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79th AMU wins quarterly load crew competition

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman John Gordinier
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  The 79th Aircraft Maintenance Unit won the quarterly load crew competition April 6, beating the 77th and 55th AMUs.

The results were: 55th AMU with 1,525 points, 77th AMU with 1,545 points and 79th AMU with 1,650 points.

The winners were Staff Sgt. Ryan Menting and Senior Airmen Patrick Letz and Billy Mays. Each received a three-day pass and plaques from the 20th Maintenance Group.

"I was very excited when I found out we won," Sergeant Menting said. "We were given the opportunity to show that we are one of the best load crews in the 20th Fighter Wing. Knowing that there are only four chances to do this per year, it is truly an honor to be selected to compete against the best that the other units have to offer."

The weapons load crew competition program is designed to promote morale and to increase proficiency, knowledge, professionalism and integrity, said Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey McLaughlin, 20th MXG loading standardization crew member.

"Basically, it gives a crew bragging rights to say they are the best and adds to the interaction and competitiveness between AMUs," said Senior Master Sgt. Jerry Edwards, 20th MXG weapons manager.

During the competition, each crew member is evaluated on his or her appearance, the time it takes to load the weapons onto the aircraft, how safely they load the weapons, reliability and technical proficiency, Sergeant McLaughlin said.

A reliability error is a violation of technical order requirements that could reasonably lead to damage and/or premature failure of equipment, he said.

Technical proficiency errors are based on the loads crews' adherence to the technical orders. These errors are normally committed by a crew member, but corrected by the load crew chief during the post-load inspection.

Each team's tool kit is also inspected and each member is given a 20-question, weapons-knowledge test.

Each load crew begins the competition with 2,000 points, he said. Each discrepancy results in a deduction of points. The AMU crew with the highest point total at the end of the competition is declared the winner. In the event of a tie, the crew with the fastest load time is declared the winner.