and technical publications.

According to its wing Web site, the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing is one of the "largest, most diverse expeditionary wings" in the Air Force, providing combat airpower and support for operations New Dawn and Enduring Freedom and the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa. The wing and its associate units operate more than 100 aircraft, making the base a large hub for humanitarian airlift activity while providing mission-essential combat power, aeromedical evacuation and intelligence support for three theaters of operations.