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Powered or not: AGE enables maintenance

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  • By Staff Sgt. Phillip Butterfield
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq --  It has been said behind a great person is an even greater cast of support personnel. The same could be said about Joint Base Balad's flying mission.

JBB's aircraft maintainers can count on the 332nd Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron Aerospace Ground Equipment Flight to maintain and deliver all of their maintenance support equipment needs.

"AGE's mission is geared toward supporting all maintenance that's performed on aircraft here," said Senior Master Sgt. Paul Revels, 332 EMXS AGE Flight chief. "It's just like walking into an automotive shop: you have all the different support tools there to help you get the job done right on your car. That's what we maintain to work on aircraft."

AGE maintains more than 50 different pieces of equipment, including maintenance stands, power generating equipment, aircraft jacks, servicing equipment for hydraulics, liquid oxygen, nitrogen and aircraft cooling equipment said Staff Sgt. John Netzel, 332 EMXS AGE journeyman. After the equipment is inspected for serviceability, it is placed on the ready line where AGE drivers assigned to the different flying units and deliver the equipment to the maintainers.

"I like working AGE, because I get to use my hands," said Sergeant Netzel, a native of Bethlehem, Pa., deployed from Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. "Being able to fix something and watch it get used really gives me a  sense of accomplishment."

AGE plays an important role in maintenance and flight operation here.

"We have a saying, 'Without AGE, aircraft can't get off the ground," said Sergeant Revels, a native of Columbia, S.C., deployed from McEntyre Joint National Guard Base, S.C. "Therefore, whenever you have a flying mission you will always have AGE working behind the scenes to help fulfill that mission."

During the last four months, AGE dispatched 8,000 times, distributed more than 50,000 gallons of fuel to their equipment and performed more than 1,100 maintenance actions enabling JBB to fly approximately 8,000 mission and rack up more than 35,000 flight hours, said Sergeant Revels. "I'm extremely proud of the Airmen," he added. "It's an honor to work with these people and I would do it any day."