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Airmen from three career fields make one ‘fab’ flight

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Mareshah Haynes
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Public Affairs Office
BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq --  Airmen assigned to the 332nd Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Fabrication Flight, turn cold, gray, plain, sheets of metal into shiny, new aircraft parts that are vital to the mission of keeping planes, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles functional and flying.

The Fab Flight, as it's commonly referred to, is composed of Airmen from three different Air Force career fields -- structural maintenance, metals technology and nondestructive inspection. Their job is to maintain and fabricate aircraft components to keep planes in the air.

At Balad more than 50 Active-Duty, Reserve and Air National Guard Airmen man the shop 24/7 to complete more than 1,400 jobs monthly.

"Back home we're all separate units, but here we work all together to get the job done," said Master Sgt. Curtis Thompson, fabrication flight chief, a reservist deployed from Hill Air Force Base, Utah. "A lot of reservists were active duty at one time so they have a lot of experience. Many of the active-duty guys are younger so they can learn a lot from the reservists and the reservists can learn a lot from the active-duty [Airmen]."

One group of Airmen within the flight are nondestructive inspection technicians, who inspect aircraft components without taking them or the planes completely apart. One method used to make these inspections is the penetrant test, during which the component being tested is sprayed with chemicals that make cracks visible when exposed to a black light.

Nondestructive inspection Airmen also perform engine oil tests to ensure major elements in the aircraft engine oil are at the proper levels.

"If the sample [of the oil] exceeds the limits, we retest it to make sure it's not an error on our part," said Airman 1st Class Jacob Hutchinson, a nondestructive inspection apprentice who is deployed from Hill AFB, Utah. "If the test still shows the sample is over the limit, we take another sample and if that sample is the same then the oil will need to be changed."

These technicians also use magnets or 'chips' to test metal particles in engine oil. The chips are submersed in the oil and attract metal particles from it. The particles are then removed from the chips and identified to determine if the oil's content is harmful to the aircraft engine.

Fab Flight Airmen who work in the metals technology section design, manufacture and modify tools for metal working operations.

Recently, the metals technology Airmen received a new piece of equipment to help make their job a little easier -- a computer numerical controlled lathe, which is a machine used to shape metal. This tool helps metals technology personnel make and repair aircraft components and support equipment.

"You have to tell it where to start, where zero is, how far to go and how many cuts to take," said Master Sgt. Steve Houp, the Fab Flight supervisor who is deployed from the Iowa Air National Guard. "It's a fun machine. You can save the codes in there so the next time you need to make you just press the button.

"We can make practically anything and everything," Sergeant Houp said. "Before this machine, the Airmen had to shape and cut metal pieces with the manual version of the lathe which required more time and energy when producing multiple pieces."

The final group of Airmen of the Fab Flight triad is structural maintenance, also known as sheet metal. As the name implies, Airmen in this specialty are responsible for the maintenance and repair of the aircraft structure.

They also manufacture support equipment like maintenance stands for the 332nd Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron Aerospace Ground Equipment Flight and Army assets as needed, Sergeant Thompson said.

"They mostly repair wings, panels and hinges -- anything on the plane that's structural," Sergeant Thompson said.

While the Airmen of the Fab Flight come from three different Air Force career fields, they support one mission. Because of their support, 10,000 combat sorties have been flown out of Balad and more than 206,000 tons of cargo has transited through the base this year.

"The best part of this job is doing something new everyday," Sergeant Houp said. "Jobs come in and you don't even have a clue as to what they're going to be. We find a way to get the job done."