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51st MXS Airmen keep busy during annual runway closure

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Terri Barriere
  • 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  While it may seem that an annual base runway closure might be the perfect time for an aircraft mechanic to catch up on his summer reading list, the members of the 51st Maintenance Squadron here are doing anything but. 

"Our shop is using the time during the runway closure to work on delayed discrepancies and computer based training," said Tech. Sgt. Japhia Arline, a 51st MXS aircraft fuels system craftsman. "Our days are built around the flying schedule, so now we have more time to focus on the things that are sometimes put aside due to day-to-day operations." 

The largest among the projects being worked on during the runway closure - an F-16C wing change. 

"We are in the middle of removing and replacing the right wing of an F-16," said Sergeant Arline, whose job is to maintain the fuel components that supply fuel to the aircraft engines. 

The wing change, which is necessary due to corrosion and cracks, will take about two weeks to complete and will be a first for most of the seven-man team. 

"This kind of maintenance is usually handled at the depot level, but this time we took it on," said Master Sgt. Mark Merdian, wing change supervisor and weapons flight chief. 
"These guys have all been trained, we've got the technical data and tools ... this will be good on the job training for them. They can do it." 

According to Sergeant Merdian, the depot, located at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, normally handles heavy structural maintenance type projects such as wing changes, and though they are not a normal occurrence at the base level he said they can be done in the field. 

It has been 10 years since the last in-house wing change at Osan. 

Sergeant Merdian said the wing change is the biggest thing going on right now, and although it would be necessary, having to dedicate this many people to one project would hurt during normal flying operations. 

In addition to providing members of the team useful OJT, keeping the maintenance in house is also saving the Air Force money. 

"It costs a lot of money to replace an aircraft wing," said Sergeant Merdian. "If a team had to come from depot, the repair would take less time, but definitely cost more money. 

However, for some members of the team, the extra time taken is definitely time well spent. 

"Doing a wing change is a lot of work ... hard work, but definitely rewarding," said Senior Airman Malcolm Asher, aircraft fuels system journeyman. "Some people will work their whole career and never get to do one so this is definitely good OJT." 

Though Airman Asher has been in the Air Force only three years, he participated in a wing change prior to coming to Osan and credits that to his being chosen for this team. 

"It feels nice to be able to step in and take charge of a big maintenance project," he said.