12-year Air Force veteran, deployed from Joint Base MDL, works in maintenance operations center in Southwest Asia

Published June 28, 2010
By Master Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
380th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- He works in the "heart beat" of maintenance operations for the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing as a member of a team of eight Airmen. Because of that, Staff Sgt. James McCutcheon said he knows the work he does each day plays a vital role in the success of deployed operations.

Sergeant McCutcheon is a maintenance operations controller for the 380th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron's maintenance operations center, or MOC, at a non-disclosed base in Southwest Asia. He is part of a team who, while working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, monitor and coordinate sortie production, maintenance production and execution of the flying and maintenance schedules while maintaining visibility of fleet health indicators for the 380th AEW.

According to Master Sgt. Terrance Johnson, MOC superintendent and Sergeant McCutcheon's deployed supervisor, the MOC coordinates with maintenance units and communicates priorities for competing limited resources such as fuel or calibration docks, wash racks and dispatched specialists from the maintenance squadrons based on daily flying schedules and maintenance priorities. The exchange of information between squadrons, Sergeant Johnson said, and the MOC must be in sufficient detail to allow the MOC to comply with reporting requirements and to identify potential problems.

Sergeant McCutcheon said his deployed job is tantamount to coordinating mission success for deployed flying operations as well.

"It's not an option - it's vital that we do what we do," said Sergeant McCutcheon, who is deployed from the 305th Maintenance Operations Squadron, 305th Air Mobility Wing, at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. "Through our management of tracking aircraft maintenance and status, we essentially maintain the operations tempo for maintenance operations."

Sergeant McCutcheon said he knows the MOC is not only the "eyes and ears of the flightline," they are much more than that.

"With us serving as a liaison between the maintenance community and leadership, we know a lot of people need the information we provide quickly so decisions can be made," Sergeant McCutcheon said. "That in turn affects the pace of operations."

Sergeant McCutcheon joined the military more than 12 years ago. He said he's proud to serve and to help out the success of winning the war effort in any way possible.

"I do what I do so America can continue to be strong and free," said Sergeant McCutcheon, whose hometown is Lubbock, Texas. "I do this so my children, as they grow up, can make their own decisions free of oppression."

The 380th EMXS is a unit of the 380th Expeditionary Maintenance Group of the 380th AEW. The wing is home to the KC-10 Extender, U-2 Dragonlady E-3 Sentry and RQ-4 Global Hawk aircraft. The wing is comprised of five groups and 18 squadrons and the wing's deployed mission includes air refueling, air battle management, surveillance, and reconnaissance in support of overseas contingency operations in Southwest Asia. The 380th AEW supports operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom and the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa.